Why We Observe the Lord's Evening Meal

              "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." -1 CORINTHIANS 11:24.

NIGHT  has fallen, but a  full moon bathes Jerusalem in soft light. It is the evening of Nisan 14, 33 C.E.  Jesus and his apostles have celebrated the Passover, commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage 15 centuries earlier.  With 11 loyal apostles, Jesus now institutes a  special meal-one that will memorialize the death he will experience before this day ends." -Matthew 26:1, 2. 

Jesus says a blessing and passes unleavened bread to the apostles, saying:  "Take, eat." He takes a cup of wine, again offers thanks, and says:  "Drink out of it, all of you." (Matthew 26:26, 27) Jesus will not pass other food items to them, but he will have much more to tell his faithful followers on this momentous night. 

So it was that Jesus instituted the Memorial of his  death, also called  "the Lord's Evening Meal." (1 Corinthians 11:20)  Regarding it, some might ask: Why commemorate Jesus' death?  What  is the meaning of the bread and the wine? How can we prepare for the Memorial? Who should partake? And how do Christians respond to what the Scriptures says about their hope? 

WHY WE COMMEMORATE JESUS' DEATH

As Adam's descendants, we inherited sin and death.  (Romans 5:12) No imperfect human can give  God a ransom for his life or that of others. (Psalm 49:6-9) By his death, however, Jesus paid the only acceptable ransom price-his perfect body and shed blood.  By presenting to God the value of the ransom, Jesus made it possible for us to be delivered from sin and death and to receive the  gift of eternal life. -Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22. 

The ransom provision proves that God loves the world of mankind. (John 3:16) Jesus' sacrifice is evidence that he too loves us. Why, during his pre-human existence as God's  "master worker," Jesus "was especially  fond of the sons of men"! (Proverbs 8:30, 31) Gratitude to God and his Son should move us to be present at the commemoration of Jesus' death, thus obeying the command:  "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." -1 Corinthians 11:23-25. 

Next time: Why We Observe the Lord's Evening Meal - WHAT THE EMBLEMS MEAL

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015