Maundy Thursday 2007
Maundy Thursday
Jeremiah 31:31–34; Psalm 116:12–19; Hebrews 10:15–25; Luke 22:7–20
April 5, 2007
“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 most likely taken from the Latin word mandatum, which means “mandate” or “command.” On this day/night, Jesus gave a new mandate to love one another as he has loved us. He gave a new mandate to wash one another’s feet as he washed the disciples’ feet. He gave a new mandate to take, eat, and drink of his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
You are present here today/tonight with the Lord in this sanctuary, just like the apostles who were present with the Lord in the Upper Room. You are speaking the words of the same psalm the disciples spoke that Passover night. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. . . . I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps 116:12–14, 17).
You 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. In the Gospel from Luke 22, we read, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” (v 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. However, they no longer eat lamb, because they can no longer present it and sacrifice it at the temple which was destroyed around 70 A.D.
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. “He took bread, and when he had 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 likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’ ” (Lk 22:19–20).
We are here today/tonight to 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 us marked by the blood of the innocent, slaughtered, true Passover Lamb. We are delivered from the slavery of sin, death, and hell.
Therefore, take, eat, drink, and believe. Christ’s body and blood are given and shed for you! You personally receive this gift through the means in the Sacrament of the Altar, this Lord’s Supper, this Eucharist, this Lord’s Table, this Holy Communion. The Lord still earnestly desires that you eat this Passover with him!
Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes our sin away He is also the great High Priest. In the Epistle from Hebrews 10, we read, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (vv 19–22).
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 in the earthly temple in Jerusalem. That was the place where people came into the presence of God and where the high priest offered atonement for the sins of all the people in all Israel.
Jesus is the great High Priest who offers his own blood as the heavenly Lamb, 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 where Jesus embodies the true Holy of Holies. It is by faith in Him, and His all sufficient sacrifice that we enter into the presence of God, now on earth, but soon in Heaven.
Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is our High Priest but He is also the embodiment of the New Covenant. God’s gracious covenants throughout the Old Testament were all in view of the incarnation of the Son of God in human flesh. Thus in the 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, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord” (vv 31–32).
This new covenant in Jesus Christ is for all nations, for Jews and Gentiles. As the Lord announced through Jeremiah, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: 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. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (vv 33–34).
This gracious attitude of God the Father toward us is now written on our hearts. We are his people that know Him, through Jesus Christ our iniquities are forgiven, our sins are remembered no more. In Holy Baptism, we are His sons 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).
It is true. In Jesus Christ the old has passed away, the new has come:
In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ body is given and his blood is poured out for us. We eat and drink in the kingdom of God with a sincere hearts in full assurance through faith. As we have been encouraged in Holy Scripture as we meet together during Holy Week, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works...encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:23–25).
The old has passed away, the new has come: Jesus Is the True Passover Lamb and the Great High Priest of the New Covenant. Come and receive His gifts. The peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds, in true faith in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.[i] Amen.
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[i] Rev. David R. Nehrenz