Remember and Proclaim

I recently enjoyed an interactive Bible study where the life of Joseph was paralleled with Jesus.  Their lives are not mirror images, yet there are striking, compelling similarities which provide deep wells of understanding and wisdom to drink from.  Joseph was loved by his father, betrayed and sold by his brothers, and later became a saviour to the people of Egypt and all who came during the famine.  Jesus too was loved by His heavenly Father, betrayed by His own disciple for silver, rejected by the Jewish nation He came to save, and died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin so all who repent can be saved.  Joseph was saviour for a season, but Jesus is the Saviour for eternity.

We talked about twenty similarities between the lives of Joseph and Jesus, and the brother leading the study said there were no less than 60!  As the study was concluding, it came to mind Joseph was mentioned in the Hall of Faith.  I turned there, wondering if there was a correlation to be found in the New Testament as well.  Hebrews 11:22 reads, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones."  Joseph and Jesus were both men of faith.  When Joseph was dying, he commanded his bones be carried out of Egypt and buried in his father's tomb.  It struck me Jesus also had made a command concerning remembering His body!  The bones of Jesus did not remain in a tomb, for after three days He was raised alive and incorruptible.  So what is the connection?

During the Last Supper, Luke 22:19-20 says of Jesus Christ:  "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." ²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."  Jesus commanded we remember His sacrifice through what is commonly called "The LORD's Supper" or "Communion."  When believers gather together in Christ's name, we are to make time to remember the price Jesus paid.  We eat the bread to remember how the body of Jesus has been broken for us, and drink of the cup because His blood has been shed for us.  Receiving the elements of Communion into our bodies is a picture of how we, by faith, have received Jesus Christ as Saviour and His salvation through the Gospel.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."  Our obedience to remember Christ's sacrifice is also a proclamation of His return.

The Bible is filled with rich pictures, shadows, and types which are so deep all eternity will not be immense enough to exhaust them.  One instructive example is seen when Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish.  Matthew 14:19-20 reads, "Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. ²⁰ So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained."  When Jesus broke the bread, it pointed to what He would accomplish in His death and resurrection.  Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48), who was blessed by the Father, broken in death, and the Gospel in the New Covenant in His blood has been committed to His followers to distribute among all who hunger for salvation.  All who partake of the Bread of Life by faith will be satisfied with salvation.

The application for us?  Let us heed the command Jesus gave to remember His sacrifice and proclaim His return by receiving Communion together with fellow believers.  Having received the Gospel from the hand of our LORD and Saviour by faith, let us be faithful to lovingly distribute the words of life and share the Gospel with all who will humble themselves to receive.  Praise God for His wondrous works, and such grace and gifts given to men!