The LHMM celebrates the memorial of Jesus' death once a year as possibly the one most sacred event in their group. The memorial consists of sharing bread and wine (or juice) according to 1 Cor 11:26. ("For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." NIV) This is similar to communion celebrated in most churches at various times. This verse says "as often as" or "whenever" implying that the remembrance need not be only once a year. Even though type of the memorial (the Passover) occurred once a year, there are other indications in Scripture that it may have been celebrated properly more often in the early church. It is interesting to note that according to this verse the LHMM has a problem because they believe that the Lord has already arrived invisibly in 1874. So they are no longer "proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes".
They go to great lengths to calculate the "correct date" of this event and consider others that may celebrate (sometime more often as communion which is essentially the same service) at other times to be wrong. There is quite a difficulty among Bible Students in calculating this date which falls around the time commonly known as Easter. Practices for calculating the yearly date vary among Bible Student groups. Paul Johnson changed his method of calculating memorial dates in the later 1920's based on conjunction of the moon with the sun, rather than on first visibility. The modern Watch Tower organization (Jehovah's Witnesses) go by conjuction at Brooklyn, NY to give no credit to Jerusalem. A majority of others Bible Students groups choose the date by the published Jewish calendar.
Who's right? Maybe it just isn't that crucial. Maybe with God it's "the thought that counts"?
When is an issue important enough to divide over, or should it just be a matter of friendly discussion?
LHMM writings tend to over stress small things as if there is always only one right and correct way to be. The Bible doesn't make it that clear. One possible reason why the LHMM stresses the yearly observance on their day is to create a visible difference between the LHMM and other churches. It seems that certain traditions were instituted for the sake of differentiation and not necessarily because of their Biblical nature.
"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." - Attributed to John Wesley or St. Augustine
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"They go to great lengths to calculate the "correct date" of this event and consider others that may celebrate (sometime more often as communion which is essentially the same service) at other times to be wrong."
I'll be celebrating the Lord's Memorial tomorrow night... yes, I think that is the proper date... wrong, that is, that we think that other celebrating on any other date are doing something drastically wrong. In fact, on a ex JW site I posted that each one should celebrate it on the date they personally think is correct... what else can any reasonable person do.
It has been shown that the Society arrives at the date by doing what Christendom does... the BS groups mostly do whatever the Jewish Calandar promotes, but the method the Jews currently use is not the same one they used in antiquity.
The real importance in the Memorial supper is understanding it's significance... what it represents. No one has the right to tell another what they must believe on this or any issue. We've had total strangers come in a participate in our service... We believe what goes on is between the Lord and the individual.
Referring to the institution of the Memorial of Jesus’ death, Paul wrote: “As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.” (1 Corinthians 11:25, 26) Some feel that the word “often” here indicates that Christ’s death should be commemorated frequently, in the sense of many times. Hence, they commemorate it more often than once a year. Is that what Paul meant?
It is now almost 2,000 years since Jesus inaugurated the Memorial of his death. Therefore, celebrating the Memorial even once a year means that it has been celebrated often since 33 C.E. However, in the context of 1 Corinthians 11:25, 26, Paul was discussing, not how often, but how the Memorial should be observed. In the original Greek, he did not use the word pol·la′kis, which means “often” or “frequently.” Rather, he used the word ho·sa′kis, which means “as often as,” an idiom meaning “whenever,” “every time that.” Paul was saying: ‘Every time that you do this, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord.’
How often, then, should the Memorial of Jesus’ death be commemorated? It is appropriate to observe it just once a year. It truly is a memorial, and memorials are usually observed annually. In addition, Jesus died on the day of the Jewish Passover, which was held once a year. Appropriately, Paul referred to Jesus as “Christ our passover,” since Jesus’ sacrificial death opened the way to life for spiritual Israel, just as the first Passover sacrifice preserved alive the natural Israelites’ firstborn in Egypt and opened the way for the nation’s release from slavery. (1 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 6:16) This connection with the annual Jewish Passover is further evidence that the Memorial of Jesus’ death should be observed just once a year.
Moreover, Paul associated Jesus’ death with another annual Jewish feast, the Day of Atonement. At Hebrews 9:25, 26, we read: “Neither is it in order that [Jesus] should offer himself often, as indeed the high priest enters into the holy place from year to year [on Atonement Day] with blood not his own. . . . But now he has manifested himself once for all time at the conclusion of the systems of things to put sin away through the sacrifice of himself.” Since Jesus’ sacrifice replaced the annual Atonement Day sacrifice, the Memorial of his death is properly observed annually. There is no Scriptural reason to observe the Memorial more frequently than that.
In harmony with this, historian John Laurence von Mosheim reports that the second-century Christians in Asia Minor were accustomed to observing the Memorial of Jesus’ death “on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month [Nisan].” It was only in later years that it became customary in Christendom to observe it more often than once a year.
Compare the account at 1 Samuel 1:3, 7. There, “as often as” (in the modern translation of the Hebrew) refers to events that happened “from year to year,” or once a year, when Elkanah and his two wives went to the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Jesus did not specifically state how often it was to be done. He simply said: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Paul said: “For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.” (1 Cor. 11:26) “As often” need not mean many times a year; it can mean annually over a period of many years. If you commemorate an important event, such as a wedding anniversary, or if a nation commemorates an important event in its history, how often is it done? Once a year on the anniversary date. This would also be consistent with the fact that the Lord’s Evening Meal was instituted on the date of the Jewish Passover, a yearly celebration that no longer had to be kept by Jews who had become Christians
The last supper replaced the Passover. The Passover was celebrated once a year because the date of deliverance was special. The same is true of the day Jesus died. Once a year on the anniversary date.
Most people would agree with the last statement,because a wedding is a special event that is taken special notice of on the original date.
Maybe with God it is the thought that counts? I would like to see that scripture. The passover was once a year on Nisan 14, this was instituted on that same day. The fact that Jesus actually died on that day is proof enough to make that very day special even though we should show thanks for the ransom every day.
How often is Christmas,or Jesus birth celebrated?
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