Do you remember?
When the ancient Israelites came into the land of Canaan, they were told to remember and retell their story:
A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 26:5-9)
This creed begins in verse 5 with Abraham in the third person, but starting in verse 6, it talks about “us.” It’s like we were there. We were slaves in Egypt, and God rescued us and blessed us. The people of Israel of every generation were to identify themselves as participants in the national story.
God made a covenant with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai (Horeb), but because of the people’s persistent disobedience, that generation died in the wilderness. When the next generation was about to enter the land, Moses led them in a renewal of the covenant, and he told them:
The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire. (Deuteronomy 5:2-4)
Some of the older people in this audience may have been children at Mt. Sinai, but most of the people were not there. Nevertheless, Moses speaks to them as if they were. He wants them to see themselves as being there. It is their story.
The traditional Passover liturgy includes a similar provision:
When your children ask you, “What does this observance mean to you?” you shall say, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.” (Exodus 12:26-27)
Again, the people are invited to remember not just the history, but to see themselves as part of that history. They were there. They suffered under Pharaoh. They saw the mighty works of God. They heard the words from Sinai. They failed to do what they had promised to do. They experienced God’s mercy. They are living in the same story. We all need to remember where we’ve come from, how we got here, and how we should respond.
The Christian story
Christians also have a point of reference that defines who we are – it’s the story of Jesus. One song asks the question: Were you there when they crucified our Lord? Were you there when they put him in the tomb? A historian might say it’s a dumb question, because we weren’t even alive then.
But the Bible says we were there. Do you remember it?
Paul says, “We were buried with him” (Romans 6:4). “If we died with Christ” – and he assumes that we did – “we believe that we will also live with him” (verse 8). We were there when he called, “Follow me.” We were there when he fed the 5000, when he called Lazarus to come out of the grave. His story is our story.
We were with him at the Transfiguration, at the wedding in Cana, at the temptations in the wilderness, on the journey to Jerusalem, at the triumphal entry and the Garden of Gethsemane. Do you remember being there, watching, wondering, falling asleep? Do you remember when he was arrested, beaten, nailed to a cross? We should, because we were nailed with him.
“Our old self was crucified with him,” says Paul in verse 6. Praise God that we were there. We were slaves and he set us free. It’s not about our ancestors, it’s not about our old church – it’s about us. The covenant is with us. Do we remember the cup of the new covenant? Jesus shared it with us. Remember?
Historically, two criminals were crucified with Jesus, and perhaps we can see ourselves in them as well. One of the men insulted Jesus; the other asked to be with Jesus in eternity. Perhaps our first reaction to Jesus was like the first man, but now it is the second. And Jesus tells us, even now you are with me.
(OK, for historians, those are not the exact words. The criminal on the cross asked about paradise, the “waiting area” for entry into the kingdom of God, and Jesus didn’t have time for a long explanation of precisely what this might be – he just responded to the man according to what he had been asked. I’m taking a bit of literary license here. Our old criminal self was crucified with Jesus, and we can see some parallels with this conversation between Jesus and the criminal. For the remainder of the story, however, we are with Jesus.)
Raised with Christ
The good news is that we were crucified with Jesus; the good news is also that we were raised with him. Paul writes, “If you have been raised with Christ” – and he implies that we were – “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). We are new people in him, we have a new life – and that means not just more of the same, but a new kind of life, a new reason for life, a new way of life. We are with Christ.
Do you remember that he “made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5)? Do you remember the surge of new life in the power of the Spirit? We were there; I hope we remember.
Do you remember rising into heaven with Jesus? Do you remember being “seated…with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”? Oh, what a glorious memory! We were there; we are there, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I don’t remember a lot of details from my childhood, or when I went to university, or Ambassador College, or when my children were young. But I do remember being baptized, and I think that’s a good thing, because that is a reminder that my life has changed with Jesus Christ. The old self died with Christ, and a new person lives in and is defined in Jesus.
Do you remember your baptism? Do you remember dying with Christ, and being raised to new life in Christ? Were you there when they crucified our Lord? Yes, we were there. We were there when they put him in the tomb, we were there, and we came out with him. Our life is in him. Do you remember?
Pentecost is part of our story, too. This is part of our identity, too. We were there when the Holy Spirit came upon us, changing us. We hide no more – we are confident as we share the good news about Jesus Christ that is also good news about us. How well do we remember it?
Michael Morrison, GCS News, April 2025