The Hope of Maundy Thursday
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Opening Prayer (from The Valley of Vision prayer book)
Fourth Day: God All-Sufficient
Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 16:1–8 (Passover)
[1] “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. [2] And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there. [3] You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. [4] No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. [5] You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, [6] but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. [7] And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. [8] For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it.
Maundy Thursday Video (by Justin Taylor)
Maundy Thursday Prayer (from “Everyday Prayers” by Scotty Smith)
[READER 1]
A Prayer about the Mandate Jesus Gave Us
Lord Jesus, as I meditate and pray my way through these Scriptures, I’m quite literally undone. What but the gift of faith can enable me to grasp the wonder of these words and the magnificence of this moment? What but the power of the gospel can enable me to believe and obey them? Grant me both, I pray; grant me both.
On our calendar we call this day Maundy or Mandate Thursday. It is a day of Holy Week and a day in the history of redemption brimming over with glory and grace. Passover will soon become the Lord’s Supper—your supper. The promises of the old covenant will soon be fulfilled by the blood of the new covenant—your blood.
[READER 2]
Having shared eternal glory with the Father, you now show stunning grace to your disciples. Having loved this ragtag bunch of broken men—who squabbled with each other hours earlier for positions of honor and who within a few hours would all scatter and deny you—having loved them so well, you now show them even greater manifestations of your love. Your disrobing to wash their feet was with a full view to your being stripped naked to wash their hearts and our hearts. What wondrous love is this indeed! How wide, long, high, and deep!
“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34 NIV). This is the new and never-ending mandate we’re now under as your disciples. Don’t let me ever forget that the measure of your love is not just the basin and towel of the upper room but your cross and your death at Calvary. There simply is no greater love—none.
Jesus, as my heart comes more fully alive to how you loved me by your death and how you love me now in your resurrection glory, I’ll seek to make fewer excuses for loving poorly and to offer quicker repentances when I do. As you continue to show me the full extent of your love for me in the gospel, love through me to your glory. I pray in your name. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Luke 22
The Passover with the Disciples
[7] Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. [8] So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” [9] They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” [10] He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters [11] and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ [12] And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” [13] And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Institution of the Lord's Supper
[14] And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. [15] And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. [16] For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” [17] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. [18] For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [19] 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.” [20] And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. [21] But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. [22] For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” [23] And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
Maundy Thursday Reading (from ‘The Final Days of Jesus’ by Andreas J. Kostenberger & Justin Taylor)
[READER 1] - Preparations for the Passover
Thursday was a day of preparation for the Passover meal which included roasted lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, fruit sauce, and four cups of wine, to be shared after sundown that evening. In the original Passover, the blood of the lambs had been applied to the homes of the Israelites in Egypt to protect them from the outpouring of God’s judgment upon the Egyptians.
Jesus knows that he is about to die. The time is at hand for him to be sacrificed as God’s Passover lamb in order to atone for the sins of the entire world. Because of Jesus’s celebrity status and the plot against him, his preparations for the Passover are conducted with a degree of secrecy. These preparations include the procurement, sacrifice, and roasting of a lamb along with the preparation of the room and side dishes. That evening, Jesus and his disciples begin to eat the Passover meal in the “upper room”. Most peasant houses in Jerusalem were small, with two levels but only one room. The presence of the large upper room indicates that the owner was a person of means. Typical eating arrangements would have three padded couches arranged in an upside-down U-shape, with several participants per couch. The food and drink would be available in the center on a low table. They would recline on their left side, propped up on their left elbow, with their feet pointing outward. Eating was done with the right hand.
[READER 2] - The Lord’s Supper
While they are eating, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. Jesus longs to eat this final Passover meal with his disciples, knowing that he would not eat it again until the coming of the kingdom of God. It was the “last supper” in a number of ways: the last meal that Jesus would eat with his disciples, the last meal that Jesus would eat in his pre-glorified body, and the final Passover meal of the old covenant. Jesus was likely looking forward to this meal so intensely because he knew that his upcoming death as the true Passover Lamb would bring a fulfillment to the long centuries of Passover celebrations that had pointed forward to the Messiah’s final sacrifice for the sins of his people. Jesus knows that he will not engage in this kind of celebration with food and wine again until the final messianic banquet when God’s people will experience eternal resurrection life in God’s new creation.
[READER 3]
Jesus proceeds to utter the solemn words that are repeated each time his people celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Paul’s discussion of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 testifies to the centrality of this practice in the life of the early church. The apostle introduces an additional rationale for the practice when he argues that “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. In this way, the celebration of this ordinance looks back in remembrance to Christ’s finished work and looks forward with longing to his coming return. God’s people have continued this practice to this very day.
Jesus himself explains the significance of the bread and wine. The broken bread represents his body, which was about to be broken by blows, scourging, and crucifixion. The wine represents his blood, which is about to be poured out in order to inaugurate the new covenant and to bring forgiveness of sins to many. Just as the old covenant established by God with his people Israel at Sinai was inaugurated with the blood of sacrifices, the new covenant, which would bring forgiveness of sins to all peoples, both Jews and Gentiles, was inaugurated by blood on a Roman cross. The language used by Jesus concerning his body being “given for you” and his blood being “poured out for many” points to the sacrificial nature of his death.
Reflective Questions
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” One of the greatest fulfillments of promise is that of Jesus as the ultimate Passover “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” However this promise took over 1,500 years to come to fulfillment. Every year God commanded the nation of Israel to celebrate the Feast of the Passover to remember God’s faithfulness. Spend the next minute reflecting on and remembering God’s faithfulness to your family and to our church family.
What are you hoping for on this Maundy Thursday?
Silent Prayer
Closing Prayer
Study Questions (from “The Final Days of Jesus Study Guide” by Andreas J. Kostenberger & Justin Taylor)
What Old Testament event did the Passover celebrate (Ex. 12:7, 12–13, 22–28)? What was the significance of this for the timing of Jesus’s death?
Why were the preparations undertaken with a degree of secrecy?
What are some of the ways that this was the “last supper”?
From the very beginning, Christians have held to and practiced the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Why is the practice so important? See Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:26. Celebration of the Lord’s Supper in local congregations involves both a looking back to Christ’s sacrifice and a looking ahead to his return.
What are some possible reasons or explanations for Peter’s contradiction of Jesus’s prediction? It is quite possible that arrogance or self-confidence played a role. Do these attitudes ever set you up for failure? See Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12.
What does Jesus’s need of human support and companionship during his darkest hour teach us about his hu- manity? Do you think that Jesus’s humanity is often eclipsed by discussions of his divinity?
Jesus’s commitment to God’s will no matter the cost is a powerful example for us to follow. Have you ever drawn strength from this account of Jesus’s submission to God’s will when you have been faced with a difficult decision? Is obedience to God’s will always worth it, even if it results in death? How so? Resurrection triumphs over death! It did for Jesus, and it will for those who belong to him.
Additional Scripture Readings
