Maundy Thursday

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:26
Theme: The Testament of Love

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Life is in the blood. Drain the blood and you drain the life. It was no coincidence that God designated blood for the ratification of covenants. Life is precious, holy, and sacred to God. It is not simply a reflection of His goodness; humans are made in His image. People are a reflection of the Almighty God. He created us to be in fellowship with Him. Tragically, our first parents decided to go their own way and we have all inherited their self-centeredness. Restoration with God only happens through the forgiveness earned through blood: The blood of Christ.

Undoubtedly, a knife would have been required to cut the tension in the Upper Room. Jesus had gathered His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal. But the devil had gotten to Judas and Peter would make the bold and foolish promise not to deny Jesus. Hearts would be tested. Motives would be weighed. Agendas would be revealed, exalted, and shattered. In the complexity of these dynamics Jesus would institute His covenant of love: The Lord’s Supper. The rituals and customs of the Passover celebration would be superseded and replaced by the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ given to believers for their forgiveness, life, and salvation.

What Jesus does in the Upper Room is radical. The average Jew would have considered it blasphemous, idolatrous. Through Moses God had restricted the consumption of blood. Yet, Jesus supersedes the celebration of the Passover and brings it to its true fulfillment. With the bread He offers His own body. With the wine He offers His own blood. His followers were commanded to consume these gifts for the forgiveness of their sins. Previously the blood of sacrificial animals was shed and offered to God, but never ever consumed.

Why? Because God accepted the blood of the animal, and thus the life, as a substitute for that of the sinner. People didn’t consume the blood, God did. The debt of sin requires the forfeiture of life. God received the payment in lieu of. But now, Jesus, the Lamb of God, would forfeit His own life on behalf of all others, thus clearing the debt of others. Only His blood could accomplish what no animal sacrifice could do, appease the divine wrath, and renew the life of the sinner through its consumption.

The hours that were ahead of Christ on that Thursday of the first Holy Week were filled with pure torture. Yet, He had the presence of mind and willpower to gift His church with this blessing. Jesus Christ was not the bringer of novelty, He was the revealer of mysteries. He didn’t institute arbitrary or obscure requirements to burden His people. He brought to clarity and completion everything spoken beforehand about His saving work. Circumcision was surpassed by baptism. The need for animal sacrifice was made obsolete by Jesus’ own death. Previously, the blood, though very real, was only a type of a greater reality to come. What does the Scripture say, “The blood of goats and bulls…sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”1

What does it mean to have the conscience cleansed? It means Christ has reconciled us to the heavenly Father. It means we can be completely assured that the countenance of God is favorable towards us. It means the devil’s accusations need no longer trouble us. It means we can go about our daily tasks confident we are doing God’s will. It means we can be forgiving towards others because we know that God has forgiven us.

Receiving the sacrament requires faith, and nothing more. It is the only thing necessary in order to partake worthily. “Who receives the sacrament worthily? That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’”2 The sole requirement of faith may sound like an easy thing. But we’re not talking about faith as a generality, a positive vibe, or the sentiment of good will. Rather, the Spirit-given faith that specifically trusts the promise of the crucified Christ offered in His blood for the forgiveness of sins. Such faith desires the gift that God offers. Such faith acknowledges that the sinner is lost apart from the mercy of God. This faith is no easy thing, it is a divine gift. What about being repentant, sorry for our sins? Yes, that must exist for biblical faith to be real and not a sham. The unrepentant, and thus unbelieving person will not receive forgiveness in the sacrament but judgment. No one can benefit from that which they reject.

God intends that the regularity of the Christian life should revolve around the word and sacraments. Holy Communion is in the centre of the hub. It is necessary to nourish our bodies with physical food. So, too, our faith must be fed. From His altar, an altar raised from the sacrifice of His crucifixion and triumph of His resurrection, we receive the food of immortality. In the tangible-ness of bread and wine the Spirit has promised to communicate to us the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Through it our relationship with God is renewed and our relationships with other believers is strengthened.

Our participation in this liturgical assembly together sets the tone for our weekly routine. We live in the left hand kingdom as agents of the kingdom of light. We spend the week out there in the world but we are not of the world. That doesn’t mean we are imposters. We are citizens also, in the secular realm. But we are pilgrims. We are guests. This world is not our permanent or final home. Together we pray for the wellbeing of the church and the world. As we do so tonight we are mindful of the Christians in Egypt whose churches were bombed during Palm Sunday services. It was to Egypt that our Lord fled for safety when He was an infant. But He returned to Jerusalem so that He might be offered in sacrifice, rise from death and open the gates of heaven for us. He blesses us now and prepares us for His return in glory. Take and eat, take and drink…His forgiveness is yours. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Maundy Thursday
13 April, 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Hebrews 9:13-14
2 Luther’s Small Catechism
3 Philippians 2:5-6, 8
4 Ephesians 3:20