- Maundy Thursday -
Exodus 12:1-4,11-14;
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17
Preached at Beckley
Presbyterian Church on Thursday, March 24th 2005
There’s a history behind what we do here tonight. It
is a history deeply rooted in the traditions of the Jewish faith and their celebration of Passover. Passover was the time they remembered how the angel of death ‘passed over’ the houses where
doorposts were smeared by blood of a lamb and their first-born was spared. Passover
is the celebration of their freedom from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of a new journey towards the Promise land.
Passover Festival recreated for the Jewish people the events and circumstances of their deliverance.
They
would feast on the lamb.
They
would eat unleavened bread.
The
would taste bitter herbs.
They recognized that their deliverance had only come to them at a price. Involved in that cost were the slaughter of an innocent lamb, the loss of first-born sons and the destruction
of enemies through their immersion under the waters.
Our communion celebration takes place within the framework of the Passover. Much of the symbolism of the Passover meal is carried over and reinterpreted within the Christian celebration
of the Eucharist – a Greek word indicating “Thanksgiving”.
Many of the elements of Passover are taken on in our celebration of communion and gives an enhanced
meaning. New elements are also present.
The lamb is still there–the lamb without blemish is represented through Jesus Christ, the lamb
of God. His sinless life reached its brutal end through the bloodshed of the
cross where He claimed to die for our sins and prayed, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”
The death of the first born is also there. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.”
The beginning of a new journey of faith and discovery is signaled through Christ’s proclamation
that the Kingdom is being moved into a new phase through His life and ministry. This
was not a journey straight from freedom to the Promised Land–but one that along the way would be nurtured and fed by
His Presence–the Bread of Life.
The sign of the new Kingdom would be passing through the waters–not the waters of the Red Sea–but the waters of baptism. In baptism the old would be declared gone – the enemy of sin a conquered enemy buried beneath the
waters – and the new covenant be in force.
The nature of the new covenant is startlingly different. Whilst
the Israelites would on occasion fall prey to the nation that God had chosen then to be superior to their neighbors–through
the ceremony of washing His disciples feet Jesus made it clear that in this strange new world–servants would be kings
and royal authority exercised through service.
The keynote, the dominant theme, the overriding concept and meaning to be the hallmark of this new
covenant was self-giving love– the Greek word “agape”. “Agape”
was not love that was mere emotion or sentiment, not love in terms of affection or attraction, not even love that was defined
by friendship and trust–but something deeper. Love that dared to express
itself towards enemies. Love that embraced the unlovable and transformed the
bleakest of circumstances. Love that could take a symbol of execution, bathe
it in resurrection life, and transform it into an icon of faith.
Just as Passover was a celebration that bid the celebrants to call to mind the saving acts of God,
so in communion we are called to remember.
To remember Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross in such a way as it feeds our spirit and renews our faith.
Our memories function in unusual ways. Words and pictures
can come and go, but tastes and smells have a habit of staying with us.
So in our remembrance of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ we eat and drink. We go beyond words. We seek to ingest the life of God, to
allow our lives to be filled by the Holy Spirit. To visibly and tangibly embrace
and be embraced by the love of God “For as often as you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes”. (I Corinthians
11:26)
Just as the Promised Land would be a distant hope for the Israelites– so the coming Kingdom would
be one the church would move towards in faith and hope. The kingdom had come. The kingdom would be with us. Yet the
kingdom is still to come in its fullness.
It is for us to nurture our spiritual lives through participating in this ceremony or recalling - this
act designed to bring us into the nearer presence of God - in such a real way that we recognize ourselves as God’s children,
free and forgiven through Christ’s death on the cross, empowered through the coming of God’s Holy Spirit and ultimately
victorious through Christ’s resurrection.
After washing His disciples feet Jesus said, “As I have
done for you so do for one another.” The act of communion prepares
us for the community service in Christ’s name. We for a while look in so
we can look out.
In Jesus name you are invited to this celebration.
ADRIAN PRATT
