Maundy Thursday – March 28th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: John 13:1–15
“For You”
Theme: The most precious words from God are these: “For You.”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I know that it is has been several months since Christmas and many more until the next one, but gift-giving is one way to view God’s work among us. God gives, and we receive. We appreciate gifts whether from fellow man or from God by considering three things: what the gift is, who gave it to us, and the fact that it is for you. With regard to gifts from fellow man, sometimes we can be disappointed if one of these three things are not met. For example, sometimes we can be disappointed that the gift itself doesn’t match up to our expectations. Maybe a teenager had in mind a nice, new car for passing driver’s ed, but they get a beater. Instead of being thankful for even that, maybe it’s tempting to despise the gift because of its quality. Or consider the “who” of the gift-giving. Let’s say someone is trying to mend bridges with someone else, and they think that giving a gift is a good way to do that, but the gift gets rejected because they don’t want any gift from that person. Finally, it’s tempting to envy gifts that others get simply because you didn’t get it—the gift was not for you but for someone else.
The wonderful thing about the Lord’s Supper is that it ticks all three of these boxes. The Lord’s Supper itself is a marvelous gift. It is given and instituted by our Lord. And, best of all, it is for you.
What the Lord’s Supper is simple, at least for us Lutherans. We take the words at their face value: the bread is Christ’s body. The wine is His blood. We don’t try to explain how this can be, like the Catholics. We don’t try to explain it away like other Protestants.
Jesus Christ himself unites his physical body and blood to earthly elements through the words that are spoken. When you eat and drink, you are taking God Himself into your mouth and soul.
What does God give us in the Lord’s Supper? Luther’s answer is simple: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. You do receive those things, but I want to phrase it a bit differently as well. God sustains your soul through this meal. He reminds you that you are connected to him both by the Baptismal bond and by this feeding. If Baptism is what brought you into the Church, your soul is fed by meditating on the Word that is preached and by receiving God Himself on your tongue.
There is great assurance that God is with us as we partake of the Lord’s Supper. We don’t have to rely on our emotions to know that God loves us. We don’t rely on the Church Magisterium or a Pope to know that you are in the Church. Christ simply says: Take, eat; Take, drink. For the forgiveness of your sins. That is enough.
Along those lines, we should also consider the person giving us this Supper. The “who” of gift-giving is just as wonderful. My mind goes back to the first meal that God instituted, the Passover. He gave it as a memorial meal for the people to always remember God’s salvation for them over Egypt. God would accomplish great salvation for them during and following that first Passover. The firstborn of those unprotected families would die during the Passover, including Pharoah’s eldest child. Later, Egypt’s host would die in the Red Sea, and God would lead His people through the sea on dry ground. God would give his people manna and quail as food, and water from a rock as drink, sustaining them throughout the wilderness.
God attaches an even greater salvation to this meal, the Lord’s Supper. We will hear tomorrow of the salvation accomplished on the cross through Jesus. He did exactly what God did during the Exodus. Jesus instituted this meal right before—and you could say during—the salvation that he himself would accomplish. Yet instead of thousands of lambs being slaughtered, only one would die. Jesus Himself who died as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world gave us this meal to take away our sins. We love this meal because He, our Savior, gives it to us.
Finally, we should not overlook the fact that this meal is for you. God wants to give himself to you in this meal. We have a self-giving God, not only once in time on the cross, but He gives himself repeatedly to you. Faith grasps this gift. Faith takes it to heart. Faith appreciates all that is given in this gift. Faith trusts in the One who has given this supper for us.
“For you” is an integral part of the gospel. God wants you to know that He has done all this for you. Even if you were the only sinner on earth, He still would have sent His Son to die for you. He would still give you a meal of His own body for you. You do not need to worry that the Lord’s Supper is only for others, for those who are strong in their faith and are mature Christians. No, God gives this meal for you who are like the Israelites, hungry in the wilderness, who need salvation.
What Jesus does in the Sacrament is to bring the salvation that He won on the cross nearly 2000 years ago and places it before you in, with, and under the bread and wine. By eating and believing, you receive what it has to offer: God Himself along with forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. This is what we need to rely on to make it through the troubles, doubts, and terrible headlines of our day. Trusting in God means also trusting in the means by which He comes to you, to love you. So come, let us feast in joy on this Holy day, as we prepare also to hear of the salvation of God.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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