Sidney UMC - Maundy/Holy Thursday - 03/28/24 - Sermon - “The Night Of The New Covenant!”

       Maundy/Holy Thursday 3/28/24 - 6 pm - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:     “The Night Of The New Covenant!”                     

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  

Tonight, is the night before the arrest, the trial, the torture, the crucifixion, and the death of Jesus Christ our Lord. This night is significant, because in that upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples celebrated, the Jewish Passover Sedar dinner. In addition to this Jewish celebration of the death of the passing over of the firstborn child in Egypt, the Israelites celebrated the first Passover dinner that night. On that first Passover night in Egypt, long before Jesus was born, the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a pure and spotless lamb. They were to then take the blood of the lamb and spread it over their doorposts and lintels. The blood of the spotless lamb protected the oldest child of each family for a night from death, but Jesus, our new Passover Lamb, covers our hearts and our souls for eternity with his shed blood. On this night in that upper room so long-ago, Jesus gave us the sacrament of Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper, he gave us the ordinance and gift of the washing of the feet, and he also gave us the commandment, or the “maundy,” or mandate, to love each other.

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 have heard both names before, but the question is why are some services called “Maundy Thursday,” and some services called “Holy Thursday?” First let me explain why some churches have a “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 the “maundy” or the “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 once again have three big things that occur. While all three are important on this night, it is still “The Night Of The New Covenant!” Tonight, the bread and wine, or grape juice in our case, are consecrated, celebrated, and shared, not just because it is a sacrament or gift, but because in it and through this we offered the new covenant, the new agreement with God through Jesus Christ. For on this night, we are no longer living under the Law of Moses, but we are not living under grace. We are on this night, living under the grace of Jesus Christ, our new Passover Lamb. The blood of Christ however, will not save us for the night like the Passover Lamb in Egypt die, but for eternity, if we turn to him.

          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. Further, 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 the Passover long before Jesus and his disciples walked on this earth. We have every reason to believe that Jesus and his disciples then 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 more specifically:

^“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, and his resurrection on Sunday cements the salvation of all 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 tonight, 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 for tonight though, tonight is “The Night Of The New Covenant!” Dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, happy Maundy/Holy Thursday. Amen.