This Do In Remembrance Of Me: A Sermon For Maundy Thursday

This Do in Remembrance of Me

Luke 22:1–20 NKJV

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.

Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”

So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”

And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.”

So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

Introduction

We come together tonight on a day that is called Maundy Thursday in which we remember Jesus final Passover which He would have in this world. We remember the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood for us by partaking in what is called “communion,” The Lord’s Supper,” or the “Holy Eucharist,” depending upon one’s faith tradition. The Eucharist, according to an Anglican priest named Frank Colquhon, is an acted out sermon. In the divine service, we hear the Word read and preached. Then we take the Eucharist together, letting each inform our faith. So, now, let us look at the preached text this evening from Luke 22:1-20.

Exposition of the Text

Luke informs us that the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is also called Passover was at hand. This was to explain to Gentile readers who were unfamiliar with the practices of the Jews. Technically, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is separate from the Passover Feast. But it followed hard unto Passover, so they were celebrated together. So was a day called “Firstfuits” in which the barley harvest was celebrated. The sequence of observance was first the Passover which was celebrated at the full moon. Then the Feast of Unleavened Bread started the next day with a Holy Sabbath. The next Day, Sunday was the waving of the firstfruits before the LORD. One should observe that this was the day in which Jesus rose from the dead as the firstfruit of the Resurrection from the dead. something Paul reminds us of in 1 Corinthians 15:20. All of these events together are important to our understanding of the Christian faith. It is solidly based upon what is today called the “Old Testament.”

Luke then sets the stage by telling us that the Chief Priests and the Scribes who were seeking for an opportunity to kill Jesus. Luke adds that even though they had been plotting how they might do this for some time, they were constrained by their continuous fear of the people. The Chief Priests were the elitists of the day. They owed their power to Rome. John mentions that they also feared that if they could not keep the peace that the Romans would remove them. they could not let Jesus, who in some ways could be described by the modern term “populist.” the Scribes served as religious lawyers help present a case before the Sanhedrin where Jesus would be tried. Since the Chief Priests, who were part of the group called the Sadducees based their authority upon the idea that they had been appointed by Yahweh. The sad truth is that they were actually appointed by the Romans. Their lineage according to the Torah was dubious at best. They might not have been the descendants of Aaron at all. We know that the Maccabees, who were from the tribe of Judah had arrogated the office of High Priest into themselves which was expressly forbidden from the priesthood. Nevertheless, most of Israel accepted them as the priests, other than the Essenes and a few others. So they were constrained to at least to put a sense of legitimacy to their desire to kill Jesus who had recently cleansed the Temple.