I got curious about the word ‘proclaim’ when it leapt out at me during a Communion service some years ago so I did some thinking and searching… This section was where my attention was grabbed:
1CO 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: 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 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.
From that there seemed to be three obvious things to look into.
1proclaim the 2Lord’s death 3until he comes.
1: PROCLAIM
ABOUT THE WORD “PROCLAIM”
The word ‘proclaim’ is distinctive… it is quite formal and has a ring of authority to it. It is more than remembrance; it is more than a ‘telling’. As I read a number of references I wrote down these thoughts about the word “proclaim”:
To announce
To declare
To tell firmly
It seems to indicate authority; either direct authority or designated authority (Like a King might make a proclamation or a Scribe might proclaim in the King’s authority)
Proclaiming seeks to gain the attention of those who need to hear
Proclaiming indicates there is an audience – that someone is listening or hearing or learning
That when God proclaims something there is no error. It is simply SO regardless of who is ‘listening’.
It is a statement of fact as in Luke 4. Jesus was revealed at His baptism as God’s son. (Luke 3 21-22). He then spent the 40 days in the desert being tempted by Satan and attended by angels (Mark 1:12-13). News of Him spread about the Galilee and He then went to the synagogue of his youth, stood in the assembly and read that day’s reading from Isaiah proclaiming Himself the fulfillment of the 700 year old prophecy! (Luke 4:16-21). Here He made a statement of fact – something that those who understood would see and hear, something that those who didn’t would despise Him for saying and count as blasphemy.
Several times we see it’s not only God or people who proclaim, but God’s own creation speaks His truth!
PS 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
PS 97:6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
Webster’s Dictionary on “proclaim” says:
1. Declare formally
2. State or announce
3. Affirm or declare
4. Praise, glorify, or honor
SO WHO IS THE AUDIENCE?
Who is the proclamation for? The word seems to beg for an audience to be present. I have come to see nine tiers of audience to whom we are proclaiming!
i) GOD!
PS 139:7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
Matthew 18:20 Where Two or Three are Gathered in My Name there am I in the midst of them”
Does God need us to proclaim His works to Him?
Perhaps the answer to this can partly be answered by the Psalms… David and others did rather a lot of proclaiming there! I suspect proclamations about God to God are part of giving Him the praise that is due His name… showing Him we remember His great deeds.
PS 71:14-17 But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
ii) THE INDIVIDUAL
When I lost a baby between our second and third kids something that felt overwhelmingly important to me was that this baby needed to be remembered… they HAD existed – they MATTERED! This baby should not be forgotten. The memory or knowledge of this baby would be recalled only by the level of relationship others had to me. I felt this burning desire to mark this baby’s existence and couldn’t rest until I had completed my idea. I didn’t know it then, but what I was doing was making a memorial… it now hangs on our wall in order with our other baby photos. The story of our little one is known by each of our kids and anyone who asks or notices it up on the wall. It doesn’t hurt me to remember. It pleases me to have the chance to remember.
I have heard of people who take communion alone as part of their own worship of, and communion with, God.
So does that count as a proclamation?
When we take communion, we are usually in a gathering of believers – so is that the sum total of the audience?
What’s the point of proclaiming to other proclaimers the very same message we mostly already believe?
Are these two levels of ‘audience’ valid or is there more?
Both are valid and there’s more.
Each grouping seeming to include all the reasons of the previous and increasing in depth and significance.
We need to proclaim the message of Jesus death to ourselves for the purpose of personal remembrance (as stated in the reading). God calls us to remember many things for many purposes… to encourage ourselves and to help us not wander from the truth. Whether we take communion in a group or even alone, we proclaim Jesus death for our own hearing and help. If His death was important, we will remember it alone and together.
iii) THE ASSEMBLY OF BELIEVERS
The point of proclaiming His death to those who already believe is very much the same. Firstly because it honours Him – for while He did die, He rose and sees our efforts of remembrance!
The action of remembrance helps keep us on track. Time after time in the Old Testament memorials were built as visual reasons to recall certain things that God had done. Memorials honour God and stand as reminders to us and all who see. They help us stay on track. Wandering is dangerous.
EZE 44:10 ” `The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.
1TI 1:3-7 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work–which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
1TI 6: 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1TI 6:20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.
2TI 2:14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
2 PE 2:13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed–an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey–a beast without speech–who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
JUDE 1:5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe… 1:11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. 1:12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm–shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted–twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Wandering is very dangerous. These Scriptures gave examples of it happening when we take our eyes off the map or the main road; when we get distracted by idols – things which take our attention away from God. The pursuit and love of money. And when we begin to pay attention to empty words.
Just as there was in the days of Timothy (“They say that the resurrection has already taken place”), there are doctrines of demons active in the church today. There is a foundation of belief being built around us in the church at large that will deceive many who believe themselves to be Christian. This foundation is paving the way for a man to be accepted by many as christ. It sounds so obviously flawed yet it has footholds in many places – and with the lack of interest in so many modern ‘Christians’ in knowing the Word of God for ourselves, trusting in things that sound good or pleasing or logical, many are ripe ready for deception to take place. The way off-track is one crumb at a time.
These doctrines will use the Scriptures to lull people into a sense of security – they are hearing Scripture after all! It takes really knowing the Word and knowing the context a Scripture belongs IN to know and recognize if we are being led into error.
Any time the importance or significance of blood of Jesus is downplayed or His work on the cross is not memorialized or honoured or is ignored – we have a major red flag.
iv) THOSE WITHIN THE ASSEMBLY THAT HAVE NOT YET BELIEVED
The next group to benefit from the proclamation of Jesus death through sharing the bread and the wine are those that have not yet believed. Some do and some don’t know they haven’t yet believed, and we need to be praying for God to open minds and hearts to enable understanding – for those who don’t know Him yet to see His salvation, and for those who do know Him to press deeper into Him.
LK 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
EPH 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe…
JN 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
v) THE WATCHING WORLD
Quote: “Long after the world has stopped listening to Christians, it will be watching” (Gary Ezzo)
I believe the news media revels in their so called coverage at Easter time – most often with shots of empty pews and intently formal services. On the one hand this is sad and blind and deliberately misleading. But on the other hand, they are still causing the essence of Jesus message to be brought to mind. The world sees.
If you’ve read anything of the Old Testament laws, you’ll see that many of them seem very strange and intensive. Not speaking of the 10 Commandments but of the other 600 laws the first five books of the Bible contain! He could have made them a Nation without so many laws but apart from having a Chosen People through whom Messiah would come, these laws also served the purpose of making them a very distinctive group of people. So distinct that all the other peoples of the world would have cause to notice them across the ages!
Three and a half thousand years ago:
DT 4:5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? 9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Two thousand years ago:
LK 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The world sees. The world watches.
Apart from the Audience of God Himself, each of these audiences has been “the seen”. There are also unseen audiences to whom we proclaim Jesus death.
vi) CLOUD OF WITNESSES
The next audience that we proclaim Jesus death to is potentially the “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 11. The theme of this passage is perseverance. That those who have died under the old covenant experienced great and terrible things and yet endured… I’ve only ever heard of this cloud of witnesses being taught as taught any who have died in faith and it might be so but I’m not sure. Also this may or may not mean this Cloud of Witnesses is actually witnessing current events – but it might – which is why I mention the group as a potential audience. It may be saying that having these incredible examples go before us – we need to get on with it! The wording is intriguing – so perhaps it means both!
Listen and see what you think it means…
HEB 11:32-12:4 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
vii) ANGELS
We are taught that angels are messengers and ministering spirits. (HEB 1:14) As I went through the references to angels in the Scriptures recently, another descriptive term emerged. (And there are probably more also).
This term that seems to fit part of their job description is that of “witness”.
God is big on doing things properly and irreproachably. In several places the New Testament quotes, and therefore maintains, the importance of this specific Old Testament law (among others):
2CO 13:1b “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Though God is One He is also three and Jesus Himself used the Godhead as sufficient proof of legal witness when answering the Pharisees.
JN 8:14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
From the beginning of all things there has been legal witness to every matter that God has established. While we don’t know the timing of their creation we do know angels were created before the earth and here they are witnessing the earth’s being established – every physical law and creation witnessed by them:
JOB 38:4-7 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Here we see angels as witnesses:
JOB 1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
MK 1:12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
1CO 4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings–and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
1TI 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
HEB 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
MT 18:10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
1TI 5:21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
LK 12:8 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.
PS 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
Angels do seem to witness both the awesome and the everyday events of life.
viii) DEMONS
The unseen realm is as real as the seen. The evil – as real as the good. Demons as real as the devil and all exist in the present as well as the past.
EPH 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
JAS 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.
The cross is the seal of the death of the dominion of darkness.
COL 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
When the message of the cross is proclaimed and heard by the powers of darkness they are reminded of their very bleak outlook. Their fury has vent for a little time yet but how frustrating to find their freedom wasn’t free; their rebellion contribute to the overall plan; what they thought their ultimate victory, their ultimate defeat.
COL 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
2: THE LORD’S DEATH
If we take the three main groupings of audience – after God Himself – to be people, angels and demons, the significance of the Lord’s death takes on different tones to each group.
To God it is the remembrance of the priceless gift He gave to us and the remembrance of its awesome cost.
To people, His death is the gateway to salvation.
From the perspective of the angels it is a little different.
Though angels had a created beginning, they do not die and have seen the whole of creations story play out. They fought war in heaven at Lucifers rebellion. They watched as the Lord of Hosts spoke the earth into being, they watched as He stepped from heaven into an infant’s body prepared for Him. They watched Him be brutalised, crucified, preach to the dead, arise and return. They watch all creation groan under the curse of sin. They don’t know the hour but they know He’ll return and restore the whole created order to Himself. They know the spiritual laws that were broken and justified. The Price paid in full though still playing out.
To angels His death is the victory of all things.
And to demons His death is different again. His death is their promise of hell. The seal of defeat. The signature of power over all.
I wonder if communion is a declaration of Jesus territory?
3: UNTIL HE COMES
We proclaim His death until He comes because we are looking to the future for that event. After His coming there is no need to proclaim it as we will be within the fulfilment of it. That being said and while there may be no further ceremony, I think we will be grateful for His death for all eternity. Especially once we come to understand more of the scope of the cost.
Not all form as we know it today will disappear in the coming age. The fact of there being a 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth indicates time passing in countable years. There will still be seasons, the earth will still need rain to replenish, there will be government and there will be at least one formal event in the annual calendar.
The 7th in the cycle of Hebrew feast will still be celebrated. Why? Because it is the feast that currently commemorates when God tabernacled in the wilderness with the Israelites for 40 years and points towards the time when He will tabernacle with humanity for a thousand years. Because during that thousand years the fulfilment will still be being completed.
REV 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
And an earlier prophecy from Zechariah:
ZEC 14:16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Most importantly though is to hold tight to the knowledge He IS coming again. There are doctrines of demons at work in the church at large today laying the platform for these two prophetic events to take place…
2 PE 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this `coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
2TH 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. :5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
DON’T GET WEIRD OR SCARED
Angels had the choice to leave God’s presence. We have the choice to enter it.
There are a number of weird beliefs and practises about angels (and demons) in the church – let alone outside of it. If a belief or practise cannot be demonstrated in the Bible we enter dangerous territory.
Jesus himself gives a great example here as the soldiers were coming to take Him away:
MT 26:52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to [Peter], “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Whatever the angel’s tasks – the Father is in charge of directing their movements.
Life consequences coupled with hindsight shows us where we’ve gone wrong and made bad choices. Church history is peppered with inglorious practice that with the advantage of centuries future we marvel at some of the churches atrocities and errors. The scary thing is that the believers of the day thought they were on the right track. All the more as we see the day of His coming approaching we are to test and approve His will and cling to the Word of truth. To cling to the Word of truth – we must learn what it says.
If our Spiritual diet is on starvation rations – we won’t know His Words of truth. If our growth diet is more of self help than the Scriptures, we are feeding self – not the inner spiritual man as in (Eph 3:16). And if our spiritual diet is more from the teaching of others than The Word how can we be sure we’d recognize error?
2CO 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
1JN 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Much more could be said but here’s one verse of encouragement:
1JN 5:18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
Becoming aware of the enlarged audience – of those that are subjects to the proclamation of Jesus death, should we change anything in our practice? Apart from perhaps remembering more often – in our homes and our lives and shared times together – no.
Remembrance is the instruction. Through obedience we proclaim.
1CO 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: 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 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.
