Maundy Thursday 2022

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

John narrates for us that Jesus showed his love for the disciples through:

serving them in footwashing

Serving them in a meal which represents his body and blood for the New Covenant

PEOPLE ARE MESSY

John 13:1–17 (ESV)

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Jesus cleans our mess and calls us to serve.

INTRO: People are messy.

illust. - babies, brothers.

This whole account happens because people are messy.

Actually, this whole account happens because of two things: people are messy, and Jesus cleans the mess.

Mess mangles relationships

John 13:8 ESV

8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

Why does Peter NOT want Jesus to wash his feet?

He believes to follow Jesus Peter should be the one to serve, not Jesus

Doesn’t want Jesus to deal with his mess.

Why is footwashing awkward?

Our feet are often the dirtiest part of us (at least in summer time and especially in ANE)

You need to take the posture of a servant

– Jesus symbolizes the cleansing that is necessary to have a relationship with him. Jesus will cleanse the disciples spiritually through what he is about to do on the cross.

13:9-11 – Foot washing also shows that those who have been cleansed completely still and only need periodic cleaning.

Beyond symbolizing how he cleans our mess, Jesus uses this as an example to call his disciples to serve.

We have been cleaned so that we might engage the messiness of life.

How many of you really have dirty feet tonight? (How many washed their feet before coming tonight?)

It may be a bit awkward to touch someone else’s feet, but we don’t really understand the humility necessary for the disciples to enter into even their friend’s mess.

Tried to think of a modern equivalent, but there is none – we avoid mess and discomfort at all cost.

There is no equivalent example – only practical application.

We don’t enter into each other’s mess by washing each other’s feet, but we do when we serve one another.

Jesus:

knows

- He is not surprised by their mess.

- He knows all their dirt - Judas will betray him.

- What they should have done, but instead of complaining, he does it himself. He doesn’t consume - he produces.

We wait until things are neat or pretty before we serve.

How many times do we not want to know or want to know only to “pray.”

loves

- He has a heart for his disciples

- He loves them “to the end” or loves them completely – showing them the fullest extent of his love.

Service without love is duty.

serves

- He humbly serves instead of arrogantly demanding

- equally based on his love

even if it is unfruitful or misunderstood.

Service without love is unproven.

Jesus didn’t say, “C’mon guys, I’m about to die here and you want me to wash your feet?!"

Jesus cleans our mess and calls us to serve.

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A MEAL WITH MESSIAH

Luke 22:14–20 (ESV)

14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

A meal with Messiah gives us strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

INTRO: Famous Last meals

Allen Lee Davis

- Florida

- Robbery, 3 counts of murder

- Electric chair

- Lobster tail

- Fried Potatoes

- ½ lb fried shrimp

- 6oz fried clams

- ½ loaf garlic bread

- 32oz A&W root beer

Angel Nieves Diaz

- Florida

- Murder, kidnapping, armed robbery

- Declined a meal

- Was served the regular prison meal, but he refused to eat this as well

Ricky Ray Rector

- Arkansas

- 2 counts of murder

- Lethal injection

- Steak

- Fried chicken

- Cherry Kool-Aid

- Pecan pie (Which he told the guard he was saving for later)

Timothy McVeigh

- Indiana

-168 counts of murder

- Lethal injection

- 2 pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream

Victor Feguer

-Iowa

- Kidnapping and murder

- Lethal injection

- Single olive with the pit in it.

Velma Barfield

- North Carolina

- Murder

- Lethal injectioin

- Cheese doodles

- Coca-Cola

Karla Faye Tucker

- Texas

- Murder

- Lethal injection

- Garden salad with Ranch dressing

- Banana

- Peach

James Edward Smith

- Lump of dirt

- Denied, settled for pot of yogurt

Peter Kurten

- Mass murder in Dusseldorf

- Wiener schnitzel, fried potatoes, and white wine

- asked for seconds – and got it!

Gerald Mitchell

- large bag of Jolly Ranchers

Odelle Barnes

- Requested “Justice, Equality, and World Peace.”

Lawrence Russell Brewer

- Triple bacon cheeseburger

- 2 chicken fried steaks with gravy and onions

- Cheese and beef omelet

- Tomatoes

- ‘Meat Lovers’ Pizza

- Bell peppers

- Jalapenos

- Bowl of okra

- One pound of barbecue meat

- Half a loaf of bread

- 3 fully loaded fajitas

- 3 root beers

- Pint of ice cream

- Slab of peanut butter fudge

- never ate a bite – this ended the tradition f offering last meal requests to inmates in the state of Texas.

Last meals are more than a menu – they’re a statement.

The Last Supper was such for a few reasons:

- It was the last time Jesus would eat with his followers

- It was the last time Jesus would eat in his pre-glorified body

- It was the last time the Passover would be eaten in the Old Covenant – The New had come

Jesus said that whenever we eat this meal we are to “remember him.”

The way in which Jesus spent and shared his last meal tells us something about him.

What is it that we are to remember about him? What does this Last Meal say about Jesus?

It was the last time Jesus would eat with his followers

Jesus is human

- Jesus is human – with all of the joys, struggles, emotions, and temptations that come along with it.

- sharing a meal with someone marks a connection with them.

Jesus was holy, but he was also human.

This Table reminds us how Jesus identifies with us.

It was the last time Jesus would eat in his pre-glorified body

Jesus is divine

- Jesus is divine – with all of the love, power, and healing that comes along with it.

The next time Jesus will eat with his disciples will be after he has risen from the dead – a feat only God can accomplish (Jesus said he has authority to lay down his life and to take it up again)

I imagine the disciples knew this meal was different, but they didn’t fully get it. They began to argue over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom.

But they missed whom they were eating with. They saw Jesus as a human liberator instead of the divine Redeemer.

They desired far less than what Jesus wanted to accomplish.

When you come to this Table do you really see who Jesus is and what he can do?

When you leave, are you expecting an aftertaste of bread or a divine touch of God?

It was the last time the Passover would be eaten in the Old Covenant – The New had come

Jesus is Savior

This was the last time this meal would be eaten as a shadow, looking forward. From now on, this meal would look back to what God had done through Jesus.

Jesus’ words are interesting. The Passover was to be eaten as a remembrance of God’s salvation of the Jewish people from the slavery of Pharaoh. Now Jesus applies the meal to himself, as a remembrance of

This meal pictures something new.

WE come to God through Jesus – by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The meal is reminder of the sacrifice for you, which is a example of the sacrifice for you to do.

The disciples missed it. They turned their focus from Jesus to themselves - Luke points out the irony:

Luke 22:24–30 (ESV)

24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This would be Jesus’s last meal.

This would be the last cup until pleads with his Father in the garden to remove the cup of wrath from the sins of all mankind.

This would give him the energy to endure the worst mankind can offer so he can accomplish the best God can offer.

This would be the last taste in his mouth before the taste of his own blood from the beatings and the bitter vinegar as he hung on the cross.

These final moments are more than a meal, they’re a message — and that’s the point.

it’s a message of hope

love

salvation

Take time to have a meal with Messiah.

CONCL: The Table (Chris Tomlin)

I will feast at the table of the Lord

I won’t hunger anymore

At His table [x2]

Come all you weary; come and find

His yoke is easy; His burden light

He is able; He will restore

At the table of the Lord

There is peace at the table of the Lord

I won’t worry anymore

At His table

There is healing at the table of the Lord

I won’t suffer anymore

At His table

I know He has a place for me

Oh, what joy will fill my heart

With the saints around the mercy seat of God

I’m invited to the table of the Lord

He says, “Come just as you are”

To His table

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