What does the term “memorial” mean in the Bible? In his book When Justice and Peace Embrace, Nicholas Wolterstorff provides some insightful guidance. He suggests that the Hebrew concept of memorial is a “public doing in remembrance,” and that “Israel understood and practiced virtually all aspects of its worship as doings-in-memorial.”
Wolterstorff explains:
“The heart of the Jewish concept of the memorial is that the people bring the object of the memorial to the attention of someone other. To eat the Passover supper as a memorial of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt is for Israel to bring someone’s attention to that deliverance. So, too, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a memorial of Jesus is for the church to bring its Lord to someone’s attention.”
Wolterstorff asks “to whose attention is something presented when some memorial action is performed?” and identifies three aspects of biblical memorials.
First, memorial is a covenantal appeal to God:
“On the one hand, God is the recipient. The context in which the people presents its memorial to God… is always that of thanking God for his covenant fidelity… and of interceding with God for his continued blessing in the future.”
Second, memorial involves corporate exhortation:
“On the other hand, by doing something in memorial, the people may also bring to its own attention the memorialized event or person. The context in which the people presents its memorial to itself is that of a renewed commitment to obedience.”
Finally, memorial is a ritual drama and entails
“the incorporation of a ritualized reenactment of the central event that is being memorialized. This feature is especially obvious in the Passover celebration, but it is also a significant aspect of the six-plus-one rhythm of work and rest… Israel understood the six-plus-one rhythm to be a life-long recapitulation, a life-long doing-in-remembrance, of God’s great acts of creation and delighting in creation, and of liberating his people…”
The pattern of Christian worship is similar:
“The church conducts its worship within the context of remembering and expecting as well, but the great event at the center of its expecting is now the full arrival of God’s Kingdom, that Kingdom whose content is shalom… and the pivotal center of its worship on [the Lord’s Day] is its celebration of the Lord’s Supper as a memorial.”
