Matthew 26,17-30. Maundy Thursday

 ✠ Take, this is My body and My blood of the new testament ✠

Matthew 26,17-30           2221 

Gründonnerstag 030

Hugo, Bishop of Grenoble, France. ✠ 1132 

1. April 2021

1. O Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You, that of Your infinite mercy You have instituted this Your Sacrament, in which we eat Your body and drink Your blood: Grant us, we beseech You, by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may not receive this gift unworthily, but that we may confess our sins, remember Your agony and death, believe the forgiveness of sin, and day by day grow in faith and love, until we obtain eternal salvation through You.  Amen. (Veit Dietrich) 

2. »Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples went to Jesus, saying: „Where will You have us prepare for You to eat the Passover?“ He replied: „Go into the city to a certain man and say to him: ‘The Teacher says: My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’“ And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.« 

3. Maundy Thursday begins the pinnacle of the Church Year as we remember die große Heilsgeschichte (the great salvation history) of our Lord Jesus Christ. The final 3 days of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday) constitute what the Church calls the Triduum, and they take us through the final hours of Jesus’ precious life, His humiliation, suffering and death on the cross plus the awaiting of His victorious resurrection from the grave. 

4. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His apostles on Thursday, and it is the context of this celebration that He instituted the Sacrament of the Altar, that is, the Lord’s Supper. Passover is the yearly Jewish celebration of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery; it is one of the 3 holiest feasts in Judaism. The Lord told Moses regarding the Passover: »This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh.« 

5. During the celebration of the Passover, in the midst of meal, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. He took bread and wine, blessed and gave thanks for them, and then told His apostles: »Take, eat; this is My body.... Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for everyone for the forgiveness of sins.«

6. On the first Passover, the Israelites put the blood of the lamb on their door posts. When Yahweh passed through and saw this blood He passed over that house and no first firstborn was struck down. On the Passover Jesus celebrated 2000 years ago, the firstborn would not be spared. Jesus who is the Only begotten Son of His Father and also the firstborn of Mary would shed His blood for all the world. Jesus is both the Passover Lamb whose blood spairs us and He is the firstborn who dies to redeem us. Jesus’ words to His apostles are not figurative or symbolic, but they are real words: this bread is My body and this wine is My blood that I give and shed for you and your forgiveness. 

7. Christ Jesus is the Passover Lamb sent by God to deliver us from sin, the curse of sin, death and hades. Blood must be shed, holy blood, and the only holy blood capable of delivering us is that of God becoming man. That is Jesus: born of the Virgin Mary; He is True God and true man. His blood saved us. We remember this on Maundy Thursday and its connection to Passover: God delivered the world from its sin. Like Passover, God the Father looks upon the blood of Jesus and He passes over us. His wrath has been satisfied in the Precious Lamb who has been slain, His Only begotten Son, Jesus.  

8. This year we aren’t gathering to celebrate this with the eating together of the Lord’s body and blood in His Supper. Tonight we draw a comfort from another Sacrament Jesus gave us: Holy Baptism. This Sacrament works forgiveness of sins, rescues from Death and the Devil and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare as Jesus says in Mark 16: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16,16). Our Baptism connects us to Christ who has redeemed us. We remember His mercy again this day for His Passover is a memorial day for us every time we gather to worship.  

9. But on Sunday we will gather together publicly to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we will partake in fellowship at this altar to receive the body and blood of Jesus that tomorrow we remember was given and shared for the forgiveness of our sins. Let us now somberly and solemnly go forth and meditate upon our Lord’s passion on Good Friday.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Lord, You are a Merciful and Gracious God; bless us this day as we remember the wonder of Your Son’s sacrifice to deliver us from sin, Death and the Devil.  Amen. 

Which is poured out for everyone

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.