"In Remebrance of Me"

In 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Paul twice quotes the Lord: “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." and “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (my bold). But what is meant by remembrance? Robert Martin explains.

"We have touched upon the meaning of 'remembrance,' which contained for the Hebrew mind a dynamic aspect was not simply a mental exercise. The case of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings xvii, 18) is a good illustration of this dynamic quality. She accuses Elijah of 'recalling' her sin from the past; and the potency of this 'remembering' is seen in the death of her son. To recall, in Biblical thought, means to transport an action which is buried in the past in such a way that its original potency and vitality are not lost but are carried over into the present. 'In remembrance of me,' then, is no bare historical reflection upon the Cross, but a recalling of the crucified and living Christ in such a way that He is personally present in all the fulness and reality of His saving power, and is appropriated by the believers faith."

Robert P. Martin, Worship in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 126.