Maundy Thursday

1  God’s Answer for Death

As Jesus sat with His disciples on the night He was betrayed,

He knew what He would soon suffer, and that He would soon die.

If we are blessed to know our time is near,

it will be a time both happy and sad.

Happy, because this world is fallen, and we will leave it. Sad, because our friends are here, and we will leave them.

Jesus left something for His disciples before He went,

and gave it to them as a great blessing from God.

But there’s a more important connection than that

between death and the Lord’s Supper.

Death is more than leaving this world.

It was human sin and rebellion against God

that brought death into this world.

Now, because of our disobedience, death is inevitable.

We can go for days without being bothered by that, but eventually, our own ways to deal with it fall short.

Tonight, Jesus shows us God’s answer for death,

Because we cannot avoid the reality of death, but God’s answer is Christ Crucified.

2  Luke 22:14–20

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

2.1  We cannot avoid the reality of death.

The experience of dying may seem gruesome,

but the act itself isn’t so terrifying;

people do it all the time.

We suffer death most through the fear of death.

And rightly so, because it has a certain terror.

This means that death can affect us every living day,

especially because we sin against God every day:

if not in our actions, then we disobey in our words, and if not in our words, then we disobey in our thoughts.

As our sin is always with us, so is the fear of death.

Yet people do all sorts of things to avoid the fear of death,

so that we don’t have to experience its terrors.

We may bury ourselves in work, or spend our time in enjoyment. We may even pretend that death and sin are not connected,

as some think when they try to “die with dignity.”

But though we work so hard

to lessen its effects, to ignore or even deny its reality,

death remains inevitable for sinners like us.

Sooner or later, we must leave behind those on earth

and enter the unknown.

The terror comes when we realize that this means judgment.

The worst part of our existence

is not the aches, pains, and sorrows

that some call a “poor quality of life.”

The worst part is that these foreshadow

what worse things may come after death.

So it’s not the dying that gets us:

it’s the fear, the terror of judgment

beyond our control.

We may think that prejudice is the worst wrong to suffer.

But prejudice is a false judgment, before the proper time.

In John 12:47, even Jesus said, And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him.

Likewise, 1 Corinthians 4:5 says: Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.

Prejudice at the hands of men is wrong, but it’s not terrible. The Final Judgment at the hand of God is not wrong,

but it’s real. For imperfect people, it’s terrible — even now.

There are many ways people cope with the terror of death.

Sometimes we may use them, too.

Entertainment and distraction can make the sting less. Also, hearing somebody soothe us, saying “You’ll be OK.” But distracting ourselves doesn’t prepare for the inevitable,

and neither does a false hope

that the judgment will just go away.

We need the terrors of death,

because only someone who knows his own mortality can be prepared.

1 Thessolonians 5 warns, When they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

The Passover was a celebration of death, in a sense.

The households of the Israelites were protected

each by the death of lamb.

The proof of that protection was the blood on their doorways.

But God’s Angel of Death brought death

to every household in Egypt.

The Pharoah did his best to hold it off,

even refusing to believe that it could happen.

But his answers all fell short.

Not even strong medicine can help us

to escape the power of death;

none of our answers can help.

What we need is a different kind of medicine:

one with the power to heal death and grant eternal life, one with the very power of God.

2.2  God’s answer is Christ Crucified

God’s answer for death is Christ Crucified.

He was the Lamb chosen by God, and with the proof of His blood, death will pass over.

Some will say, “You’re wrong! Even Christians die.”

Yes, we die, but our death is not true death,

because it has lost its terror over us.

We recently heard Jesus say (John 8:51):

If anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.

This is because in Christ, death has lost its sting,

becoming a transition from life to true life.

So God’s answer for death is Christ crucified:

the same Christ who was born of Mary, a human child. His death was necessary, so that death would pass over us.

Hebrews 2 tells us that Jesus shared in our flesh and blood

for this purpose:

[to] release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

While man’s response to death is powerless to defeat it,

God’s answer frees us from death’s grip,

giving us life instead.

God’s answer is Christ crucified.

Jesus is the Passover Lamb chosen by God,

the fulfillment of Passover itself.

God had told the Israelites to eat the whole lamb,

and to mark their outer doorways with its blood.

This connection between them and the lamb

provided their protection from the Angel of Death.

In our text, the true Passover Lamb (Jesus)

provided a new meal for God’s people.

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus gave His body to death,

and by His death, freed us from death.

So in this meal,

He invites us to eat the body of our Passover Lamb,

and so to be connected with His death upon the cross.

Just as Israelites had instructions for the lamb’s blood,

so Jesus covered that, too.

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

Matthew tells us that He told them to drink of it,

and the apostle Paul adds that He said,

“This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Previously, the Jews had been forbidden

from the sacrificial blood.

Other cultures had no such rule,

but God had said (Leviticus 17:11):

The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

and the rule against eating blood

even applied to animals not sacrificed (v. 14):

It is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

Do you see the reason why they were forbidden from the blood?

The reason is right here, the night Jesus was betrayed.

Only one life was sufficient to redeem the whole world at once. Only one blood could provide eternal life:

the blood of Jesus Christ, the true Passover Lamb.

So the Passover and the Temple of the Israelites

were only a foreshadowing of the true Passover,

and the true Temple, priesthood, and sacrifice of Christ.

Now, the shadow is no longer needed,

because we have the Lamb Himself.

He is God’s answer to death, through death.

By His body and blood, Christ removed our guilt forever.

Now He brings the benefit to us by the same body and blood.

Therefore, let us receive His gifts in faith.

But let our communicants all come willingly,

not by compulsion, nor by mere force of tradition.

Don’t come just because it’s Maundy Thursday,

or because you think you must.

Better to stay away for now, if that’s your reason.

Don’t come unprepared, or with some reservations. There is no dishonor in it, only good discretion.

But let us examine ourselves, and come with penitent hearts,

eager for the forgiveness that flows

only from the Lamb of God.

Because this body and blood are given for one purpose only:

for the remission of sins.

Your sins are remitted and forgiven you,

because Christ Jesus completed His work and rose again.

By faith, we are made God’s new creatures

so let us receive what God has prepared for us.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!