“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”
—1 Corinthians 11:26
One thing we see throughout Scripture is that people tend to forget things over time so if an event is to be kept in mind for future generations, then there must be a memorial of it lest it be forgotten. Sometimes in the Old Testament a stone or an altar was set up as a monument, but when God wanted the children of Israel to remember that He brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, He did not tell them to set up a stone, but He ordained a ceremony that was to be practiced on a certain day each year. It was called “The Passover,” and the killing and eating of a lamb became a yearly declaration by the people of Israel that they believed God brought their fathers up out of the house of bondage. This method is so effective that men often do the same thing. For instance, we read in the Book of Esther, when the Jewish people escaped the plot of Haman, they ordained the keeping of the feast of Purim so that they might have a continual remembrance of the goodness of God toward His people.
We use the same method in the United States when we set aside certain days on the calendar: Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Christmas, Labor Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc. All kinds of days are set aside so there might be a continual remembrance that such things occurred. The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial reads, “This memorial is for those who have died, and for us to remember them.” We also see road crosses or flower markers set up for those who have died. But to “show” means more than just declare –it also means to represent. In the Lord’s Supper, there is a representation of Christ’s death. Down through the ages, men have come up with all kinds of ways to try and represent the death of Christ. (Crosses, pictures, plays, movies, etc.) But there are only three ways that God has ordained of representing the death of Christ: the reading of Scripture, the preaching of Scripture, and the Sacraments. And so, in the Lord’s Supper, in the breaking of the bread and pouring forth of wine, we have God’s appointed method of representing the death of Jesus Christ.
When Paul says in our text “ye do show” he means we declare and testify, but he also means we make manifest and call attention to the death of Christ. Christianity declares that Christ died, rose again, and we cannot come to the Lord’s Table without showing and declaring it. The moment we gather around the table and break bread and pour out wine, we declare, testify, and manifest to all observing that “God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation for our sins.” Remember this, dear ones, the next time you gather around the sacred table and partake of the bread and wine that you are showing forth Christ’s death for His people.
Friday Devotional: June 12, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
