Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday (2024)
Holy Week • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Exodus 12:1-14
Exodus 12:1-14
In ancient Egypt, the Israelites had been watching the hand of God come down upon the Egyptians and all their idols. Each one of the plagues showed that the gods of egypt were nothing when compared with the might of the God of Israel. The true God tore these false gods down plague by plague as they were not able to protect or keep the Egyptians safe, and on this final night God has the people gather together as He shows the power He has over life and death, and that no one great or small would be spared unless the blood of the lamb was upon their door.
The night of Passover is when God reveals that there is nothing the Egyptians can do to even guard the life of great or small. It isn’t the Israelites that have come against Egyptians and their idols, but the true God of heaven and earth. They will learn why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To mark those who will be kept safe, the Lord gives to the people a promise on this night. That when the Lord goes through the land of Egypt if he sees on the doorpost and lintel the blood of the lamb. the family will be spared as God passes over them.
This was to be handed down from Generation to Generation and to be observed by the people of Israel as they remembered when God brought them out of their slavery. This tradition was observed according to God’s command in the years that followed, but all of this was pointing to God’s work of salvation not just for Israel, but for the whole human race. Which is why on this night, Christ completes what was begun 1500 years prior.
All mankind has gone astray and worships idols. In the ancient world, you would hear people praise them and build giant shrines and temples to them and gather together in worship of their gods and go out in the name of their deities to perform great and mighty works expecting a blessing and reward from their deity.
Well what are our idols today? What do we put our trust or hope in? Where do we look to know everything is going to be alright? Jobs, we know that we ought to work hard, that we have to provide for our neighbor and our family. Those things are good, but God wanted His people to have a day to rest, that they might gather together at worship every week. If we fail in that, we have an idol.
What about family? How often do we set aside our confession of faith for the family as well. No one disagrees that having time together as a family is important, and the best way to spend it is together in God’s house. When a person says, Sunday is family time, and use that to avoid church, their family has become an idol.
In the ancient world, people setup statutes to worship gods who oversaw their professions, or for protection of family, there were giant temples, and even home altars. We still have these idols, just not built physically. Other things that people worship in the ancient world? They would pray to idols for luck, riches, a bountiful harvest, good health, medicine, and the list goes on. All the idols are still here, and they won’t keep you safe. If put your trust in them, be prepared for God to show how they cannot keep you safe in the final hour. Especially if you have been letting them lead you away from Him.
What kept the people of Israel safe on that night? It wasn’t just the blood of the lamb, but God’s promise was attached to that blood. The world would look at that and say why? Why would that keep you safe? Why would a little bit of blood on your door frame keep you safer than a locked door and armed guards? Because that is what God promised, and faith says amen to it.
It is on the observance of passover that Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. He had told the disciples years before that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life, which caused many to fall away. Yet Peter confessed Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life. For Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the lamb whose blood keeps us safe as God passes over us when His wrath comes upon the world.
Jesus’ blood will not be painted upon the doorpost and lintel on one night a year, His blood will be shed once upon the cross. It will be shed for our sake that God might pass over us and forgive our sins. Jesus will institutes the Lord’s Supper so that Jesus’ body and blood will be given to you regularly.
As you partake of His body and blood that you might rest assured that you are safe, you are forgiven, and that you have peace with God. This is Jesus’ promise given to you. It is not a symbol, nor a representation, Jesus says, this is my body, this is my blood. For you are not symbolically forgiven, nor do you receive a representation of eternal life, Jesus comes to you, and Jesus forgives your sins.
That is why you should come whenever the Lord’s Supper is offered, and yet you find many who claim to be Christian and neglect the Lord’s Supper for months or years. That is when you see the idols beginning to take over. For how can one claim to be a Christian and ignore Jesus when he says do this.
This is why in our Small Catechism it says, that if a person has not received the Lord’s Supper at least 4 times in the last year, it is to be feared they are not Christian. For if one can prioritize family, work, health, etc, why have they not prioritized Jesus? You shall have no other gods, and yet what has happened?
For there is a great and wonderful gift that Jesus has given us this night in the Supper. He has promised us eternal life, salvation, and gives to us the blessings that He won upon Calvary. For it is His body and blood that are offered up in Sacrifice for our sake and brought into the presence of God the Father, and so we are blessed by God’s Holiness, His righteousness, and have forgiveness and peace with God by Christ’s sacrifice.
That is why whenever the Supper is offered, we want to receive it. So it is good that we are here this night for Christ comes to us to assure us that what He does on Good Friday is for you. It is why we want to also encourage those who are not yet able to receive to be diligent in their preparations to receive the Lord’s Supper that they might receive it for their forgiveness.
Now why don’t we just hand it out to everyone? Well because it is the Body and Blood of Christ, it isn’t merely bread and wine that a person receives here. According to the Scriptures, they must share in the confession of faith, and they must be able to examine themselves according to God’s Word. If they aren’t able to do that, then they receive the Lord’s Supper to their own judgment and damnation. For they meet Jesus not as their Savior but as their judge. Even in the Old Testament, one had to be clean to partake of that which is holy, lest they come under God’s wrath. That is why every time before we come to the Altar we examine our hearts and ask is there any sin which I will not let go, is there anyone I am unwilling to forgive, do I confess and believe the Scriptures to be true. If the answer is no to any of these then one ought to refrain.
If you are here tonight, knowing your sins and seeking forgiveness, if you are confirmed and share in the confession of this altar, and if you are not withholding forgiveness from your neighbors, then Christ has a gift for you, to strengthen you, and sustain you in the days ahead.
So my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, tonight we rejoice as Christ comes into our midst, to forgive our sins, and assure that what Jesus does tomorrow on Golgotha is for you. For you receive tonight the Body and Blood of Jesus that was crucified for you, and covers all of your sins, so that God’s wrath might pass over you as you remain in the shadow of Christ’s Cross. In Jesus’s name. Amen.