Maundy Thursday 2025

The Old Has Passed Away, The New Has Come

What is the significance of Maundy Thursday? Simply put, it means this: “The old has passed away, the new has come!” The word Maundy is taken from the Latin word mandatum, which means “mandate” or “command.” On this night, Jesus gave a new mandate to love one another as he has loved us. He gave a new mandate to take, eat, and drink of his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Or, the blood of the New Covenant.

So on this Holy Thursday Jesus began to execute the terms of the New Covenant. This New Covenant replaced an old one and was fundamentally different from in it every way. The old offers rewards in return for work; the new makes unconditional and lasting promises. The old will always leave us starving in our relationship with God; whereas the new satisfies the deepest hunger of our soul. This is precisely why Jesus connected this New Covenant with a special meal. To an uninformed outsider, the Lord’s Supper looks like a poor snack—a bite of bread and sip of wine. But the followers of Christ understand that this holy food provides all the blessings of the new covenant. 

We are present here tonight with the Lord as we gaze into His Sanctuary, just like the apostles who were present with the Lord in the Upper Room.

We are about to receive the benefits of eating and drinking “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine. . . . These words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,’ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation” (Luther’s Small Catechism, pp. 30–31).

The old has passed away, the new has come:

Jesus is the true Passover Lamb

Jesus is the true Passover Lamb. In the Gospel tonight from Luke 22, we read, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” Luke 22:7. The old Passover lamb takes us back to the days of Moses in Exodus 12. The children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt because the blood of a slaughtered lamb had been smeared over the doorposts of their homes.

This first Passover took place at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. After the blood had been placed over their doors, the lamb was to be roasted and eaten by the families that evening. The angel of death passed over their homes and spared their firstborn sons because the blood of the lamb marked them as redeemed. The Jews today still celebrate Passover once a year.

Jesus, however, is the fulfillment of what the old Passover lamb typified. He took some of the unleavened bread and the wine used at Passover and mandated something new. Luke 22:19–20 “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Tonight we will be served Divine gifts by the Lord himself. When the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, was crucified, his blood was smeared upon the cross. The righteous judgment of God passes over the cross and sees all the baptized, which includes you and me, as marked by the blood of the innocent, slaughtered, true Passover Lamb. And because of this reality, we are delivered from the slavery of sin, death, and hell.

Therefore, take, eat, drink, and believe. Christ’s true body and blood are given and shed for you! We personally receive this gift through the means of this Sacrament of the Altar, this Lord’s Supper, this Eucharist, this Lord’s Table, this Holy Communion. And the Lord still earnestly desires that you eat this Passover with him!

As we gather at the Lord's Table to receive the divine gifts of Christ's body and blood, we are reminded of the profound love and sacrifice that our Savior has made for us. This sacred meal is more than a remembrance; it is a participation in the grace that flows from the cross. As we partake, we acknowledge that our deliverance from sin is not merely a historical event, but a living reality made possible by Jesus, our Great High Priest. Just as the Passover Lamb's blood marks us for salvation, Jesus stands as our mediator, offering Himself once for all to atone for our sins. As we reflect on the significance of Jesus' sacrificial role, let us now consider his priestly function, who intercedes on our behalf and ushers us into a new and eternal covenant relationship with God, because the Old Covenant has passed away and the new has come.

Jesus is the great High Priest

Yes, Jesus is our Great High Priest. From our Epistle Reading we hear: Hebrews 10:19–22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

The Old Testament high priests could offer only the blood of earthly lambs, once per year, on their own behalf and on behalf of the people. The blood of the lamb was sprinkled over the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies of the earthly temple in Jerusalem. That was the place where one met God and where the high priest offered atonement for the sins of all the people in all Israel.

Jesus however is our Great High Priest who offers his own blood as the heavenly Lamb of God, once for all time, on our behalf and on behalf of all people. The blood of this Lamb was sprinkled over the mercy seat of the cross in the true Holy of Holies in the heavenly sanctuary of the new Jerusalem. That is the place where one meets God and the great High Priest offered atonement for the sins of all the people in all the world.

This evening as you gaze from where you are seated in the Nave into the Sanctuary and Chancel—the Holy of Holies on earth—we recognize “a new and living way, the very gates of heaven have been opened for us through the curtain, that is His body” (Chrysostom, Hebrews 10:20).

Now we are able to approach the Holy of Holies and kneel around Altar of our Lord Jesus. And we are made righteous because of the blood of Jesus, and are blessed to be able to walk up these steps into the Lord’s Sanctuary and kneel around His Altar — the Holy of Holies — to receive the holy food of body broken, and blood poured out. For you see, King Jesus comes to us now in His Supper to feed His people holy food. Here God shares His holiness to the unholy that we might holy be, so that we can depart in peace.

So as we gather around the altar, nourished by the holy food and made righteous through the sacrifice of our Great High Priest, we find ourselves enveloped in the depth of God's grace and love. The journey from the significance of the Passover Lamb to the sacrificial role of Jesus our High Priest leads us to the heart of a transformative truth: Jesus is the New Covenant. In Him, the old has truly passed away, and the new has come. This New Covenant, foretold by the prophet Jeremiah and fulfilled in Christ, is not written on tablets of stone but inscribed on our very hearts. It is a covenant of grace that calls us into an intimate relationship with God, where sins are forgiven and remembered no more. Let us now explore how Jesus as the New Covenant reshapes our lives and our relationship with God, because the Old Covenant has passed away and the New has come.

Jesus is The New Covenant

God’s gracious covenants throughout the Old Testament were all looking forward to the incarnation of the Son of God, that is God in human flesh. Our Old Testament Reading from Jeremiah 31, we read, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…(vv 31–32).

God’s desire for a New Covenant because the Old Covenant does not work, as it could never cleanse our conscience, it only enhanced our guilt. Try as hard as we might, we will always fall short of the glory of God.

But under the New Covenant, Jesus is for all people. As the Lord announced through Jeremiah, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. …For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:33–34).

How does the New Covenant established by Jesus fundamentally differ from the Old Covenant in terms of its promises and requirements? Why is it considered "better" or more effective in terms of salvation and relationship with God?

Allow me to illustrate by way of an analogy: Imagine the Old Covenant as a traditional contract with an employer. In this setup, your employment is dependent on fulfilling specific job duties—tasks and accomplishments are required to receive your salary and benefits. Failure to meet these conditions can lead to losing your job. This mirrors how the Old Covenant operated: blessings and relationship with God were contingent upon keeping laws and commandments. In contrast, the New Covenant is a Gift-Based Relationship, like a family, where you are lovingly accepted and cherished unconditionally. Your security in the family is based on love and grace, not performance. This reflects how the New Covenant works: it is based on God’s love and the sacrifice of Jesus, offering grace, forgiveness, and an eternal relationship irrespective of your merits. To put it another way, the Old Covenant is akin to a legalistic, performance-based agreement—which only enhances our guilt, while the New Covenant is like an adoption into a loving family, centered on generosity, grace and cleanses our conscience through the blood of Christ. .

The gracious attitude of God the Father toward us is now written on our hearts. We are his people who know him, our iniquities are forgiven, our sins are remembered no more. In Holy Baptism, we are his sons and daughters who are presented to the Lord “with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).

Conclusion

As we reflect on the profound truths revealed this evening, we see how Jesus embodies the fulfillment of God’s promises. He is the True Passover Lamb who marks us with His saving blood. He is the Great High Priest who opens the way for us to approach God with confidence. And He is the New Covenant, where through His blood He shares His holiness with us to make us holy.

In Jesus, the old has truly passed away, and the new has come. Through Him, we are no longer bound by the chains of sin and death. We live as holy people transformed by the blood of Christ, redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled to our Creator. Our lives are marked by a new identity, sealed by the Holy Spirit, assuring us of a future filled with hope. The old is Dead and Buried. The New has come.

As we prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper I commend for your review three stanzas of hymn #135 in Christian Worship. In particular, stanza 2, 4, and 9. It is a wonderful Maundy Thursday hymn. I encourage you to read it and pray it as you prepare to enter the Holy of Holies to be served by Jesus himself. Again, that is Christian Worship #135. We are not going to sing it, but I’d like you to use it as a prayer this night. Hymn 135.

So now, let us live as witnesses to the grace and mercy we've received, inviting others into this remarkable relationship with God. As we await the day when we celebrate the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His eternal kingdom, may we be ever mindful that through Him, we are made new.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.