4/5/07 - Maundy Thursday - Exodus 12:1-14

THIS IS A DAY YOU ARE TO COMMEMORATE
- Remember the blood
- Remember the reason for it

Two days ago was the 10th day of the first month of the Jewish calendar year. The reason that date is so notable is because every year on the 10th day of the first month the Old Testament Passover feast is celebrated. The most important and widely-celebrated festival among Jews all over the world. You, of course, remember what the Passover was all about. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt the Lord sent ten destructive plagues on the Egyptians because Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites leave. The tenth plague was the Plague of the First-Born. The angel of the Lord went through the land and killed the first-born male of every man and animal unless that family had the blood of a year-old unblemished male lamb spread on their doorframes. If the angel of the Lord saw that blood he would pass over that house. This tenth plague finally prompted Pharaoh to release the people of Israel, and that same night the Jewish nation started their journey to the Promised Land.
But the Lord didn’t want them to ever forget what he had done. And so the Lord commanded them, “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD - a lasting ordinance.” And so ever since the time of Moses, the Passover has been commemorated on the 10th day of the first month of the Jewish calendar year.
So why are we talking about this on Maundy Thursday? Because when Jesus went with his disciples to that upper room in which the first Lord’s Supper was held, it just so happened to be the 10th day of the first month of the year. It was the Passover Feast. And this was no coincidence. Jesus went to that house with his disciples for the specific purpose of eating the Passover meal with them, and while they were there celebrating the Lord’s Passover, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. And they have far more similarities than simply two events that happen to share the same date. The Old Testament festival of the Passover required a sacrificial lamb. Jesus is called our sacrificial Lamb in the New Testament. The Passover lamb was supposed to be without defect. Jesus proved to be without defect because he was without sin. No bones were supposed to be broken in that Passover lamb. No bones were broken in Jesus’ body - as John clearly indicates as a fulfillment of the prophecy. The blood of that lamb in the Old Testament Passover feast saved the Israelites from destruction. The blood of our New Testament Lamb saves us through the forgiveness of sins as it is offered to us in the Lord’s Supper. The Israelites were to commemorate that day - following the command of the Lord. We, too, are to commemorate that night - following the command of the Lord, “Do this in remembrance of me.” These similarities cannot be ignored and they shouldn’t be. And so tonight, as we look back into the upper room on Maundy Thursday evening, we will commemorate that day just as the Israelites commemorated the Passover - by remembering the blood and the reason for it.
It must have been strange to the disciples when Jesus gave them the wine and said “This is my blood.” Not only because was illogical, but because allowing any kind of blood to remain in food was forbidden in the Old Testament. I’m sure that when Jesus said those words, “Take and drink. This is my blood,” the disciples’ minds were flooded with passages like “Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it” (1 Samuel 14:34). “Be sure that you do not eat the blood because the blood is the life” (Deut. 12:23). But now, in the upper room, Jesus is saying, “Drink it! I want you to! And do it often in remembrance of me!” The disciples must have been completely confused. They had never eaten a Passover meal like this before: Jesus was telling them to eat his body and drink his blood, to do so in his memory like he would be leaving soon, and on top of all that, they could see plain as day that it was bread and wine that Jesus was handing to them and not his flesh and blood. What a strange mix of emotions the disciples must have had on that night. But just as the Israelites ate that first Passover meal without fully understanding or knowing the implications of the feast, the disciples ate and drank also. Even though they didn’t understand. Even though they couldn’t explain the words that Jesus had so clearly said to them. They simply trusted in their Lord and took him at his word.
This brings us to a very important point: When Jesus says, “This is my body… This is my blood,” that’s what he means. Please do not try to put words into Jesus’ mouth. If he wanted to say, “This changes into my body and blood and is no longer bread and wine,” he could have said it. If he wanted to say, “This symbolizes my body and blood,” he could have said that. But the fact of the matter is: Jesus said, “This is my body… This is my blood.” How can the bread be Jesus’ true body and still be bread? I don’t know. How can the wine be Jesus’ true blood and still be wine? I don’t know. Jesus doesn’t explain how. He simply tells us what happens during the Lord’s Supper and, in this case, he also tells us why, “For the forgiveness of sins.” Every time we eat Jesus’ flesh and drink Jesus’ blood in the Lord’s Supper we receive the forgiveness of sins. Not just a sign or a symbol or a reminder of it. But THE forgiveness of sins. Complete forgiveness. Free forgiveness. Every single time through our Savior’s sinless blood.
Of course, we not only commemorate this event on Maundy Thursday, but every time we participate in the Lord’s Supper. And so it is my hope, it is my prayer that every time you do commemorate the Lord’s Supper in front of this altar, you remember the blood and the forgiveness it brings. It is my guess, though, that many times instead of remembering the blood and its forgiveness, your thoughts are concentrated on other things. When you are standing up here for the Lord’s Supper, do you catch yourself wondering if I polish my shoes? Do you wonder why so-and-so is standing so close to you? Are you distracted by the taste of the wine or the crumble of the wafer? Does your mind wander to what you’re going to do for the rest of the afternoon? Do you come up here just out of habit? Do you decide to participate in this holy meal because you didn’t go last time so you might as well this time? How many things do you end up thinking about that have nothing to do with the spiritual meal you involved with that very moment? You are receiving Christ’s true body and his true blood when you stand up here. You are offered forgiveness for all of your sins in a visible and tangible and miraculous way. You are commemorating what Christ has done for you and everything he has sacrificed. Do not take this sacrament lightly. Do not come up here just out of habit. Do not freely let you mind wander to less important things. Give your Lord and the blood he poured out for you a little respect.
I say this so strongly because I know what it is like to disrespect this holy Supper by experience. I struggle to keep my mind focused. I struggle to properly prepare myself for Holy Communion in the middle of all my other Sunday preparations. I often times stand up here without the awe and the wonderment and the amazement that should fill my soul as I, a disgusting sinner, have a chance to drink the forgiving blood of Christ. If you are guilty of committing some of the same sins against the Lord’s Supper that I do, then do what I do and ask for forgiveness for those sins when you’re up here! That’s why we come to God’s Supper after all! Throw those nasty sins on his altar, take his body with gladness, drink his blood with joy, and hear with a heart of faith the promise of God himself that you have heard for years: “This true body and true blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will strengthen and preserve you in the true faith until life everlasting. You may depart in peace because your sins are forgiven.” What could be more comforting than to hear this? What event could be better to commemorate than this? And we are privileged to do so every other week!
Every time we join together in celebrating the Holy Supper of our Lord, we do something very similar to what the Israelites did during the Passover feast. When they performed the ceremonies involved with the Passover year after year, they were to say to their children, “I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). And so this festival of the Passover was not only a commemoration, but also a proclamation.
The Lord’s Supper falls into that same category. It is not only a commemoration but also a proclamation. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). You are proclaiming what the Lord has done for you on the cross and what he has won for you through his blood each time you stand in front of this altar. And you are not doing it alone. You and every Christian here are proclaiming your common faith in the Lord together. And so this “Holy Communion” is not only a communion with the Lord but with each other. There is a bond. There is a confession of faith that we all believe the exact same thing, not only about Jesus and his body and blood - but about his entire Word. This is what you can be sure of: when you stand shoulder to shoulder with your fellow saints in the front of this room, they believe what you believe. All of us know what Scripture says and all of us believe it. And so we confess our faith together, confess our sins together, and together gladly soak in that beautiful forgiveness offered in that bloody sacrifice.
We will again be privileged to partake of this Lord’s Supper in a few minutes. And I hope that when you are standing up here with your brothers and sisters, you now have a renewed sense of the importance and the intensity of the event you are a part of. After all, this is not just a normal communion Sunday! This is Maundy Thursday! The night our Savior was betrayed! The night he was handed over to his enemies! But also the night he gave us his blood. Remember this blood and what it means. Because this is the blood that grants you forgiveness. This is the blood that won your salvation. And this is the blood that will take you home - a place where we will praise God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain.
Amen.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be gory and power forever and ever! Amen.” - Rev. 1:5b-6