Maundy Thursday Series

Theme: Meat & Blood

Text: Matthew 26:26-30

Introduction:

Maundy Thursday reveals two things one is commandment and the other is covenant.

Maundy means commandment. Commandment Thursday, Holy Thursday, green Thursday in Germany (ref: Britannica).  The Commandment is “to Love and Serve and Sacrifice”.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 to show that God told the Israelites that one day, He would make a new covenant with them.

Maundy Thursday reminds that

A Body is prepared,

A Body is presented, and

A body is preserved or remembered.

1. A Body is prepared (Hebrews 10:5-7)

‘A body is prepared for me’ was a declaration of Jesus Christ, and it’s a quote from the Psalm 40:6-8. A Body prepared for me was the declaration of Jesus Christ about his incarnation. Jesus was perfectly prepared and suited to live as fully man and fully God. Jesus was truly physically human and not a mirage or an allusion. Jesus was a 100 per cent authentic human being which explicitly explained in “the word became flesh lived among human beings”. Jesus was not a hologram or ghost disguised but a person.

God’s created man using two materials: “the dust”-aphar (Genesis 2:7) and the breadth of God- Ruach. Aphar suggests lowliness or a humble substance, and Ruach suggests the lofty an invincible substance (Dr. Aravind, OT professor). God breathed ruach upon aphar. The human body is tuned, and aligned well with the earth as well as heaven. In human body, there is a connectivity between the low and the lofty, the earth and the heaven, with horizontal and with vertical relationships.  

Now the body of Jesus is combination of earth and heaven, dust and breadth of God. But not of a human blood, not of a human will, not of a human flesh (John 1:13).

The apostle John described this stepping out as "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14 NIV).

This verse affirms both natures of humanity and divinity of Christ. The tabernacle was sometimes called the Tent of Meeting because it was the divinely-appointed meeting place between God and man, a much deeper sense-Jesus is the place where men and God meet.

The Greek word used here is Skenoo, which suggest the tabernacle of the Old Testament the tabernacle was a temporary structure symbolic of dwelling of God with his people. Jesus is among us in human form as God was among his people in the tabernacle (John 3:16, Hebrew 4:15, and John 1:18).

"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood" (John 1:14 MSG). “The human nature which he took of the virgin, being as the shrine, house, or temple, in which his immaculate Deity condescended to dwell. The word is probably an allusion to the Divine Shekinah in the Jewish temple” (Adam Clarke).

God works in and around our lives before we even have awareness of Him moving on our behalf. This is know as the ‘Prevenient grace or dwelling grace’. The term prevenient comes from a Latin word meaning “to come before, to anticipate.”

A body is prepared to do the will of God. Doing God’s will is the aim of any perfect man. God wants a person to delight in doing his will.

God does not take pleasure in the mere outward activities of worship and righteousness. God takes pleasure in the heart that is desiring to do his will that leads to the activities of worship and righteousness. The sacrifice of Jesus was determined before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8).

God is offended and expressed displeasure for the good actions done with the wrong heart (Isaiah 1:11-13; 66:3-4; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Amos 5:21-24; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Psalm 51:16-17; 1 Samuel 15:22). God hates hypocrisy.

2. A body is presented

‘Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the World’ (John 1:29). Jesus’ submission to Father’s will had its ultimate fulfilment in His obedience to the cross (Luke 22:39-44).

Today is the day on which Jesus broke bread, prayed in the Garden, and yielded himself to unjust arrest and consequence. His full surrender and commitment is exhibited.

The institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the Eucharist, and the Lord’s Supper signifies the Passover sacrifice by which atonement (Kippur = kattallage) is made (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Kafar means to atone, to cover, the kattallage is the reconciliation and reestablish friendship. The Hebrew word KAFAR has three letters of the Hebrew alphabets: K, pe, and resh. K symbolises the Palm or the open hand, the Pe indicates the mouth or speak, and the Resh refers the head or the chief. The Lord who is the head of creations calls us with his out stretched arms to reconcile with him, and to be his friends. He removes the sins and restores the Holiness (Dr. Aravind, OT).