Maundy Thursday
Beloved. Tonight on this Maundy Thursday we gather around a two-fold theme. First, we tonight begin to see the great, heavy, serious events of Jesus’ Passion begin to unfold. We read in tonight’s Gospel: By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. The events were underway that would lead to Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. Of course, Jesus being the all-knowing God, knew this. He knew exactly what would happen to Him, what He would have to suffer to save the world from its sin, to reconcile us sinners to the holy God, to bring us the forgiveness of sins. Shortly after the events of tonight’s Gospel reading, we read [Jn 13.21]: When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me. And in fact, even before in Holy Week, Jesus said [Jn 12.27]: Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. And of course, later on that Maundy Thursday night in Gethsemane Jesus said to His disciples [Mt 26.38]: My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. So, yes, Jesus knew exactly what would be happening to Him, all that He would suffer, and He, though greatly troubled and anguished, went out and did it—all for us and our salvation.
That’s what we see Jesus picturing for His disciples then and us today—Jesus coming and serving us; the true God becoming true man to serve and save us. Jesus was giving an object lesson for the upcoming events and of His words that He had spoken earlier about Himself [Mt. 20.28]: The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. And this leads us into the other theme we see on Maundy Thursday—our Lord’s love and care for Church, for His dear Christians. In His great love for us, He came and knowingly and willingly endured everything to serve us to be our Savior. In His great love for His disciples then and for His Church down through the ages, Jesus gave us the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. In it He continues to come to serve us, giving us the fruit and blessing of His work—the forgiveness of sin and eternal life; in it He comes to us and unites with us as He gives us His body and blood; in it He comes to us to strengthen our faith.
And as we see these two thoughts side by side—the unfolding of the Passion and Jesus; love and care of His Church/ Christian, we see this Maundy Thursday Jesus’ great love for us precisely in the midst of His great suffering. Here we see the great love and grace of our Lord to us in this holy Sacrament. Precisely in the very moment that He is being handed over for our sin, He is still thinking only of us. So great and fervent is His love for us. This is a true Sacrament of love—our Lord’s love of us. May we, then, love Him and this Sacrament He gave us!
Our text begins: For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. The Lord’s Supper is the Lord’s Supper. The sanctity of the Supper, of this Sacrament rests on the authority of our Lord Jesus Himself. It is not something humanly devised that we are free to do with as we want. Jesus gave it to the Church for all time.
The Lord’s Supper is a great mystery. It is a mystery because its meaning and significance must be explained and we can only see it fully and rightly with the eyes of faith. Although Jesus could have instituted anything to serve as a Sacrament to give us the blessings of the forgiveness of sin and eternal life, to strengthen faith and to unite with Him, He didn’t. He chose to use the simple bread and wine: He broke [the bread] and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the meal, he also took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood. The human eye and reason see only bread and wine; but Jesus explains and we see with the eyes of faith Jesus’ very body and blood. But this was not a random choosing of Jesus to come to us using the simple and humble means of bread and wine. Instead, it is rooted in the past and here we see the rich fullness. Of course, obvious background is the Passover. That’s when the Lord was working to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. The Passover was at the 10th plague—the killing of the first born. The Lord told the Israelites to kill a lamb for the Passover, smear its blood on the doorposts of the house, and to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The Angel of Death would see the blood on the doorposts and Passover the house, sparing those inside from the plague of death. [Ex. 12.13] The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There will be no plague among you to destroy you, when I strike down the land of Egypt. The blood means death. At the Passover the Angel of Death came to collect the payment but the blood on the doorpost means that the payment had already been made.
What is fascinating is that in the accounts of the Last Supper mention is made of the bitter herbs, the unleavened bread and the wine; but in none is there a mention made of the Passover lamb, the main course. To be sure, Jesus and the disciples certainly had one, but by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration the holy writers did not record it. Why? Maybe it was to direct all our attention to a different sacrifice; that with this meal, with the Lord’s Supper, the body that is offered is not that of an animal but that Jesus Himself is the Passover lamb to be sacrificed on the cross to save humanity; that those who in faith smear the doorposts of their hearts with His blood will be saved. When Jesus says: “This is my body, which is for you…” “This cup is the new testament in my blood”, that is the language of sacrifice—body and blood have been separated. Jesus voluntarily offers up His Body and Blood as the true Passover lamb; all that is left is for that sacrifice to be carried out on the cross. St. Paul wrote earlier in this epistle [1 Cor 5.7b]: For our Passover lamb has been sacrificed, namely, Christ! Just as the Passover Lamb was eaten by all those at the Passover meal so now in the holy Sacrament, Jesus, the true Passover Lamb is consumed by those receiving the Sacrament. The very lamb that was sacrificed by the Israelites and whose blood spared them the plague of death was truly eaten; in Holy Communion we eat the very body of that very Passover Lamb, Jesus, who was sacrificed and whose blood spares us from the plague of eternal damnation. Just as the Israelites were certain that they would be spared the angel of death as they had smeared their doorposts with the lamb’s blood and now ate the flesh of that lamb, even so we can be certain as we eat Jesus’ body that He, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed and we will be spared eternal death and will receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life instead. We need never doubt our salvation or forgiveness; if we do, all we need to do is to run to the holy altar to receive/ eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Passover Lamb. As we receive Jesus’ very blood, that is the very blood that was offered to the Father for our sin, that was “This is my body, which is for you…” “This cup is the new testament in my blood.”
So, yes, although there is a rich Old Testament background, it is still a great mystery that in Holy Communion we receive Jesus’ very body and blood. It is something we cannot explain rationally. But what is wrong with a mystery? With not being able to figure something out? Let us simply let Jesus’ words stand, This is My body…This is My blood, and take them in faith that He can and does do as He promised and gives them to us, unites Himself with us, and gives us all of His benefits He won for us on the cross. Let us run to our Lord, hold fast to His word and in faith receive His gifts and blessings.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The Lord’s Supper is a great mystery—all the how’s we cannot understand —but we are to proclaim it and to keep doing it in remembrance of Jesus. Now this remembrance is not some foggy sentimental notion; nor is it even to think back fondly on Jesus and His work. Instead, the idea of remembering is to make it a present reality. It really is if we were there; it is as if we were participating in it. The past event becomes present, before our eyes. And this is the grace of our Lord. The psalmist tells us [111.4]: [The Lord] has made His wonderful works to be remembered. As we Do this in remembrance of me, here is God-given wisdom, fear of the Lord, faith resting on Jesus’ word. So what happens, then, each time we celebrate the Blessed Sacrament? Jesus’ saving work is again before our eyes. With the eyes of faith, we see re-presented that glorious event of our salvation that was accomplished in Jerusalem. So when we gather around the altar, like we sing, we can, seeing with the eyes of faith, point to the communion bread and say[Jn 1.29]: There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! We can see Him on the cross for us and our salvation. As we receive the wine, we see there the blood of Jesus as it dripped from His wounds; that very blood that was presented to the Father. We hear and rejoice at Jesus’ words: This cup is the new testament in my blood. There as we look into the chalice, we see the blood of Jesus that satisfied the old covenant, the one that brought us death; we see the blood of the new covenant which is the forgiveness of sins and which gives us life. Jesus is before us with His gifts and blessings; He is bodily with us and we receive Him in our mouths and unite with Him and in Him with our fellow communicants.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Each time we walk up to Holy Communion and kneel around the altar we are confessing our faith. Not only are we confessing that we believe the same faith as the person next to us and at the table before or after us—which is why we and the Church since the very beginning practice closed communion—but as we receive Jesus’ body and blood in our mouth we are confessing that Jesus gave His body and shed His blood to save us, which is why we are going to the altar to receive the Blessed Sacrament. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. We proclaim to those who are afflicted and anxious that here in the Sacrament is true comfort; to those who are weak in the faith we proclaim that in the Sacrament is their strength; to those who are believers, we proclaim that here in the sacrament their faith is confirmed.
Since Jesus is here in the Sacrament and we receive His body and blood and are united with Him and He is in us, He transforms our lives. We have new spiritual life. We have Him in us leading and empowering us in our fight against sin. And when we do sin, He is there with His forgiveness. Jesus in us, His body and blood are like a medicine purifying us. When we receive the Holy Sacrament, we are confessing that we receive these great spiritual blessings—otherwise why go if there is no blessing or advantage? But when we go, we confess the value and worth of the Lord’s death.
Let us not forget that connection with the Passover. Of the Passover the Lord gave the command: This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt ready for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. That Passover meal gave the people sustenance, at least for a while for their journey. The Lord’s Supper is food for our journey until we reach our heavenly home. Here Jesus strengthens us with His gifts and blessings; He strengthens us with Himself; He strengthens our faith.
The Lord’s Supper is a great mystery—bread, wine, body and blood—who can understand it? Let us partake of it often to receive and proclaim its great blessings. INJ