“Do This In Remembrance of Me”.

This was something that Jesus TOLD us to do, but do we do it?
“Do THIS in Remembrance of Me” - Passover/Christians
”Did you know that Jesus commanded Christians to celebrate the Passover? Most Christians do not know this, and therefore consider the Passover to be a Jewish feast that does not apply to them.
This command is actually read in most Christian churches in conjunction with the service of Communion (also known in many churches as “the Lord’s Supper” or “the Lord’s Table”) on the first Sunday of the month and in some churches every Sunday, but its meaning has been lost, hidden in PLAIN SIGHT for almost 2,000 years.

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." - Luke 22:19 (NAS)

I submit to you that Jesus meant much more than Sunday Communion when He said, “do THIS in remembrance of Me.” We are going to explore the meaning of “THIS.”

Let’s examine the context of Jesus’ words:
And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes."
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do THIS in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood.” - Luke 22:15-20 (NAS)

In obedience to the commandments of God for His people, Jesus and the disciples had faithfully celebrated the feast of Passover every year, (Ex.12:14) all their lives, each year giving thanks to God for the Passover lamb that they had just killed and by whose blood their ancestors had been saved from death back in Egypt. Every year on this special day, they reflected on how God had delivered His people from slavery in Egypt. Every year they ate special unleavened bread that was broken at an appointed moment in the meal, and they shared four cups of wine, each with a different blessing and significance.
The night in which Jesus was betrayed, (Luke 22:7-21) Jesus and His disciples were sharing the Passover meal according to the instructions in God’s Word just as they had done in years past, but Jesus said something that would forever change the way His disciples would celebrate it in the future. He told them the breaking of the special unleavened bread symbolized how His body was about to be broken on the cross for their sins. It was at this moment in the Passover meal that Jesus told His disciples to “do THIS in remembrance of Me.”
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The History of the Passover.

Ex. 12:21-26. Each family was required to have its own lamb, not a bone of which was to be broken. Its blood was sprinkled upon the door-posts of the house and the family, assembled within, partook of its flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, pilgrim-like, with staff in hand, ready for departure out of Egypt in the morning.
When that night the Divine sentence slew all of Egypt's first-borns, the first-borns of Israel were passed over or spared; hence the name--Passover. And this ceremony, as a reminder of the great blessing of the Lord upon Israel, was commanded to be observed yearly as a memorial of God's goodness and because it typed, or illustrated, a still greater mercy and blessing yet to come.
They are never to forget it – “remember this day on which you came out of Egypt” Moses says to the people, and so they repeat the meal as a central moment in their national and religious life, each year, until the meal is called the Passover, as well as the event which it remembers.
The Lamb of God, Jesus, the antitypical Passover Lamb, was slain nearly nineteen centuries ago on the exact anniversary of the killing of the typical lambs.

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From:  http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/lk22v19b.html
Now, in instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus says, "Do this in remembrance of me." In other words, we are to remember and believe that Jesus is the Passover Lamb.

Why did the Angel of the Lord pass over the Israelite homes when he visited death and destruction upon Egypt? You need to remember that the Israelites were as sinful and as stubborn as the Egyptians. They worshiped other gods and refused to accept Moses as God's servant. So why did the Angel of the Lord pass over them? Because of the blood of the lamb. The lamb was sacrificed in their place and for their sin.

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. Because of His blood upon the cross God passes over our sin. He is the Lamb sacrificed in our place and for our sin. We are to remember, as John the Baptist puts it, that Jesus is "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
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^Mat.2:13   When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod.

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”  (Deut.18:15)

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

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After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” "   Read Matthew 2

Deuteronomy 16:1 KJV
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

Deuteronomy 16:3 KJV

Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
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So when is Passover, and the other Annual Festivals of God?
For 2010
Passover: March 29 (Observed evening before)
Feast of Unleavened Bread: March 30 - April 5
Pentecost: May 23
Feast of Trumpets: September 9
Day of Atonement: September 18
Feast of Tabernacles: September 23-29
Last Great Day: September 30
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Well, the power is out, so I am on my laptop’s battery, and dial-up.

This morning, Jay and I took the van load of smashed boxes to the local school's recycling bin, so they should get a few pennies for them.

Tonight is the start of the celebration of Passover. Jesus commanded us to observe this, nothing was ever said about “Easter”!  Even by the Apostles after his death.

Unless the power comes back on soon, I guess that is all for today.