«For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23, 24).
AUSCHWITZ. CONCENTRATION CAMP—forced labor and extermination— where more than a million people, mostly Jews, were vilely murdered by the Nazis during World War Il. Who, of the few who made it out alive, could think of returning to that death camp?
In his book Keeping Hope Alive, Lewis Smedes talked about a man who, with his grandchildren, occasionally visited what was once the infamous concentration camp, There he had suffered all kinds of humiliations; even worse, he had seen loved ones and friends die. Why was he going back to that place? And why did he take his grandchildren?
According to Smedes, the man did not visit this place to vent his bitterness, nor to feed the hatred of his grandchildren toward those who had caused so much suffering to their grandfather. He did it simply to «keep hope alive»; and what better way to achieve it than through memories? This was the same thing another Holocaust survivor, Simon Wiesenthal, meant when he said that «hope lives when people remember. »
«This man was returning to Auschwitz,» Smedes wrote, «to show his grandchildren the miracle of survival.» To teach them that although man is capable of much evil, in the end, good will prevail; and so that by remembering the worst, they could hope for the best.
Smedes’s words make a lot of sense, especially when we remember that in Bible times, the Lord exhorted Israel to remember. The people were to remember, for example, slavery in Egypt (see Deuteronomy 5: 15; 15:15). For what reason? That they might also remember that it was God who had delivered them (Deuteronomy 7:18, 19).
This is where our text today comes into play. Why did the Lord, at the occasion of the Last Supper, say to His disciples, «Do this in remembrance of Me«? Because just as the Passover lamb reminded Israel of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery, the Lord’s Supper would remind believers, over the centuries, of the great deliverance carried out by His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And that every time they ate that bread and drank from that cup, the blessed hope of the Lord’s return would be strengthened in their hearts.
Dear Jesus, as I remember today how much You suffered to save me,
I ask that the blessed hope of Your return may be strengthened in my heart.
Please help me not only to wait, but also to announce to others about that glorious event.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate
