April 1, 2021 – Maundy Thursday
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Mark 14:17-31
The Meal of Forgiveness
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our theme for Lent this year has been forgiveness. This evening we observe the events of Holy Thursday. Jesus had gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. They ate the meal in a borrowed, upper floor room in Jerusalem. When the meal was done, they retired to a garden outside the city walls of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives.
There, in the garden, the turning point of events would begin. Judas would lead a hostile gang to apprehend Jesus. They would take him into custody for trial. From there, the succeeding events would fall like dominoes all the way to his crucifixion.
But the evening begins in that upper room. Jesus and his disciples partake in the ancient Passover meal celebrated for hundreds of years. The meal observed Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. And during that sacred dinner, Jesus instituted a new meal. It was a supper of his own creation. It was our Lord’s supper.
There is no better way to conclude our Lenten reflection on forgiveness than to dwell on this meal. Because it’s a meal of forgiveness, plain and simple.
During their Passover Seder meal, Jesus took some of the unleavened bread they were eating. He blessed that bread and then he broke it. He told his disciples, “Take this and eat it. This bread is my body, given for you.”
And then, as their Passover meal concluded, he reached out and took the final cup of wine. He blessed the cup and again, he said to them, “Take and drink from this cup. It’s my blood, shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.”
Within 24 hours, on the cross, Jesus will give his body and shed his blood for the disciples and for you and for me and for all people. And in that sacrifice, Jesus will become the Passover lamb. He becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
But now, on this holy eve, Jesus commands his disciples and us, to partake of his meal of forgiveness. This meal transcends time. His body and blood come to us with all their power to transform and make us new.
As Jesus institutes this meal of forgiveness he knows everything that’s about to unfold. He knows what’s in store for him. And he knows how it’s going to come about: one of his very own disciples is going to betray him. One from his inner circle of friends will lead a blood-thirsty mob straight to him.
And the remaining 11 disciples? Before the evening is over, they’ll all flee and desert him. And even Peter, arguably the chief of the disciples: he will deny ever knowing Jesus!
Realizing all of this, Jesus still invites his disciples to share in this meal. It’s not about how much they understand. They don’t get it at all! And it’s not about worthiness. They’re all going to fail him.
No, it’s precisely about UN-worthiness! Jesus shares this meal on the night in which he was betrayed. Jesus’ sacred meal is given to us, to you and to me, within the context of betrayal and confusion and desertion. In spite of it all, he gives us this meal for the forgiveness of sin.
This is the meal he gives. It’s a meal overflowing with forgiveness and grace. When we receive the bread and the wine, we hear the words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.” It’s those words “for you” that make all the difference. Jesus gives himself to you. And that is precisely what he’s made of: forgiveness and grace.
