A Memorial Before God

Poor translations can sometimes create a world of difficulty. The rendering of the word repentance by “do penance” was a famous stumbling block for Luther.

In a similar way, we are all familiar with this phrase from the words of institution in the Lord’s Supper—”do this in remembrance of me.” This is taken as though we are to use the Supper to help us remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. While this element is necessarily involved in the Supper, and it is certainly part of what we do, much more is involved than this.

The phrase should actually be rendered as “do this as my memorial.” Presenting a memorial to God is quite a different thing than remembering God. In a memorial, as with many memorials throughout the Old Testament, we are calling upon God to remember. As we do this, we certainly remember as well, but much more is involved in this than simply providing a reminder for us.

This Supper is a liturgical prayer, a ritual request. God is our covenant God, and we are pleading the covenant with Him. By partaking of this meal, we are presenting His promises back to Him. We might argue with this and say that God does not need such reminders. Of course not, but He nevertheless commands us to approach Him this way. The rainbow is a memorial before God in just this sense. He will never again destroy the world, and we are invited to plead the rainbow as we consider our sinfulness. He has determined to save the world through Jesus Christ, and so we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ every time we partake, as we do so because His death is the only possible salvation for the world.

Not only do we proclaim this to the world, but we also present it to God.