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The Remembrance Supper--its Significance.
The attitudes of many Urantia Book readers to the remembrance supper suffers from a preconditioning derived from the Christian church's association of the supper with their doctrine of forgiveness of sin through Jesus' sacrificial death. But the authors of the Urantia Papers, though fully aware of this difficulty, nevertheless place great emphasis on the symbolic significance of the last supper for all who would follow Jesus.
As Jesus handed the "cup of blessing" to his disciples he said, "Take this cup, all of you, and drink of it. This shall be the cup of my remembrance. This is the cup of the blessing of a new dispensation of grace and truth. This shall be to you the emblem of the bestowal and ministry of the divine Spirit of Truth." (1941)
The Master, we are told, was instituting this remembrance supper as a symbol of a new dispensation wherein the individual emerges from the bondage of ceremonialism and selfishness into the spiritual joy of the brotherhood and fellowship of the faith sons of the living God.
Then, having broken the bread and handed it around, the Master stated that this "bread of life" was representative of the "word of the Father as revealed in the Son."
The authors of the Papers take pains to stress the dangers of turning this symbolism into some precise, crystallized ceremonial form. But they also inform us that when it is partaken by those who are Son-believing and God-knowing that on all such occasions the Master is really present. Hence it cannot be other than important that we take them seriously.
"The remembrance supper is the believer's symbolic rendezvous with Michael. When you become thus spirit-conscious, the Son is actually present, and his spirit fraternizes with the indwelling fragment of his Father." (1942)
Said Jesus, "When you do these things, recall the life I have lived on earth...and rejoice that I am to continue to live on earth with you and to serve through you."
This Paper's author describes the inauguration of the symbolic supper as a mighty occasion that took place in the upper room of the home of a friend. There was nothing of sacred form or ceremonial consecration about either the supper or the venue. Jesus concluded by giving us this new supper as a symbol of his bestowal life--the word of eternal truth, his love for us, and the outpouring of the Spirit of Truth.
It is well that we take notice of the repeated emphasis given to the importance of the Spirit of Truth. It comes to a head in Section 2 of the following Paper in which Jesus uses the symbolism of the vine and its branches.
"I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine and you are the branches. And the Father requires of me only that you shall bear much fruit."
An imperative form of address is used in what follows. We are told that every branch that bears no fruit, the Father will take away, but every branch that bears fruit, the Father will cleanse that it may bear more fruit.
"You must abide in me and I in you," says Jesus, "the branch will die if it is separated from the vine."
That comment deserves our concentrated thought and reflection. It appears that Urantia Book readers are dead ducks if they ignore Jesus' word--see:
"If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine spirit in their lives, they are dead." (2054)
Perhaps it would be better never to have had these Papers than to ignore their content, for at least we could have then entered a plea of ignorance.
Jesus continues, "He who lives in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit of the spirit and experience the supreme joy of yielding this spiritual harvest." (1945)
Would it not be wonderful if the scene subsequently described could some day be reflected in the earthly lives of those privileged to possess the Urantia Papers such that observers would say:
"And when the world sees these fruit-bearing branches--my friends who love one another, even as I have loved them--all men will know that you are truly my disciples." (1945)
Jesus concludes, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Live in my love even as I live in the Father's love. If you do as I have taught you, you shall abide in my love even as I have kept the Father's word and evermore abide in his love."
Properly used in group gatherings the remembrance supper could be of great help in cementing loving relationships. As well, it can remind individuals of the necessity to become
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