Inspired by a person who calls herself 2Proud2BeMe on Youtube, in
her part 2 on the Memorial, I realized the following:
JW's criticize Christian religions for celebrating the birth of Christ (Christmas).
One of the reasons they use is:
Jesus Christ is no longer a baby. People need to recognize that Jesus
grew to manhood, then sacrificed his life for all mankind, and is now King
in the Heavens.
Yet, JW's continue to celebrate the death of Jesus Christ, that sacrifice, even though
the following are true (according to JW doctrine):
Christ is no longer dead, but has been raised to Spirit life to present his sacrifice.
Christ is no longer awaiting his throne, but has been made King in 1914.
Christ is no longer gone from the earth. He returned invisibly in 1914.
The NWT says at 1 Corinthians 11:26:
"For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the
death of the Lord, until he arrives."
The cross reference after the word "arrive" in the NWT leads to 1 Thesslonians 4:17.
Reading vs. 17 alone could lead a JW to think that this arrival means the beginning
of the big "A" but not if one reads 1 Thess. 4:15-17:
"(15) For this is what we tell you by Jehovah's word, that we the living who survive
to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep
[in death]; (16) because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a
commanding call, with an archangel's voice and with God's trumpet, and those
who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. (17) Afterward we the living who
are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord
in the air; and thus we shall always be with [the] Lord.
Okay, JW doctrine has been rewritten since they introduced this version of the scripture,
but I read that the Lord arrives when it is time to collect the dead anointed. That means
1914. The cross reference scripture starts with the word "Afterward" because that time
is after the Lord arrives.
SO- once they said the Lord arrived in 1914 (granted it was way after 1914), they should
have ended the Memorial. Just as Christendom should stop celebrating the birth of the
saviour because his birth is no longer the significant thing, Jehovah's Witnesses should
stop celebrating the death of the saviour because his death is no longer the significant
thing. They could still meet on Nisan 14 (or whenever) but the passing of bread and wine
should cease. Perhaps they could meet on October 1 (the day they seem to think is
closer to the events of everything in the Bible including Christ's invisible presence) to
celebrate the anniversary of Christ's enthronement and invisible presence. That way,
JW's would yearly be reminded of the number of years into "this generation" that have
passed without Armageddon's imminent arrival.
Taking comments from you now on this "new light." (Well, to me, anyway.)