The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke indicate that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Passover meal. The Passover was an event of remembrance in which the people of Israel re-enacted the meal their ancestors ate before their exodus from captivity in Egypt. Remembering the past wasn’t nostalgia, it was (and is)  a way of making the past alive today. The people at a Passover Seder today think of themselves as part of the crowd who at the Passover more than 3,000 years ago. The Passover is now. The Exodus is now. God’s saving act is now.

The Lord’s supper is also an act of remembering. “Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus commands. In obedience to his words we observe the Lord’s Supper. Like the Passover, it is more than just recalling an action that took place almost two millennia ago. Christ is present among us as we celebrate this holy meal. He is there as the host who welcomes us to his table. He is there in the very food we take. As Martin Luther taught in the Small Catechism, Communion: “is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine.”

The past is now. The presence of Christ is now. As Jaroslav Vajda wrote in his hymn:*

Now the silence, now the peace,
Now the empty hands uplifted;
Now the kneeling, now the plea,
Now the Father’s arms in welcome;
Now the hearing, now the power,
Now the vessel brimmed for pouring;
Now the body, now the blood,
Now the joyful celebration;

NOW

Read 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne