Maundy Thursday

Introduction

If you have your Bibles, open ‘em up with me to Matthew chapter 26. We’re gonna be reading verses 17 through 29. It says this:

Matthew 26:17–29 (ESV)

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “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.

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 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.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Can you just imagine? It was on a night just like this, almost 2,000 years ago…Jesus, knowing He’s about to be betrayed…arrested…beaten…tortured…nailed to a cross…die for the sins of the world…can you just imagine the atmosphere?

The disciples, they’ve been told for almost three and half years this day was gonna come…Jesus had been very candid with them. Even in His parables, Jesus was showing them that this was the plan of God from the start. But yet, as they all sat there…none of them understood the events that would take place in the next 72 hours.

But you know, there’s so much we learn from this account. First, Jesus’s willingness to be our atonement, it’s a perfect picture of the gospel…of the love He has for His people. Even though it would be man that betrayed Him…and even though it would be man that arrested Him…and nailed Him to a tree…He would work through man’s evil to demonstrate the greatest act of love.

But as we read through these accounts...we see this amazing story about the Last Supper. Jesus knows about the evil that awaits Him. He says that here. He begins the meal by talking about His betrayal that’ll lead to His suffering and then He closes the meal by talking about His work. Yet in the face of certain evil, Jesus doesn't try to keep Judas away from His disciples. He doesn't turn His disciples against Judas, He doesn't run to another city in fear. In the face of certain evil, Jesus does the certain work of God. Yes, Jesus knows one's gonna betray Him. Yes, He knows one of His own will deny Him. But in the midst of all that wrong and evil...In the midst of the human flesh and the desires that stem from it, we see God's certainty. God is alive. His love is certain. In the face of certain evil, Jesus offers certain forgiveness. "This is My body, He says, which is given for you....This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

You know, on this night, the Jews, they used this night to remember the Passover. But as we read about the Last Supper and what we've come to know as Maundy Thursday, Jesus calls His disciples to remember Him. He's their freedom. Its in Him that we can find this new covenant that provides hope and assurance. In Him is eternal love. In Him, our sin, and death, and the power of evil are destroyed. His body bore the punishment of our sins on the cross. His blood, claimed us as His own. Through His body and His blood, we can find eternal forgiveness, and as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the benefits of the Lord's death for all people until He comes.

But listen, this Last Supper, it isn’t just about remembering the work He did on the cross…it’s also reminding us that God’s offered us a new meal.

John 6:35-58 says:

John 6:35–58 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Through Jesus’s work on the cross, we now have a new meal…a truly satisfying meal that provides eternal life. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper tonight, we’re reminded of His life, His death, His resurrection…but also the joy and satisfaction He’s given us through the Salvation He bought with His life. When we take this bread and this juice, it’s a reminder of who we are now in Christ.

Here, in the Lord's Supper, we get to see the gracious work of God among us. That's the reminder tonight. Yes, we come with scars tonight. Some of us come here with real problems. There are things that you've done that make us feel the guilt of our sin. But listen to me, God knows those things. He sees and knows, and tonight, we confess those things to Him and this communion is a reminder of the certainty we have in Jesus. In his death, we’ve received forgiveness. And as we prepare for communion this evening, we remember that He goes to prepare a place for us and that He will return soon.

And so, tonight, as we prepare to take communion as a body of believers, to remember this night and what Jesus did...I want you to just take a few minutes where you're at and I want you to confess to Jesus your heart. Get it right and ask Him to cleanse you. And then, as you feel ready…you come down as a family unit or with your group of friends…we’ll have some deacons up front ready to pray with you and then Ken and I, we’ll be here to administer the Lord’s Supper to you. And after that, you’re free to leave on your own.

And so, you take all the time you need and then you come as you’re ready.

Matthew 26:26 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:27–29 (ESV)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”