Luke 22:14-16 *
Dear Friends in Christ,
In the days leading up to Holy Week, and certainly throughout Holy Week, the Bible portrays Jesus in a pretty consistent manner.
He knows what He is up against, and He knows it will not be pleasant. He is firm and unwavering in His resolve to do what He came to do, but He harbored no illusions of Good Friday being a mere speed bump on the way to Easter Sunday. He knew that before the crown came the cross. And the cross would be hard.
So we hear Him telling His disciples in great detail what
they can expect to see as the week wears on, almost as if in doing so He’s
preparing Himself for what He knows will be.
And we see Him agonizing in the
Jesus is serious. He
is determined. He is knowledgeable. But it would be fair to say He shows no signs
of eagerness. Except in the single case
recorded in our text. In the midst of the
sense of foreboding that hung so thickly in the air, and in contrast to it, Jesus
talks of something He is looking
forward to. It is spending time with His
disciples and providing them with what from that time on would be known as the
Lord’s Supper. His exact words: “I
have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
And what Jesus first said to His disciples about the Lord’s Supper on that first Maundy Thursday he also says to us on this Maundy Thursday nearly 2000 years later…
JESUS IS EAGER TO SHARE THIS MEAL WITH US
1. For respite
2. For reassurance
3. For renewal
We’ve talked about Jesus’ emotional state, but what about the disciples? How were they reacting and responding to everything that was going on?
Well, we aren’t really told.
But we can guess that they were a bit confused and bewildered about the
week’s events thus far. Let’s
review. On Sunday they had accompanied
Jesus into
On Tuesday they had been with Jesus as He spent the day preaching and teaching. In the process He had called out the religious leaders that saw Jesus not as Savior, but as a threat to their power, and exposed them for the hypocrites and false prophets they were. Not exactly a politically correct strategy for winning friends in high places. And the tension was becoming obvious; something the disciples no doubt picked up on.
Wednesday’s events are not specifically recorded for us, which brings us to today. Even with the most stressful part of the week coming (which they didn’t know about at the time of our text), it had already been an intensive four or five days. The disciples were probably unsure and uncertain of what to make of it all.
Amidst this uncertainty, Jesus, ever the Teacher, ever the lover of souls, gathers His bewildered disciples around the familiarity and safety of a meal. Here they could sort things out. Here they could find respite from the confusing events of the week. Here they could find reassurance of their Savior’s love and commitment to them. And here they would be renewed for the journey ahead.
We, of course, know that this was not just any meal. Against the backdrop of the Passover celebration Jesus would provide His disciples then and now with that special meal we call the Lord’s Supper. In the words of our catechism, “in, with and under” the bread and wine Jesus gave His disciples in a miraculous but real way the very body and blood that He would soon shed for the salvation of the world. We call this the doctrine of the “real presence.”
Like other things Jesus had told them about Himself, the disciples may not have fully understood what was happening at the time; but in time they would. And with the marvelous understanding of the nature of this heavenly meal, each time they gathered to take Lord’s Supper they would experience respite, reassurance and renewal.
And so do we.
I think we can identify with the disciples’ frame of mind. Sometimes life is confusing and uncertain. Things happen that we would not choose for ourselves, and we sometimes wonder why. We feel the stresses and strains of deadlines and work and commitments. We wrestle with doubts about decisions we’ve made or have to make. We deal with highs and lows. We wonder about the future, and how things are going to play out.
Jesus knows that. So, like His first disciples, He provides us with a safe place; a place where we can find respite and relief from the strains and the stresses of life. That place is at His table.
Come and join me in this meal, He tells us. Know that when you are with Me at My table all the uncertainties and cares and burdens of earthly life stop momentarily and heaven opens up for just a minute or two. Because you are with Me and I am with you in a most intimate way. Come and receive, for I am both the Giver and the Gift. Come to my meal, says Jesus, and receive a foretaste of when you and I will dine together at the marriage supper of the Lamb for all eternity. And I am eager for you to experience this.
Jesus is eager to share this meal with us for our respite. But that’s not all. This is more than a temporary reprieve from the uncertainties of life. In this meal Jesus also reassures of these eternal realities: we are loved, we are forgiven, we will live with Him forever in heaven. And as a concrete, visible, tangible expression of this love, Jesus gives us the very body and blood He sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins.
We need this. Illustration. What would you think of a couple that has been married for 25 years, but has never once expressed their love for each other? What would you think of a husband, who, when asked by his wife if he loves her, says: “I told you I loved you 25 years ago when I married you. If something changes, I’ll let you know. But don’t ever ask that question again.” We’d say he is a pretty poor husband. Relationships need the constant reassurance of love and commitment.
Jesus knows this. He wants us to be constantly assured of His love and of our place in His heart. So He invites us to come to His meal.
He also knows our fears and our frailties. Do we always live our lives to His glory and honor? No we don’t. In our weakness we still sin and fail to live as we ought. This bothers us, and it ought. But does our weakness and sinfulness mean that Jesus might not love us anymore?
No, Jesus still loves us. How do we know? Come to the meal He has set before us and taste and touch and see. “This is my body, given into death for you for the forgiveness of sins.” “This is my blood, shed for you on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.” I give you this meal and I invite you back again and again so you can know again and again you are loved and forgiven, says Jesus.
I bet Peter rejoiced in the Lord’s Supper whenever he was haunted by his triple denial of Christ when Jesus needed a friend the most. I bet Thomas rejoiced in the Lord’s Supper whenever someone, maybe in an offhand way, referred to him as “the Doubter.” I bet all the disciples rejoiced in the Lord’s Supper as they recalled how they all cut and ran the night Jesus was handed over to His enemies. I bet they rejoiced and were reassured in the knowledge that the words of the hymn, “Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed his blood for me” applied to each of them.
So we also come to the Table and are reassured of Christ’s love and forgiveness. Then we leave the Table and we are renewed, in a number of ways. A few examples…
First, we are renewed in 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” – read, me – “for the
forgiveness of sins?”
We are renewed in 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.”
This, in turn, 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 finally, we are renewed in our desire to live for Him. In our circles we don’t use the word “Eucharist” to refer to Lord’s Supper, but some churches do. Nevertheless, it’s a useful term. It comes from the Greek word meaning to “give thanks.” It’s the word used in the Gospel accounts when we are told that before Jesus took the wine He “gave thanks.”
Whether we are familiar with the expression 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 renewed in our resolve to live for our Lord.
On that first Maundy Thursday, Jesus expressed a sentiment
and an emotion that seemed almost out of place, given the circumstances of what
He knew would soon take place. He spoke
of eagerly desiring to share a meal
with His disciples. That eagerness of
our living Lord transcends time and still applies today. Jesus
is eager to share this meal with us.
So let us come for respite. Let us rejoice in the reassurance it provides. And let us leave renewed. Glory be to Jesus. Amen.