Maundy/Holy
Thursday 4/14/22 - 7 pm - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Communion, Foot Washing, and the Mandate!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel Lesson: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
So,
in the past couple of weeks, I have had a few people ask me, “Pastor Paul do
you all have a Maundy Thursday service or a Holy Thursday service at the Sidney
UMC during Holy Week?” To one person, I said, “We have both.” They then said, “You
have two church services that night!” I said, “No, we only have one, but I call
it a Maundy/Holy Thursday service.”
Some
Christian Churches or denominations have what they call a “Maundy Thursday” service,
and some have a “Holy Thursday” service, during Holy Week. You have probably
heard both names before, but the question is why are some services called “Maundy
Thursday,” and some services called “Holy Thursday?” Well, I will hopefully clarify
tonight why this is the case, and then explain why I have “Maundy/Holy Thursday”
service every year.
First
let me explain why some churches have “Maundy Thursday” service. According to a
source that I researched it said this of “Maundy Thursday”:
It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum, or commandment, reflecting Jesus' words "I give you a new commandment" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday).
So,
the Latin word “mandatum” means “mandate.” On this night Jesus gives us
a “maundy” or a “mandate” to love each other. It is quite a big night in what
would become the Christian faith. For on this night, in that Upper Room in Jerusalem,
the holy city, we have three big things that occur. In fact, this is the title
of my sermon for tonight. What are these three big things that occur tonight?
They are “Communion or the Lord’s Supper, Foot Washing, and the mandate to love
each other.”
At
a “Maundy Thursday” service during holy week, you may celebrate communion, foot
washing, and are remined of the “maundy” or the “mandate to love each other. In
some Christian Churches and Christian denominations however, this night is
called “Holy Thursday.” I do not think that there is a right or a wrong way to
label this day, and this night. Yet, I have always felt that term “Maundy
Thursday” places great emphasis on the “maundy” or the “mandate” to love each
other. This is an important mandate indeed, but by calling tonight Maundy/Holy
Thursday is emphasizes everything that happened tonight.
Tonight,
on this Maundy/Holy Thursday we are given from Jesus Christ, the sacrament of
Holy Communion, the ordinance or practice of foot washing, and “maundy” or “mandate”
to love each other. I would say that for one night of Jesus’ three-year earthly
ministry that we get quite a lot from this one evening. So much so, that
Christians have been partaking in Holy Communion of the Lord’s Supper for
nearly two-thousand years, foot washing has occurred in Jesus’ name for nearly
two-thousand years, and the “maundy” or “mandate” to love each other was given
to us by Christ this night nearly two-thousand years ago.
Now
the events of this night, this “Last Supper” as we have come to call it are in
all four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but there are some
differences in some details among the gospels. The Apostle Paul also discussed Holy
Communion or the Lord’s Supper in our read from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
for tonight, once again.
Further,
on this night, almost two-thousand years ago, Jews from all over the then Roman
Empire were in Jerusalem. These Jews and others from all over the then Roman
Empire were in Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday or festival of the Passover. The
holiday of the Passover is the one where the Jews in the Book of Exodus celebrate
leaving slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt through the Red Sea, and they then receive
of the Law of God, including the 10-Commandments.
The
Passover holiday traditionally goes on for a week. During the Passover holiday
Jews celebrate a Seder dinner. This dinner includes various things such as egg,
bitter herbs, lamb, and etc., as explained in the Book of Exodus. The Passover
holiday commemorates when death “passed over” the houses of the Jews while in
slavery in Egypt, as well. The Jews were instructed to kill a pure, white, spotless
lamb, and to smear the blood of that lamb over their doorposts and lintels. The
blood of the lamb would save their first-born child that night, and thus death
would “Passover” there first born (Ex. 12:1-14, NRSV).
During
Jesus’ life the Passover happened only in Jerusalem, because this is where the
great temple of God was. The Jews, therefore, had been celebrating Passover
long before and Jesus and his disciples walked on this earth. We have every
reason to believe that Jesus and his disciples ate the other Passover foods, as
well, but we tend to hon in on what Jesus does at this supper with the bread and
a cup of wine.
In
fact, the Apostle Paul tells us specifically of this night in the Upper Room,
this Last Supper. In our reading for tonight from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, it
says of the bread and cup:
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:23-26, NRSV).
On this night almost two-thousand
years ago, Jesus sits with the disciples, his friends, and he tells them that
he is the new Passover. The lambs that were slain in Egypt, so that death would
Passover there first born for a night, have now all turned into him. He is the
new sacrificial lamb, and his body, like the bread, and his blood, like the cup
will be broken and poured as an offering for all of humanity. This new covenant
or agreement is not like the old covenant or law of Moses, as this covenant is
established through the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Christ dying on the cross,
tomorrow on Good Friday, protects not just the first born for a night, but all
of humanity past, present, and future, forever. All we need to do is repent of
our sins and turn to Jesus Christ, and eternal death will pass us over. So, Holy
Communion or the Lord’s Supper, as our communion altar says, is something we do,
as Jesus said, “In Remembrance of Me.”
While our Gospel of John
reading once again does not talk about the Last Supper itself, it is implied as
the scripture says that Jesus got up from the table. Clearly this table, was
the table of the Last Supper. Jesus then washes the feet of his disciples, and
Peter wants no part of this initially. Jesus then gives his disciples a new commandment,
or “maundy,” or a “mandate,” to love each other. Jesus says that the world will
know that we are his disciples by the love that we have for one another.
One
of the reasons that we have our Sharing the Peace of Christ portion of our
church service after the washing of the feet, or hands in this case, is because
that’s when Jesus gave us the commandment, or the “maundy,” or the “mandate” to
love each other. So, when we share the peace of Christ with each other tonight,
after we do foot/hand washing, we will then be practicing the “maundy” or the “mandate”
to love each other.
So tonight, on this Maundy/Holy Thursday, Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover Seder, Jesus institutes Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper with the bread and wine. Jesus washes the feet and gives us the “maundy,” or the “mandate,” or the commandment to love each other. As my sermon title says, tonight we were given “Communion, Foot Washing, and the Mandate!” Friends this is why today and this night matters and is so significant. Amen.
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