Maundy Thursday Sermon and Video
Maundy Thursday
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 10:15-25 Luke 22:7-20
O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
The other day I was asked what the word “Maundy” is. Because this word only gets used once a year it is good to say out loud what it refers to. The word was first used in connection with the Thursday before Easter in the 15th century. Maundy is middle English. It derives from the Latin word “Mandatum” which means “command.” It is taken from Jesus’ words in the Vulgate from John 13:34 “mandatum novum do vobis.” “I give to you a new commandment.” The full verse says, “I give to you a new commandment that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” While Maundy is associated with the ceremony of the foot washing, the word itself refers to Jesus giving a new commandment to love.”
Quite a bit happens on this Holy Thursday. John 13 records Jesus washing the Apostles feet. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper. This is also the night Judas betrays Jesus. After supper, they go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is in prayer. Knowing full well what is about to take place, his fully human self would like to not go through the coming suffering. He is so anxious that He sweats blood. He prays, Father, let this cup pass before me, but not my will, but Thine be done. He is arrested in the Garden and his time of suffering for our sakes begins.
All these different scenes from Maundy Thursday are worthy of reflection because they each hold great significance. This year I want to focus on the meal.
Jesus could have died on the cross at any time of the year. But God wanted Jesus to suffer and die for our sakes at this time so that we can have a deeper understanding of Jesus’ sacrificial death. We come away with the awareness that Jesus death on the cross is not an accident or coincidence of history. Jesus’ sacrifice happens at this time in the Jewish religious cycle on purpose. His sacrifice builds on the events surrounding Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt.
Whenever the Passover meal is celebrated, Israel’s story is told again. They use food and drink to commemorate Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Bitter herbs are on the plate and tasted when the bitterness and hardship of slavery is remembered. Charoset is a mixture or a paste made from fruits and nuts. This is meant to resemble mortar and brick which the Jews were forced to make as slaves. Then, there is Matzah, bread without yeast, flat bread, made because they will leave in a hurry and there is no time for the bread to rise. A bone from roasted lamb is also on the plate. It symbolizes the lamb that was slain so that the blood of the lamb could be put on the door posts and the lintel of each Israelite family. The blood meant that death would pass over that particular house. The firstborn of that household would live through the night.
The lamb that was slain was roasted and then eaten by the family.
The Passover can be reduced to three words: Slavery, death, freedom. Israel came to Egypt by invitation during a horrible drought. As the decades passed after Joseph died, they were viewed as a threat and then enslaved. Their freedom began because of two different kinds of death. The first death was that of the lambs that were sacrificed so that their blood could mark Israelite homes and death would pass over them. The second death was punishment for Pharoah’s hard-heartedness. In this tenth plague, the first born of every household in Egypt dies, except those marked by the blood of the lamb. When Pharoah’s own son dies, the wails of grief join the houses of every other Egyptian family. Pharoah is beaten and he lets the people go. Out of death, freedom comes for Israel and they begin their long wandering journey back to the promised land.
The human story can also be reduced to three words: slavery, death, and freedom. When Adam’s heart was hardened and he turned away from the command of God and ate the forbidden fruit, he entered into slavery of sin. Sin enters the human story by the trickery of the devil and the end result is death. Humans may become more sophisticated, but we cannot escape slavery to sin on our own. Our freedom begins in death. In the fullness of God’s wisdom and time, the Son enters our humanity. Through his sacrificial death on the cross, the shackles of sin, death, and the devil are released. On account of Jesus’ death on the cross, we receive through faith, Christ’s righteousness, his forgiveness, and the promise of eternal life. On account of Christ, we are free to begin our long, wandering, journey to the Promised Land of heaven where we will dwell peacefully with God for eternity.
At the conclusion of the Passover Meal, when the last cup of wine is raised, Jesus takes bread and gives it to the Apostles. He declares that this bread is His body which is given for you. He then unexpectedly passes the cup again saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” A covenant is a promise. God has made several promises to His people over the centuries. God the Father, through the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, makes a new promise to His people. Jesus’ death, his blood that will be spilled during His execution, will set us free.
In the institution of the Lord’s Supper, we receive the fullness of God’s promise. Whenever we receive the Holy Meal, we remember that on account of Christ our slavery to sin has ended. On account of Christ’s sacrificial death, we receive forgiveness. On account of Christ, we are free to be God’s people looking forward to dwelling forever in His Promised Land.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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