JW Commemoration of Jesus' Death

I have exchanged a couple of letters with a local Jehovah’s Witness lady. She initiated the contact and I replied. She was very courteous and respectful, keen to point out similarities rather than differences. In her final letter, she invited me to an online ‘annual commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ’. This is what non-JWs might term their annual communion service, which would not normally lend itself to an online version: one cannot eat bread and drink wine through a computer screen. Yet for most Witnesses, it will make no difference, because they do not partake of the food anyway, merely observing it from afar. Only the 144,000 members of the ‘New Covenant’ elite may do so, “only ‘those who have been called’ in a special way by God.” Regular Witnesses are just relieved they might make it into the ‘crowds’. Their website explains that only a few of them are the ‘"little flock" of those called to rule with Christ, the vast majority of us hope to be part of “a great crowd”.

After all that pavement-pounding, letter-writing and door-knocking, they may only hope to be a part of the crowd of the saved; hence, they may gaze at the communion emblems, but neither touch nor taste. If salvation is based on human effort, they are quite right. Not knowing if our acts of service are sufficient, we may only hope for the best, and admire from a distance. If, on the other hand, salvation is a freely bestowed gift of God’s grace, purchased in full, then one may partake of it with confidence and assurance. With boldness, one may eat and drink, knowing that though our efforts will only ever be insufficient, Christ’s were more than enough.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16