September 26 - Words of Christ Remembered

September 26 - Words of Christ Remembered

What does it take for you to remember Jesus' words? Do they come into your mind when you are stressed or fearful? Maybe they are just so ingrained in your mind, that like the words to a song you know well, they show up simply because you are thinking about a particular subject.

What about the words your parents spoke to you as a child? Oh my goodness, I still hear my mother's voice in my head sometimes. There were a lot of words spoken to me when I was learning how to drive and I still hear her directing me down the road. I remember things she said to me as she not so patiently was trying to get me to act like an adult, not a spoiled child. Since she died in 1987, I only have memories that help me be the person she was trying to raise.

I discovered a cassette tape several years ago of her delivering a sermon on a Sunday morning in the 1970s. Max transcribed it to a digital format and it was strange to hear her voice again. I'd forgotten exactly what it sounded like. But, it did reinforce the memories of things she said to me.

After the Resurrection, the women were heading to the tomb with spices they had prepared. They weren't prepared, however to find the tomb empty or angels there telling them to "Remember ..." (Luke 24:6b)

But, finally "...they remembered his words." (Luke 24:8)

In John 2, the Jews had just watched Jesus clear the Temple and then he told them "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." (John 2:19) They didn't understand at the time, but John tells us that the temple he spoke of was his body. In John 2:22, John says, "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

In fact, John lets us in on the secret that the disciples actually figured out a lot of things after Jesus had died.

John 12:16 tells us (following the triumphal entry on the donkey into Jerusalem), "At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and they had done these things to him."

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit in John 14 and tells his disciples, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)

Then, in John 16:4, Jesus says again, "I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you."

In Peter's second letter, he asks his readers to remember his words as well as the prophets of old and those of Jesus. "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles."

It is not enough to simply hear or read the words that Jesus spoke. We must remember them.