Holy Week - Maundy Thursday
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 21, 2011)
One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 21, 2011)
One Year Series
1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (ESV)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
“On the night when He was betrayed.”(1 Cor 11:23) That night, is this night. The Passover was at hand, 14 were in the room that night, the 12 disciples and Christ. But who was the fourteenth? St. John gives us the answer, “During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,”(John 13:2) Satan lurks about, even in the upper room at the institution of the most Holy meal.
Just a bit of irony there, that in the beginning God gave the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, “every tree and seed in its fruit...to have them for food.”(Gen 1:29) Then Satan came lurking about to offer a seed of doubt regarding the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now on this night a meal is served again and in the presence of the Son of God, Satan is back, lurking about to tempt and lead Judas to betray his master.
St. Peter, one of the twelve, who sat at that same table listening to the institution of the Lord’s supper, yet he would later write, “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith,”(1 Peter 5:8) Again ironic, for Peter wrote those words only after he himself had not resisted and he deceived himself and was devoured. For shortly after that last supper on the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, Peter too would fall to the guile of the devil, a rooster only need wait a short time to crow before Peter would be deny his lord and master.
This night was the night when there would be a new and better paschal meal. For on this night a meal was forever set aside, the remembrance of that meal of the hard, unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the lamb roasted to dry toughness, and the lamb’s blood painted on the doorposts. That meal was done in remembrance of the night of judgment and death as God sought out the blood for under the blood of the lamb, you we’re always safe. Death passed over. And without the blood of the lamb you were dead. It was neither safe nor salutary to deal with God apart from that blood of the lamb. Satan was escorted from the meal when the blood of the lamb was spilled.
Now, Jesus the Lamb of God reclines at the head of a table with His disciples, His Twelve, His Israel, plus the odd evil one who was again sent out. It is now a new feast, the Lord’s Passover. It is the same meal in which we eat this night. All too soon the blood of the lamb would be spilled and the body of the lamb of God would have mercy on us as He intervened to rescue us from slavery to sin, death and the evil one. And to conquer the unwanted guest of sin and temptation, Jesus was made a curse for us. He died upon His cross, giving His body and shedding His blood for the remission of our sins. This Lamb was without blemish or defect. He had no sins of His own, but borrowed ours so that He could die to bring down the ancient curse of death and to end the Father’s wrath against all sin and every sinner. That body of Christ was the sin-offering for you and for me. And Christ’s blood is the sign and seal of our redemption.
And when we eat the bread and drink the cup of this supper, we do not do this lightly. For here in this supper we are to be in communion with the body and blood of Christ, the Lamb. satan is not welcome here. It is for this reason we hold Holy Communion sacred, as St. Paul warned, “27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (v. 27-30) satan still prowls and lurks about, wooing to decieve those who would not receive the Lord’s Supper rightly.
And rightly understood, Jesus serves you in this Holy meal, not by the way of example but the way of sacrifice. He takes the bread of the Passover meal, that meal of the hard, unleavened bread of affliction that the Israelites ate on the fateful night of freedom. Jesus He gives thanks, and breaks it into pieces, and hands a piece to each of His disciples. The morsel grants them admittance, acceptance. “This is My body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). His words tell what we could not know for ourselves neither by the science of our reason nor from any of our senses. This bread is Jesus’ sacrificial body, which He would later that day give unto death on the cross.
Jesus then takes the cup of wine after supper. He lifts it up, He gives thanks, and gives each of His disciples to drink. “This is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). The blood of the new covenant is given to drink as wine. Here the wine finds its ultimate purpose, Jesus delivering His blood to the disciples’ lips, and binding all those who drink of His cup in a blood covenant. That covenant includes you as you drink His blood of life for, “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). Where the blood of the Lamb flows, death passes over. Satan is not invited in, in fact He is cast out. This is the food of immortality in the eating and drinking, of this Holy meal we live forever.
He gives His all to you, to save all of you. Nothing stands outside His forgiveness. Nothing can separate you from this self-giving, self-sacrificing love. No greater love is there than this servant love that lays down His life for another. In His Supper, at His table, He lays before you the gifts of His cross and says, “These are here for you. Do this for My remembrance.”
And from this food and drink you arise refreshed, renewed, restored—in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. Faith trusts in Christ alone; love bends down in service of the neighbor—both friend and stranger. Faith receives Jesus’ service; love seeks to serve Him in the least, the lost, and the lowly of this world. Faith receives the washing of sin; love washes the feet of a fellow sinner. Faith remembers His love; love remembers His service, even to death, for you.
So take heart this night. The death and destruction, gloom and doom of the devil may loom and lurk on every side, but everything that troubles you and all that robs you of your joy is eclipsed tonight in this banquet feast of love. Satan has coerced and cajoled you to be comfortable in your sin, He whispers in your ear that it is much better to be comfortable in your sin than to be invited to the Lord’s Supper. And indeed we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Of our own merit we could not sit in the presence of our Lord, we could not taste the fruit of the vine, nor the bread of life. And truthfully we sin all the more when we think we live lives good enough to deserve the Lord’s Supper.
Repent, for the invitation to the Lord’s Supper is not based on your merit, rather it is an invitation inked with the blood of Jesus Christ. Eat and drink here not because of you goodness and grace, but humbly receive this life giving meal because God loves even the undeserving, and that would be you and me.
Rejoice that Christ came into this world and gave His life so that you may receive forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. You are invited in because you have received the free gift of faith. You are invited in as you have been made one of Christ’s own in the waters of Holy Baptism. In the institution of this meal the betrayer was at hand, but was bid by Christ to leave His presence. Tonight you are invited to this meal, in remembrance of that night as Christ invited you to stay with Him. Come eat. Come drink. This invitation is in Christ’s own Words, “given and shed for you.” Whether here in time, or there in eternity, in the end, there will be no satanic party crashers, just the promise of eternal life and a heavenly banquet feast prepared by Jesus Christ just for you. Amen.
