The Memorial of Christ’s death that the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses annually commemorate is really a renamed and redefined version of a very significant event in the bible. This event is what is commonly known amongst Christians everywhere as “The Last Supper”, which was the final meal Christ had with his disciples before he gave up his life on the cross on behalf of mankind. The Last Supper is described in three of the four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some of the details of the last supper as recorded in the gospels are as follows;
First, Jesus predicts He will suffer soon after this meal and it will be His last meal prior to finishing His work on behalf of the kingdom of God (Luke 22:15-16). Second, Jesus gives His followers symbols of remembrance for His body and His blood sacrificed on behalf of all mankind. "And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
Third, Jesus provides a very important principle for living a Christian life: the greatest are those who serve others, not those who expect to be served (Luke 22:26). Finally, Jesus provides hope to his followers: "and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Luke 22:29-30).
For the last 2 millennia Christians throughout the world have been participating in this event. Some participate annually, some monthly and some more often than that. How often we do this is not really important as the bible says“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes, (1corinthians11:26) Since no specific mention is made as to how often a Christian can do this, it is perfectly fine that the Watchtower Society has chosen for their followers an annual observance only. Their observance is usually during the same week as the Jewish Passover, which was when Jesus instituted this new observance for believers.
Third, Jesus provides a very important principle for living a Christian life: the greatest are those who serve others, not those who expect to be served (Luke 22:26). Finally, Jesus provides hope to his followers: "and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Luke 22:29-30).
For the last 2 millennia Christians throughout the world have been participating in this event. Some participate annually, some monthly and some more often than that. How often we do this is not really important as the bible says“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes, (1corinthians11:26) Since no specific mention is made as to how often a Christian can do this, it is perfectly fine that the Watchtower Society has chosen for their followers an annual observance only. Their observance is usually during the same week as the Jewish Passover, which was when Jesus instituted this new observance for believers.
The problem with the Watchtowers observance of this event is in the “How” they carry out this observance. They have literally kicked the body of Christ out of the covenant with Jesus, forbidding the majority of them to participate in this meal by limiting the number of those who can participate to only 144,000 out of all the peoples who have ever lived since Christ’s first appearance on earth, until now. And they claim that number has been almost completely filled, thus almost no one at one of their memorial observance can partake of the bread and the wine.
This number has been taken from the highly symbolic book of Revelation and curiously, while the Watchtower Society claims the number is literal, they reject the description of the 144,000 who are all men, all virgins, and all from Jewish tribes. (See Revelation14:2-4). In addition to this, the number 144,000 was never mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ or by any of the Apostles.
During the Watchtower’s Memorial of Christ’s death, they insist that almost the entire congregation merely pass the wine and bread around without partaking and thus they are In effect rejecting the blood and body of Christ!
Jesus Christ, the author of our faith tells us in his own words that there is no eternal life for us UNLESS we “drink his blood and eat his flesh”, which are symbolically represented at the memorial by the bread and the wine. By partaking of these we are personally accepting Christ’s ransom which was paid by him on our behalf, by his death on the cross. And we are obeying his command concerning the New Covenant that we are to do this each year “in Remembrance of him” up until his return. (Luke 22:19)
The Words of Jesus regarding the last supper are strong; if you do not do this he says “you have no life in you”. This means you have NO everlasting life whether in heaven or on the earth, for you will not be raised up on the last day. Read Jesus’ words at John 6:52-56 and prayerfully consider them. In the end you need to decide if you will heed Jesus words or follow the false teachings of the Watchtower Society. Please ask yourself, WHOM does the Bible say has the words of eternal life? (John 6:68)
*The Kings Table Ministry has prepared a flyer that can be used to Witness about the Memorial to Jehovah’s’ Witnesses. For a copy of this flyer, please hit the link on this site that says “The Memorial Witnessing Flyer”. Peace be with you
