Maundy Thursday Sermon and Service
2024 Maundy Thursday – Exodus 24:3-11; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; Mark 14:12-26
O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
A gift of God’s Word is that from beginning to end we are told the truth. We are told the truth about the human race, and we are told the truth about God. We are told about our sinful collective past and the future that faith in Christ will bring. We are told about God’s astonishing imagination and creativity, and God’s justice.
In the Old Testament, we learn the depths of humankind’s depravity. Oh, the horrors we humans can do: brother kills brother, brother steals from brother, brothers sell a brother into slavery and then tell Dad that his beloved Son was killed by wild animals. Our depravity is not limited to family relations. The Old Testament bears witness to a select group of people. They do what most other tribes and nations do: they work, form and break alliances, try to strengthen their economic development, they expand their influence and borders by going to war, sometimes commit great atrocities, pillage, and plunder. In the Old Testament, we see all the commandments broken, sometimes in spectacular fashion worthy of Hollywood movies.
The Bible witnesses to the seriousness and pervasiveness of sin. It seems to take hardly any effort at all for humans in general, and God’s chosen in particular, to seek after other gods to worship them, steal, commit adultery, murder, bear false witness, and covet.
Our depravity and sinfulness deserve God’s wrath. God is just. God states His expectations of us. When, not if, but when we transgress, we deserve God’s anger and His punishment.
At the same time that God is just and deeply offended by our thoughts, words, and deeds, God loves us and desires to relate to us. How can we atone for our depravity and sins? The beginning of that answer lies in blood, specifically blood that is shed sacrificially.
As Leviticus 17:11 explains, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for life.” So, blood, specifically the shedding of blood is a crucial element in making amends with God. Something, or someone’s lifeblood must be shed to appease God’s wrath. We want God’s peace, not God’s punishment.
The reading from Exodus recounts how Moses spoke to the former slaves of Egypt. He relayed to them all that the LORD had instructed him. These are God’s expectations of you. Included in those statements of expectations are the Ten Commandments. The people agreed that they will obey. They will submit to God’s discipline and guidance. They promised that they will not live according to their natural instincts or desires, but will instead, live according to the LORD’s instructions and think about the community first before acting and speaking.
Once that initial agreement was met, how to atone for the people’s sins? A sacrifice must be made. Animals are substituted for humans. The animals are killed in behalf of humans. Their blood is captured during the sacrifice. Exodus 24:8 says, “And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” The people, now God’s people, are ritually covered in blood. The spilling of the blood satisfies the LORD God’s wrath. God grants them forgiveness and peace.
In the fullness of God’s time, God ends the practice of animal sacrifices. His Son is sent to us to atone for our sins. Jesus Christ’s blood is spilled on our behalf. Jesus bleeds for us. He sacrifices himself for us. His sacrifice appeases God’s wrath towards our depravity and sin for all times and places and peoples.
We continue to sin. Our depravity shows itself. Despite our best intentions, we fall short of God’s expectations. In faith, we return regularly to the LORD who loves us. We are contrite. We repent. God promises to forgiveness on account of Christ’s blood that was spilled for us on the cross.
When Jesus inaugurated and institutionalized the meal we call the Lord’s Supper, he did so with words that remind us of why we are here. At the heart of our Christian community is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Jesus, God’s own Son, sacrifices his body so that he may be killed and that His blood is spilled in atonement for our sins. His sacrifice is the ultimate and final sacrifice. No animal sacrifices will be accepted by God after Christ’s sacrifice.
When we receive the consecrated bread and wine, we receive God’s promise that Christ died for you. We receive Christ’s body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine. If for some reason, we missed the proclamation of the Good News of Christ in the hymns, or the liturgy, or the sermon, we will certainly hear and receive it in the Lord’s Supper. “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you.” “Take and drink, this is my blood shed for you.” His body and blood is given for our forgiveness. Through the gift of the Son, we are covered by the spilling of Christ’s blood.
Christ’s gift to us, we receive through faith.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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