Luke 22:14-16, 19-20 * Maundy Thursday, 2004 *
Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ,
Lutheran Christians attach this three-fold meaning to the word “sacrament”: 1) A sacred act instituted by Christ, 2) using earthly elements connected with God’s Word, 3) through which God offers, seals, or gives to us the forgiveness of sins. There are only two sacred acts in the Bible that fulfill this definition: Baptism – which we are commanded to do once, and Lord’s Supper – which we are to do “often,” and which we rightfully remember on this day of Holy Week. I provide this review in order to tell you a story…
His name was George. He had been a long time and faithful member of the church I was serving at the time. But he was getting up in years, his health was failing and now he was in the hospital. A lifetime of farming had made him a realist. He had lived with cycles and seasons and was familiar with life and death. So he had no delusions of a medical miracle reversing what he knew at his age was inevitable. He understood – and accepted – that he was reaching the end of his days on this earth.
I recall the first time I went to visit him. We had barely exchanged greetings before he asked me a question. “Pastor, did you bring the sacrament?” That’s what he wanted to know. That’s what was first and foremost on his mind. Was he going to receive Lord’s Supper today?
I think we can reconstruct what was behind the question. The Lord’s Supper was a meal that George had obviously eagerly anticipated and desired. In the truest sense of the words it was his “comfort food” – a meal that brought him respite from the bleakness of his surroundings and the uncertainty of how things would play out in the days ahead. For George, taking Lord’s Supper was a spiritually important and pleasant part of his regular preparation for one day leaving the temporal and entering into the eternal...
The idea of Lord’s Supper as a source of anticipation and preparation comes through in our text for today. For Jesus, the Last Supper was, among other things, a part of His
PREPARATION FOR THE PASSION
1. He prepared Himself for Good
Friday
2. He prepared His disciples for
life
We are now almost at the end of the Lenten Season. Throughout our midweek devotions we followed and focused on the final days and hours of our Lord. Whether we heard the passion readings for the first or the hundredth time, what becomes very clear is this: Jesus Christ, the almighty Son of God, knew what was going on. He knew what He was in for. He had predicted his suffering and death and told His disciples a number of times, and on this night (as we heard in our Gospel lesson), He’d tell them again.
Later on, after His Last Supper, we know where we’ll find
Him. He’ll be retreating to the
Humanly speaking, these were difficult hours for Jesus. The fact that glory would eventually follow
the suffering was no more comforting for Jesus than if someone were to tell us
that after having root canals performed on all our teeth without anesthetic, we’ll
eventually feel better.
In the midst of all this sense of foreboding, however, are
the words of our text. Jesus has spoken
of what He must do and what must happen.
But He also speaks of something that would bring him joy and satisfaction. Listen to the text again: 14
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it
again until it finds fulfillment in the
Jesus was eager to share the Passover meal with His disciples. We get the sense that this final act of service to His disciples was important as He prepared Himself for what was ahead of Him. We can surmise that He found consolation and comfort in assembling around Him those for whom He would soon die. Jesus says this is something He wanted to do for and with the disciples “before I suffer.”
Certainly Jesus had eaten with His disciples before. But
this time things were going to be different on two different levels. First of all, this was going to indeed be the last supper He shared with them as a
part of His earthly ministry. He would “dine”
with them again, He says, but that will take place in glory: “For I
tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the
One of the terms the Apostle John uses to describe heaven in the Book of Revelation is the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” In other places as well the Bible refers to heaven in terms of a feast and a banquet where Jesus will be present with His disciples and God will dwell with His people…
So what Jesus is about to give His disciples – and has given to us, His Church – is indeed a foretaste of heaven. Which makes this no ordinary meal. This is a special meal at which Jesus is both the giver and the gift. And giving gifts to His children is something our gracious God loves to do.
Just how special
is the second reason this supper was different from all others Jesus had ever
shared with His disciples: 19 And he took bread, gave
thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for
you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is
the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
These are familiar words, but let’s work through them. Maundy Thursday is always an appropriate time to review the blessed topic of the Lord’s Supper… also known as Holy Communion…
The key to understanding the special-ness of the Lord’s Supper is found in the little word, “is.” What is the Lord’s Supper? It is the very body and blood of Christ which, in the words of the Reformation fathers, is “in, with and under” the bread and wine. In other words, Jesus Christ, in a supernatural yet very real way, is present in the Lord’s Supper.
This is a mystery of faith. Nevertheless, this is the clear statement of
Jesus. We can only echo the words of one
of our old communion hymns: “An awe-full mystery is here to challenge
faith and waken fear; the Savior comes as food divine, concealed in earthly
bread and wine.”
Furthermore, did you notice that Jesus referred to the wine as “the new covenant in my blood?” What did He mean by that? To understand, let’s define some terms…
As used in the Bible, a covenant is a solemn agreement, especially one in which God promises to bless and save. We find the term used in connection with God’s plan of salvation. We can explain it this way…
In the eyes of a just and holy God, sin is serious business. It calls for atonement. The wages of sin is death, says God in the Scriptures. And the agreement, or covenant, that God had made with the world was that He would provide forgiveness, but at a price. This was the plan: there can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.
In the Old Testament, when the Savior from sin had been promised but was not yet present, God operated under the “old covenant” with His people. The blood of animal sacrifices looked forward to and pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that was yet to come…
Now, at the time of our text, the Savior was here. He was about to carry out that ultimate
sacrifice. The altar would be a
cross. And the blood He shed was the new covenant – the covenant not of
promise but of fulfillment. John the
Baptist had it right when he looked at Jesus and said: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world.”
What is the Lord’s Supper? It is the testimony of the new covenant between God and us… A covenant of mercy and grace; a covenant of free and full forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus Christ…
And that is what makes it so special – such a spiritual feast – for believers. In the Lord’s Supper Jesus comes to us in a very personal way, as if calling us by name, personally assuring us that our sins are forgiven… personally telling us that we are His children… personally and tangibly pointing out the immeasurable width, length, and depth of His affection for us. Every time we take Lord’s Supper Jesus comes to us as individuals and, in essence, says “I loved you enough to die for you… and here is the proof. Touch and taste and feel.”
And that has a transforming effect on us. It prepares us for whatever may transpire throughout this collection of years we call life. In a number of ways. Let’s talk about some of them…
First, receiving the Lord’s Supper strengthens our
faith. How can we not leave the Lord’s
table spiritually stronger as we hear what He has done for us? How can we not be positively, spiritually
affected by the words, “Given and shed
for you” – personalize that and read me
– “for the forgiveness of sins?”
It cements our relationship with Jesus. How can we not love Him more and more who poured out His lifeblood for our sins? “Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains, poured for me the lifeblood from His sacred veins.”
It empowers us who have been so fully and freely forgiven by Christ to be forgiving toward others. How can we hold grudges and animosities toward others when we consider the width and length and depth of the forgiveness that has been bestowed upon us? How can we, whose sins were like scarlet but now stand white as snow in the eyes of God possibly consider consciously choosing to not forgive others who have slighted us far lesser than we have slighted Christ?
And it motivates us to live for Christ. Are you familiar with the word “Eucharist?” We don’t use it to refer to Lord’s Supper so much in our circles, but some churches do. It comes from the Greek word meaning to “give thanks.” It’s the word used in our text when we are told that before Jesus took the bread He “gave thanks.”
Whether we are familiar with the term or not, this much we know. The Lord’s Supper moves us to be Eucharistic Christians. Thankful believers. Believers who leave the Lord’s Table with uplifted spirits and the resolve to live for our Lord.
On this night in history, Jesus Christ instituted Holy Communion. It was a final gift to His disciples as He prepared for His passion. And ever since that night, it has become a lasting, enduring gift with which Christians prepare themselves for life here and hereafter…
…Christians like an old farmer named George who asked: “Pastor, did you bring the sacrament?” With that question George showed that he understood the meaning and the blessings of Lord’s Supper.
And by God’s grace, so do we. Amen.