Based on Luke 22:14-23 (New King James Version)
“When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!’ Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.”
Memory is a very valuable ability, and it is essential for everything in life. There is voluntary and involuntary memory, the kind that has to do with things that are done either by conditioning or naturally. For example, do you know what kind of problem we would have if our mind forgot to send signals to our body so we could breathe or so our heart could beat? Would it not be a big problem if our mind forgot to interpret the signals that it receives at every instant from our senses, that at a given moment we could be looking at something, and at another moment, we could not see anything; or if we were unable to listen, to feel, to smell, or to taste something at any given moment? And related to all of that, what would happen if our body forgot to do so many other things that happen involuntarily, like our digestion, the reparation of cells, etc.? Nothing of what we mentioned is done by voluntary memory. There is never a moment where someone says: “I need to remember to breathe today”, right?
Now then, let us see God’s side, and the great and immeasurable dimension of the Almighty’s memory. What would happen if God forgot to do everything He does, the innumerable things that happen involuntarily, per se, because they simply happen as part of His being, very similar to what happens with our involuntary human memory? And in this, we also need to understand that God is behind all of the involuntary human memory we spoke about before also. Because if we live and do all of those involuntary things, it’s only because God allows them. Absolutely everything in the universe subsists and is because the person of God is involved, as it is written: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17. So, here we should not only understand the greatness of God, but also, His immense goodness. And by understanding things even more clearly, the dimensions of everything in which God is involved with in comparison to us, beings that are far smaller and insignificant, we should be able to see even more the greatness of His love, as it is written: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Psalm 8:3-4. Blessed be the Lord for His memory.
And now, let us come back to our level, to our human voluntary memory. We, in general, have been allowed to have some sort of voluntary memory, and we use it for different things. If you are reading this very message, you are using your memory in different ways. You are using your memory to remember what each word means, because that is how comprehension occurs, by interpreting all of the words that are written. And more over, to be able to read this, all of you need to remember how a computer or smart phone works (because this is seen through those two means). You need to remember how to turn on a computer or telephone to be able to get this. You need to remember how to work the software or application to be able read this. All of this simple operation (simple for some of you) needs memory use. In summary, you use your memory for all kinds of things.
And so, this takes us to our main point: “What do we decide to use our voluntary memory for?” Daily and at every moment, we need to use our memory for different things like for obligations (e.g. for work and school), for things related to loved ones, and also, for things that are not so necessary like for fun, entertainment, hobbies, etc. The point is that we decide to use our memory for many things, and that is the way life is. But, do we decide to use our memory to remember something so important like the Lord, to remember what He did for us? Many people’s memory fails in this respect. Many at some given moment might remember superficially what He did, and it is not something they keep very present. Moreover, they treat God like this, “I know you died for me, but what have you done for me lately?” And that is a huge memory lapse, especially for the person that calls themselves a believer or a Christ follower. Many might say that they could not even imagine saying something like that, but that is what they are demonstrating with their actions, and even more, they demonstrate it with huge memory loss, forgetting that God is God, that God died for them, and that everything truly depends on God, at every moment, at every instant; that if they breathe, it’s because God allows it; that if the sun rises, it’s because God allows it, and so on. Many people’s memory fails in an incredible way in how much they owe God, and everything they depend on God for, without knowing it. What would happen if God’s memory failed in the way that our memory fails so frequently? I don’t even want to think about it, but it would change the existence of mankind in an instant.
This is the counsel that the Lord left us as a remembrance, as a symbol to remember what He did for us. We should remember at every moment, (which would not consist of continually eating bread and drinking grape juice), what He did for us, and especially during our weakest moments, because we are all susceptible and weak, just like the Apostles were. They, although imperfectly, loved the Lord. So then, they did not start questioning themselves on who was going to betray Him because they didn’t care about Him, but rather, because they understood that they were fallible people, and that in one way or another, what He had spoken would be fulfilled, and that all of them, despite their good intentions, could fall. Therefore, since we are just like them (imperfect and sinful human beings, with a terrible memory), we should always try to remember what the Lord did for us, which is what demonstrates His love for us all: His love sacrifice. So then, do you constantly remember the sacrifice of the Lord so you could avoid giving into the temptation of falling away or yielding to sin that tries to lay siege and dominate us at every moment? Lord bless! John