You are proclaiming again, “Forgiveness is available, full and free, at the cross!” Verse 26 said, “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” Every time you take the bread and the cup you are actually performing a one-act, one-person play that reenacts the sacrifice of Jesus for lost sinners. Each time we take bread and this juice, we … remember. And the cup helps us in remembering his blood, shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Remembering Jesus with bread that reminds us of his body offered, given as a sacrifice to pay for our sins. “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you do this-there’s the command- Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.'” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” ( 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Some call it the Eucharist (or Thanksgiving meal), and others call it Breaking of Bread. Some call it The Lord’s Supper or the Lord’s Table. I want to just focus on one more: Remember me. I won’t go into the whole list of his commands. This is one of those cases where your actions speak louder than your words.īut baptism is just one of the commands of Jesus that he told the 11 disciples to teach new disciples to obey. So your public baptism calls you out, calls you to commit your life from that point forward, to actually follow the one you say that you want follow. So your baptism calls you to live, to walk, to talk every day from now on in the same humble, trusting, grace of God that brought you to the cross for salvation in the first place. In identifying yourself as a believer in Jesus, baptism is also saying, loud and clear, that you are follower of Jesus. And second, baptism is also about commitment. So baptism is a public announcement, a coming out party, confessing for all to see and hear that Jesus died for you.īaptism is first about confessing. And then coming up out of the baptism water identifies you with the resurrection of Jesus, declaring to any who will listen that you’ve begun a totally new life. So going under the water is identifying you with the death and burial of Jesus-the death that Jesus died on the cross as your substitute, carrying on himself your sin and your guilt and your shame. Romans 6 tells us, “all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” And baptism identifies you with the resurrection of Jesus. It identifies you with the death of Jesus. Just as a Red Sox hat identifies the wearer as a fan, just as a US flag identifies our Olympians as the American team, in the same way, baptism publicly identifies you with Jesus. Specifically, you are identifying yourself with Jesus. Baptism represents, baptism tells everyone who watches you go under the water, that you belong to Jesus. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”ĭid you notice there in verse 19 that Jesus instructed his disciples to baptize all new disciples? Jesus said, “Go, and as you are going make disciples of all nations (all ethnos, translated here as nations it means all ethnic groups or people groups), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”īaptism is two things. Verse 18: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Wow! That always struck me as so genuine! Who would include something like that, unless the Holy Spirit was prompting them to say, that after his resurrection, some of the disciples still doubted ! Wow! There is room for followers of Jesus who wrestle with questions and doubts!) Matthew, chapter 28 records that conversation for us: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him but some doubted. This must have been a very personal, very powerful conversation, packed with emotion and anticipation. After Jesus died and rose again–after he was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses–in his last day with his closest followers, Jesus took them aside for a final conversation.
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