Maundy Thursday

When a man of considerable means is preparing to die, he leaves instructions for how to distribute his possessions among his heirs. This is called his last will and testament. And often a lawyer is involved to ensure that the language of the will is clear and beyond dispute. A last testament is no place for metaphors or poetry. It is the time for precise language. So you won’t find wills that say, “To my son I leave a nice little nest egg.” Rather, it will state plainly, “To my son I leave $563,000.” A last testament must leave no room for doubt if the instructions are to be carried out.

And if the will says, “To my son I leave the family home,” it would be absurd for other family members to argue that “home” is actually a metaphor, and has nothing to do with any physical house. Such a claim would not hold up in a probate court.

Consider then the words of our Lord’s last will and testament. Knowing that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take. Eat. This is My Body, which is broken for you.” In the same way also He took the cup after supper, saying, “Drink of this, all of you. This cup is My Blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (John 13:1; 1 Corinthians 11:23–25; Matthew 26:28)

The language of Jesus’ last will and testament is clear. What treasure did Jesus hand over to His heirs, the church, on the night before His death? His own Body, broken for the world. And what did He command us to drink? His Blood, poured out for many. And why do we eat His Body and drink His Body? For the forgiveness of sins. All of this is spelled out in crystal-clear language and delivered to us in four separate eyewitness accounts. There are no metaphors here. This is not the time or place for poetic language. This is our Lord’s last will and testament.

Jesus told us what He left us as an inheritance: His Body and His Blood, to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins. How could anyone read the words of His will and conclude otherwise? The language is so indisputably clear that no one, not even the devil, thought to argue directly against it for the first 1500 years of the church’s history.

And yet, contrary to the clear words of Scripture, many Christians today believe the opposite of what Jesus said. They say, “When Jesus told us, ‘This is My Body,’ what He actually meant was ‘This represents My Body,’ or even, ‘This is not My Body.’ And when He said, ‘This is My Blood,’ He meant, ‘This red wine reminds us of blood.’ In fact, all of the things that Jesus promised us in His last will and testament are fake news. It is not His Body. It is not His Blood. And there is no forgiveness of sins. There’s only a bit of stale cracker, a sip of discount wine that you never serve at the dinner table, and some nebulous idea of forgiveness that you can never be certain applies to you.”

No probate court would ever butcher a will in this way, and yet, nearly all the Protestant Church across the world has done violence to the clear words of Jesus in His final testament, believing that He meant anything other than what He said: “This is My Body. This is My Blood. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

Many Christians will talk about their faith in a way that makes it this very abstract thing, but faith is not abstract. Faith simply means to believe what Jesus says. Don’t tell me about your faith if you don’t believe the clear and simple words of Jesus. The very same God who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, also said, “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” Faith hears these words of Jesus’ last will and testament and believes that these saving gifts are given according to His promise.

So then, who receives this Sacrament worthily? Whoever has faith in these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” For whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Amen.