Easter, a time for remembering

Easter is all about remembering. Remembering Christ's Passion, remembering his death, remembering his resurrection, and remembering the forgiveness of our sins. But how does the Biblical concept of remembering differ from say, remembering our last visit to the beach, or remembering our phone number?

When we celebrate Eucharist, the Prayer of Invitation prayed by the Priest calls us to 'receive  . . .  in remembrance that Christ died for us'.  Here the word remembrance draws on the ancient  Greek concept of ¹Anamnesis, a term that implies a far deeper meaning than simply recalling something to mind. Aanamnisis should be more properly understood as doing again, making present or renewing.  When scripture tells us that  'God remembered His promises to Abraham, for example, it doesn't simply mean he recalled his covenant to memory, it means he actually made it present again, and renewed its power in the lives of his people

Our own understanding of this spiritual concept deepens every Easter as we considered the story prior to Calvary, back to the Exodus and explored the linkages between Passover, the Seder (the post Egyptian form of Passover) and Eucharist, all of which major on anamnisis or remembrance.

The Passover which Jesus shared with his disciples remembers the flight from Egypt (Exodus 12) where the Israelites slaughtered an unblemished lamb and place its blood on the doorposts and lintel on each house. That night  when the angel of the Lord travelled through Egypt only those houses with the lamb's blood on their doorposts would be spared. The annual anamnisis of this salvivic act of God became embodied in the Seder, an intergenerational ritual meal where family and friends gather in obedience to God during Passover, to remember the events  of their salvation history. Through this meal of anamnisis, each successive generation became grafted into Israel's story, and God's promise became personal to each, even though they were not even born at the time the promises were made. 

It was at this meal of anamnisis that Jesus celebrated what many Christians now call 'The Last Supper' with his disciples. (Mk 14:12-16; Lk22:17-20; 1Cor 11:23-25) 

At that meal there would have been three pieces of unleavened bread to anamnisis the promises made to the three patriaches, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and four cups of wine to anamnisis the four distinct redemptions promised by God (Exodus 6:6-7):  "I will take you out of Egypt",  "I will deliver you from slavery",  "I will redeem you with a demonstration of my power", and "I will acquire you as a nation".  

There would also have been a fifth cup of wine called "The Cup of Elijah." This cup is poured as part of every Seder, but never consumed. Instead it is reserved for the Prophet, who scripture tells us is to herald the coming of Messiah at Passover, one day.  

During the meal, the first piece of unleavened bread is blessed and  a portion of it is torn off and reserved in a linen napkin alongside the Elijah cup. It is called the afikomen, a Greek term, that means 'for what (or for whom) is to come'. 

The afikomen is not consumed as part of the meal though the reason seems to have become lost, but at the conclusion of the Last Supper, all that would have been left on Jesus' table would have been the Elijah cup and the afikomen. 

When the words of the liturgy tell us that, 'after supper, Jesus took the cup/bread', these are the very elements he would have taken, blessed and entrusted to us to anamnisisise him.  

Being well schooled in Hebrew Scriptures and tradition, the significance of Christ's actions and words would have been very clearly understood by all present in the room. They were an unmistakable statement, almost shouted, by Jesus  that he was Messiah, and that the promises made to Israel through the patriaches  would pass on in perpetuity, to all who believed in him, through this new meal of anamnisis, the Eucharist, and that there was now 'neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor free, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.'  (Gal 3:28)

 So, just as each successive Jewish generation incorporated itself into God's promises each Passover, so we who live under the New Covenant graft ourselves into the same story as co-inherit-ants of all God's promises through our remembrance of Easter, and the salvation Christ  won for us.

Anamnesis is not a simple intellectual function; it is an action (it) does not simply refer to the past, it makes present the past and the future.

As members of the eucharistic community we recall again to consciousness the economy of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Christ, his ascension, and Pentecost. We live them. ³

Anamnisis is not just a word, it's what church does.