Memorials

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

"We’re here!” Joshua and Jonathan tumbled out of the car and ran ahead of their parents through a gate. Then they stopped and looked around, puzzled. “This is a cemetery!” Jonathan said. “I thought we were going to a battlefield!”

“Yeah,” said Joshua. “The only soldier around here is that statue in the middle of the graves. My teacher says statues like that are memorials—things to help us remember something.”

“That’s right,” Dad said as they moved toward the statue. “Actually, this whole battlefield—which, by the way, extends beyond the cemetery—is a memorial.”

Mom nodded. “A memorial can have different forms,” she said. “It can be a statue like the one we’re looking at. Or it can be a holiday—like Memorial Day. Or even a service designed to remind us of someone or something.”

“Like how on Memorial Day we remember people who have died,” Jonathan said.

“Yes,” said Mom. “On that day, we especially remember those who died while serving their country—men and women like the soldiers buried in this cemetery.”

The boys began roaming around, reading the tombstones. “Hey, look!” Jonathan called. “This guy had the same name as me. ‘Jonathan Wright. Born 1760. Died 1778.’ That means he was only…uh…” Jonathan thought for a moment. “Eighteen years old when he died. He wasn’t very old!”

“Do you boys know how old Jesus was when He died?” asked Dad.

“Thirty-three,” said Joshua. He rolled a pebble on the gravel path under his shoe. “Why don’t we have a memorial day for Jesus?” he asked.

“Oh, we do!” said Dad. “We remember His death on Good Friday, but we also have a day when we remember His resurrection. We call it…”

“Easter!” the boys said in unison.

“Yes,” said Mom, “and we not only have special days to remember and celebrate what Jesus did for us. We also have a memorial service. Every time we have the Lord’s Supper at church—or Communion as it’s also called—we’re reminding ourselves of Jesus’s death and the sacrifice He made to free us from sin.”

–Barbara J. Westberg

How about you? Have you thanked God for the sacrifices others have made for your freedom? How about the sacrifice Jesus made to free you from sin? Christians celebrate Good Friday, Easter, and Communion to remember that sacrifice. As you remember His death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection, and the fact that He will come again, give thanks for all Jesus has done for you.

Today's Key Verse: [Jesus said], “This is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (NKJV) 1 Corinthians 11:24

Today's Key Thought: Remember Jesus’s sacrifice