Maundy Thursday

Jesus had always known that his enemies, led on by the Devil, would crucify him, but when towards the end of his Ministry he began to tell his Apostles, they found it very difficult to take it in.  They thought that the worst possible thing that could happen would be for Jesus to be killed, and when on Maundy Thursday they realised he was in danger, two of them bought a sword each so that they could defend him and so help him to escape and save his life.  But, so far from running away he was ready, like the Good Shepherd, to stand his ground and to give himself and his life for us upon the Cross.

For Jesus left Heaven and came into this world and offered himself on the Cross in order to do two things: first, to save us from the power of evil and bring us to God to be his for ever; and secondly, to renew us by making us become like himself.

The Last Supper

He did all these things by means of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday which was the pattern for the first Eucharist.  This supper was the last of the friendly suppers or fellowship meals which Jesus and his Apostles had held every week for the previous three years.  Such meals were quite usual among little groups of Jews at that time, and Jesus knew that, no matter what happened to him, his Apostles would still meet each week for their fellowship supper in the future as they had been doing in the past.

The supper began every time with a special grace.  Jesus used to take the bread, bless it and break it and then, after eating a little himself, silently gave a piece to each of the Apostles.  The meal itself followed and always ended with a special grace.  This was a thanksgiving to God for having saved the Israelites from the Egyptians in the time of Moses, and was said by Jesus over a cup of wine mixed with a little water.  At the end of the grace he used to sip from the cup himself and then in silence pass it round for the Apostles to sip.

And so we come to the last of those suppers, 12 hours before the Crucifixion.  Jesus said the grace over the bread as usual, only this time, instead of giving a piece to each Apostle in silence, he said what he had never said before: This is my Body, which is given for you.  Do this for the re-calling of me.  Supper went on as usual until they were ready for the final grace.  He took the cup of wine, gave thanks and then passed it round, but again he added words he had never used before: This is my Blood of the New Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the remission (taking away) of sins.  Do this, as often as you drink it, for the re-calling of me.  By ‘New Covenant’ Jesus meant a New Alliance with God by which God and ourselves might be united together in friendship.

It was in this way that Jesus, at the Last Supper, gave to the Crucifixion its meaning by offering himself beforehand to God for all humankind.  He made it clear that, when on the next day – Good Friday – his Body was nailed to the Cross and his Blood was poured out, it would not be just another crucifixion, another execution; but that he would be giving himself and his life for us, so that we might be forgiven our sins and be brought back home to God.

The Eucharist

So when the Apostles had their next fellowship meal together after the Crucifixion, they obeyed Our Lord’s command to do as he had done at the Last Supper by offering him to God as the Saviour of the world and by using the same words as he had used: This is my Body which is given for you…This is my Blood of the New Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.  In this way the Last Supper led into the first Eucharist, of which it was a pattern.  And in the Eucharist he continued to make that same offering of himself that he had made at the Last Supper and on the Cross itself.  Soon the fellowship supper was given up, leaving behind what had been the grace before and after, but which Jesus had now made into his own Service by giving it this new meaning.

So to this day the Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship, and we should attend it every Sunday because it is Our Lord’s own Service which he has given us with his own hands, a few hours before the nails were driven through them, and which he commanded us to continue.

Next week we shall talk about how in the Eucharist, when we offer Jesus to God, he becomes present in his Risen and Ascended Body under the forms of the Bread and Wine on the altar, and how by receiving him in Holy Communion we can be made like him.

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