Readings and Sermon: Maundy Thursday, March 29, 2018
View the Maundy Thursday Bulletin (March 29, 2018)
THE PASSOVER TO THE LORD’S SUPPER
This evening, we partake of a meal that the Lord God has prepared with His own hands. It is a holy feast that nourishes our faith and restores our souls. It is a rich feast purchased with the most costly coin, the Son of God. Today, we eat and drink and remember and give humble thanks. Other holy meals have brought us to this feast; all meals provided by the hands of the Holy One. This day, we remember the Passover meal and the blood of the lamb on the doorposts that protected from the angel of death. We remember the day of Passover and the lamb because it points to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It points us to this holy feast of His body and blood. But there is one more, one greater feast yet to come—the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. A feast provided by the hands of the Lord God. A feast enjoyed in the presence of the Lamb in the courts of His heaven. A greater feast indeed!
OLD TESTAMENT READING Exodus 24:3-11
EPISTLE 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-second chapter
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
