Maundy Thursday
Holy Thursday– April 13, 2006
Text: Mark 14:12-16
BETRAYED TO DEATH, CHRIST GIVES YOU LIFE FROM HIS CUP
In the Name of Jesus, Amen. Dear Christians, you must learn to expect pointed attacks against the Gospel when Holy Week comes each year (and for that matter when Christmas comes too). Critics of Scripture certainly did nothing to disappoint such expectations this year. From the fancifully fabricated Da Vinci Code to the heralded Gospel of Judas, there is no shortage of contemporary mouthpieces for the one who masquerades as an angel of light.
But the Gospel of Judas is no gospel at all. This Gnostic manuscript championed by the National Geographic Society is the current darling of the media and of academic unbelief. Written decades after the books of the New Testament, it is just like hundreds of other false writings of that time claiming to be Scripture. It is nothing new! It is the same tired old religious wisdom of man offering a different gospel which is no gospel at all. It is described by the major news magazines as an ancient Christian text, the most important religious archaeological find in 60 years. But it is not a Christian text! It is heretical! And its message is not new! Its announcement of a secret higher knowledge of God is old stuff. This message was consistently rejected as heresy by the Spirit-led early church. It will also be rejected wherever the Holy Spirit is active today.
The major contention of the Gospel of Judas is that Judas was the most-favored disciple. It goes on to say that Jesus ordered Judas to betray Him and it was only to Judas that Jesus privately told the “mysteries of the kingdom”. Beloved, these are lies from the father of lies! There is here nothing new!
Concerning that first Holy Thursday and the betrayal of Judas, let him who has ears, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
Fellow-Redeemed, the true mysteries of the kingdom are not hidden secrets told only to a reinvented Judas or to any of the pseudo Gnostic heroes. The true mysteries of the kingdom are not secrets that God wants to keep hidden at all. Although they are veiled in water and word and bread and wine God freely reveals them to all believers. Today (tonight) His Word holds before you the Holy mystery of His body and His blood in the Last Supper and in the Lord’s Supper.
They were in the upper room to celebrate Passover. This feast was marked by excitement and the high hope of God’s intervention once again. The meal was framed by a liturgy which included prayer and praise and Psalms. It was a night of reverent and joyful watching unto the Lord for it was the night they were redeemed. The bitter herbs recalled their bitter slavery under Pharaoh. The roasted Lamb recalled God’s gracious “passing over” of homes stained with the blood of the Lamb. The third of four cups of wine was called “the cup of blessing”.
Instructive questions were asked and God’s saving acts were recounted.
But on that first Holy Thursday in the upper room of Jerusalem, the festivity of the Passover meal was shattered when Jesus spoke a solemn “amen”. Amen or “truly”, He began, and then announced that one of His inner-circle would betray Him. After years of teaching, despite the intimacy of the table fellowship they shared, one of the twelve would do the unthinkable. “Amen”, that is “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”
No wonder they were sorrowful. No wonder they fearfully asked, “Is it I?” No wonder Jesus said, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” The blessing of birth for Judas was turned into a curse by a sin from which he does not repent. Scripture makes clear that it was not Jesus’ command for Judas to betray Him, but the active leading of Satan (Luke 22:3/John 13:2). We do not know the precipitating cause of his betrayal. Perhaps it was greed or perhaps guilt over his money-pilfering or perhaps despair over Jesus’ prediction of crucifixion for Himself and persecution for His disciples. Jesus’ stated course for His work did not fit with the disciples earthly plans for the Messiah. What we do know is that Judas’ betrayed his innocent and loving master with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. This is not a mystery, but clearly revealed.
The Holy mystery that reaches down to us today (tonight) and each time we gather for weekly worship is what Jesus did next on the night of His betrayal. He took bread…broke it…and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” After the main meal Jesus then passed the common cup from which all were to drink and spoke the second word of institution. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
Beloved, this is the mystery of mysteries, the Holy of Holies for the Bride of Christ, for the New Testament Church. Ordinary bread and wine become the means for Christ’s crucified body and shed blood to be given to you. More than a Satan aroused treacherous plot is underway. The saving plan of God for us sinners is reaching its culmination. God did not cause Judas’ treachery and evil, but He does work through that evil to bring to us eternal good.
According to Jesus words, the bread is His body. All three evangelists and St. Paul are in complete agreement. With the same words and syllables they repeat these clear, simple, certain reliable words of Christ, “This is my body,” in just the same way, without interpretation or alteration. There is no word present that could be translated as symbolizes or represents. There is not one indication that the words of Christ are picture language. Rather, God’s Word clearly teaches that in the Lord’s Supper the bread and wine are a participation (that is a partaking, a communion) in the body and blood of Christ (I Cor. 10:16, 17). We believe that bread and wine are present in Holy Communion on the evidence of the senses. We believe that Christ’s body and blood are in the Sacrament on the evidence of God’s Word. He who at creation said, “Let there be light” and there was light is the one who in the upper room said, “This is my body”. His Word gives just what He says it gives.
As we learn from other texts what He gives us here with His very body and very blood is the forgiveness of sins. This is His will – to give you His forgiveness. This is His will – to keep on giving you forgiveness, life and salvation in this way. It is not magical. It does not benefit those who receive it in unbelief. But it is a mystery. It is a mystery that brings the sum and the substance of the Gospel to you in person. This is His will, to be here for you.
We know from Scripture that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22). Whenever God drew near to His people in the Old Testament, the blood of sacrificial animals flowed freely. As God gave His Torah to the people through Moses, (Ex. 27:3-11) blood was in abundance. Half the blood he threw against the altar. The other half he threw on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with these words.” Sprinkled with blood, they beheld God and ate and drank. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
That’s what makes Maundy Thursday such a joy filled day. Amid the ominous notes of betrayal, sorrow, guilt and imminent suffering, the best news in the world is present here. Jesus said it this way, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him…” Nothing is going to stop God’s plan to purchase your salvation. From the fall in the garden, God promises a Savior to crush Satan’s head, a Savior from sin. God means to keep that promise.
On this night the disciples killed the Passover Lamb (v. 12). On this night they prepared the Passover in the upper room (v. 16). As we have said, this was done each year to celebrate God’s rescue of His people. But on this particular night, these simple, annual acts explode with eternal meaning! All the Passover celebrations through the centuries, all the lambs that were slain, all the blood that was poured out pointed ahead to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The hour was now at hand for that Lamb to be sacrificed once for all.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Within a few hours the blood of the eternal Son would begin flowing for the life of the world. Soon the Holy Passover Lamb would be skewered to the cross and roasted over damning flames. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. But God’s own son shed His blood for us. There was blood from the thorns crowning His head. There was blood from the whip tearing at His back. There was blood from the spikes driven through His hands and feet. There was blood from the spear piercing His side in death. O beautiful blood of our redemption! O life-giving blood of our rescue.
His blood now cleanses you from all sin (I John 1:7). You are justified by His blood (Rom 5:9). You have redemption and peace through His precious blood (Eph. 1:7/Col 1:20/I Pt. 1:9). Your robes are made white through the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).
It is that holy blood that He comes to give you now. Drink of it all of you, this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins. It is His holy body He comes to feed you now. With food for your journey, He spreads a table for your body and soul. It is a mystery. It is a marvelous mystery showing forth the generosity of our gracious heavenly Father, to whom with the Son and the Holy Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever. AMEN.
Text: Mark 14:12-16
BETRAYED TO DEATH, CHRIST GIVES YOU LIFE FROM HIS CUP
In the Name of Jesus, Amen. Dear Christians, you must learn to expect pointed attacks against the Gospel when Holy Week comes each year (and for that matter when Christmas comes too). Critics of Scripture certainly did nothing to disappoint such expectations this year. From the fancifully fabricated Da Vinci Code to the heralded Gospel of Judas, there is no shortage of contemporary mouthpieces for the one who masquerades as an angel of light.
But the Gospel of Judas is no gospel at all. This Gnostic manuscript championed by the National Geographic Society is the current darling of the media and of academic unbelief. Written decades after the books of the New Testament, it is just like hundreds of other false writings of that time claiming to be Scripture. It is nothing new! It is the same tired old religious wisdom of man offering a different gospel which is no gospel at all. It is described by the major news magazines as an ancient Christian text, the most important religious archaeological find in 60 years. But it is not a Christian text! It is heretical! And its message is not new! Its announcement of a secret higher knowledge of God is old stuff. This message was consistently rejected as heresy by the Spirit-led early church. It will also be rejected wherever the Holy Spirit is active today.
The major contention of the Gospel of Judas is that Judas was the most-favored disciple. It goes on to say that Jesus ordered Judas to betray Him and it was only to Judas that Jesus privately told the “mysteries of the kingdom”. Beloved, these are lies from the father of lies! There is here nothing new!
Concerning that first Holy Thursday and the betrayal of Judas, let him who has ears, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
Fellow-Redeemed, the true mysteries of the kingdom are not hidden secrets told only to a reinvented Judas or to any of the pseudo Gnostic heroes. The true mysteries of the kingdom are not secrets that God wants to keep hidden at all. Although they are veiled in water and word and bread and wine God freely reveals them to all believers. Today (tonight) His Word holds before you the Holy mystery of His body and His blood in the Last Supper and in the Lord’s Supper.
They were in the upper room to celebrate Passover. This feast was marked by excitement and the high hope of God’s intervention once again. The meal was framed by a liturgy which included prayer and praise and Psalms. It was a night of reverent and joyful watching unto the Lord for it was the night they were redeemed. The bitter herbs recalled their bitter slavery under Pharaoh. The roasted Lamb recalled God’s gracious “passing over” of homes stained with the blood of the Lamb. The third of four cups of wine was called “the cup of blessing”.
Instructive questions were asked and God’s saving acts were recounted.
But on that first Holy Thursday in the upper room of Jerusalem, the festivity of the Passover meal was shattered when Jesus spoke a solemn “amen”. Amen or “truly”, He began, and then announced that one of His inner-circle would betray Him. After years of teaching, despite the intimacy of the table fellowship they shared, one of the twelve would do the unthinkable. “Amen”, that is “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”
No wonder they were sorrowful. No wonder they fearfully asked, “Is it I?” No wonder Jesus said, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” The blessing of birth for Judas was turned into a curse by a sin from which he does not repent. Scripture makes clear that it was not Jesus’ command for Judas to betray Him, but the active leading of Satan (Luke 22:3/John 13:2). We do not know the precipitating cause of his betrayal. Perhaps it was greed or perhaps guilt over his money-pilfering or perhaps despair over Jesus’ prediction of crucifixion for Himself and persecution for His disciples. Jesus’ stated course for His work did not fit with the disciples earthly plans for the Messiah. What we do know is that Judas’ betrayed his innocent and loving master with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. This is not a mystery, but clearly revealed.
The Holy mystery that reaches down to us today (tonight) and each time we gather for weekly worship is what Jesus did next on the night of His betrayal. He took bread…broke it…and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” After the main meal Jesus then passed the common cup from which all were to drink and spoke the second word of institution. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
Beloved, this is the mystery of mysteries, the Holy of Holies for the Bride of Christ, for the New Testament Church. Ordinary bread and wine become the means for Christ’s crucified body and shed blood to be given to you. More than a Satan aroused treacherous plot is underway. The saving plan of God for us sinners is reaching its culmination. God did not cause Judas’ treachery and evil, but He does work through that evil to bring to us eternal good.
According to Jesus words, the bread is His body. All three evangelists and St. Paul are in complete agreement. With the same words and syllables they repeat these clear, simple, certain reliable words of Christ, “This is my body,” in just the same way, without interpretation or alteration. There is no word present that could be translated as symbolizes or represents. There is not one indication that the words of Christ are picture language. Rather, God’s Word clearly teaches that in the Lord’s Supper the bread and wine are a participation (that is a partaking, a communion) in the body and blood of Christ (I Cor. 10:16, 17). We believe that bread and wine are present in Holy Communion on the evidence of the senses. We believe that Christ’s body and blood are in the Sacrament on the evidence of God’s Word. He who at creation said, “Let there be light” and there was light is the one who in the upper room said, “This is my body”. His Word gives just what He says it gives.
As we learn from other texts what He gives us here with His very body and very blood is the forgiveness of sins. This is His will – to give you His forgiveness. This is His will – to keep on giving you forgiveness, life and salvation in this way. It is not magical. It does not benefit those who receive it in unbelief. But it is a mystery. It is a mystery that brings the sum and the substance of the Gospel to you in person. This is His will, to be here for you.
We know from Scripture that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22). Whenever God drew near to His people in the Old Testament, the blood of sacrificial animals flowed freely. As God gave His Torah to the people through Moses, (Ex. 27:3-11) blood was in abundance. Half the blood he threw against the altar. The other half he threw on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with these words.” Sprinkled with blood, they beheld God and ate and drank. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
That’s what makes Maundy Thursday such a joy filled day. Amid the ominous notes of betrayal, sorrow, guilt and imminent suffering, the best news in the world is present here. Jesus said it this way, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him…” Nothing is going to stop God’s plan to purchase your salvation. From the fall in the garden, God promises a Savior to crush Satan’s head, a Savior from sin. God means to keep that promise.
On this night the disciples killed the Passover Lamb (v. 12). On this night they prepared the Passover in the upper room (v. 16). As we have said, this was done each year to celebrate God’s rescue of His people. But on this particular night, these simple, annual acts explode with eternal meaning! All the Passover celebrations through the centuries, all the lambs that were slain, all the blood that was poured out pointed ahead to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The hour was now at hand for that Lamb to be sacrificed once for all.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Within a few hours the blood of the eternal Son would begin flowing for the life of the world. Soon the Holy Passover Lamb would be skewered to the cross and roasted over damning flames. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. But God’s own son shed His blood for us. There was blood from the thorns crowning His head. There was blood from the whip tearing at His back. There was blood from the spikes driven through His hands and feet. There was blood from the spear piercing His side in death. O beautiful blood of our redemption! O life-giving blood of our rescue.
His blood now cleanses you from all sin (I John 1:7). You are justified by His blood (Rom 5:9). You have redemption and peace through His precious blood (Eph. 1:7/Col 1:20/I Pt. 1:9). Your robes are made white through the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).
It is that holy blood that He comes to give you now. Drink of it all of you, this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins. It is His holy body He comes to feed you now. With food for your journey, He spreads a table for your body and soul. It is a mystery. It is a marvelous mystery showing forth the generosity of our gracious heavenly Father, to whom with the Son and the Holy Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever. AMEN.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
5/14/2006
