On May 5, there will be a celebration.  Some cities have parades.  Mexican culture is celebrated.  Restaurants and bars have specials.

What is it all about?  Some have no idea.  It is just an excuse for a party.  Others mistakenly believe that it is Mexican Independence Day.  It is not.  That day is Dieciseis de Septiembre.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican army’s defeat of a much larger French army at the Battle of Puebla.  Mexico had defaulted on debts owed to European governments.  The French, British and Spanish governments sent troops to Veracruz demanding payment.  The British and Spanish negotiated with Mexico and withdrew their troops.  The French did not.  The Battle of Puebla occurred on May 5, 1862.  About 2,000 Mexican soldiers defeated a force of about 6,000 French.  News of the victory spread to California, where is began to be annually celebrated in Columbia, California.  In time, the French would take control of the country and maintain that control for three years.  However, Cinco de Mayo became a day of Mexican pride for some (See: Holiday of Cinco de Mayo is Minor Event in Mexico by Oscar Casares, Houston Chronicle, May 5, 2010, Chron.com; Cinco de Mayo, history.com). 

Application: It is possible for people to do things without knowing what is meant.  The Israelites were told, “When your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households’” (Exodus 12:26-27).  God did not simply want them to keep the Passover; He wanted them to keep it knowing what it meant. 

It is not enough to partake of the Lord’s Supper.  We are to do so “in remembrance” of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), “discerning” his body (1 Corinthians 11:29). 

It is not enough to be baptized.  It is to be done for the correct reason.  “They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38 cf. 3:19).