According to Luke's Gospel, when Christ Jesus celebrated the feast of the Passover with his disciples, he "took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves." And after breaking bread with them, he said, "This do in remembrance of me."Luke 22:17, 19;
A higher understanding of the Passover had come with Jesus' great healing ministry. He had gratefully fulfilled its demands: he had lived a life that prepared him for the final passover from the material sense of life to the spiritual, from mortal struggle to immortal peace. Now his followers must divide the cup of earnest endeavor among themselves. What Jesus accomplished as an individual, humanity must accomplish as a society developing in Christian unity. Jesus carried the burden of demonstration all alone. His followers carry it together.
Christian Science brings new light to the thought of remembrance. It makes clear that living the spirit of Truth rather than following a ritual is the essence of this remembrance. Dividing (or sharing) the wine of inspiration and the bread of true substance with others commemorates the life of Jesus. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy says: "Jesus' history made a new calendar, which we call the Christian era; but he established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men can be baptized, partake of the Eucharist, support the clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and yet be sensual and sinful."Science and Health, p. 20;
