Happy Maundy Thursday! This has become one of my favorite Easter traditions, remembering Jesus reenacting the Passover with His disciples and converting it to a way to remember Him. So because of that, today we’ll be looking at Matthew 26:17-29:
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Jesus (who is God and thus omniscient) knew the end was coming. We’ll come to a point in Luke’s Gospel later on where it says Jesus “turned his face to Jerusalem” signifying a major shift in his ministry focus. All HIs life had been leading to His death on the cross, but His disciples hadn’t noticed how much Jesus had talked about it during His earthly ministry, but something changes during this meeting. There’s some things that always make my chuckle as I’m reading the Bible, and this is one of them! Jesus tells his disciples to go find random dude and tell him that “The Teacher” needs your room. That’s it. Almost like a magical spell where the guy will automatically do whatever they need! (I would not suggest trying this with the family members you’re currently quarantined with, I can’t guarantee the same results!) Another thing to note is the faithfulness of Jesus. He said He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament), but to fulfill it. Despite many of the religious leaders of the day getting upset with Him, Jesus was a living demonstration of what the Old Testament commanded. Everything He did was how God had intended His people to live, but they all missed it! Even one of His disciples.
And during the time they were celebrating the Passover, Jesus announced to His disciples that one of them would betray Him. I always see this as one of the most encouraging aspects of Scripture for anyone who’s a leader! If even Jesus can’t bat 1.000 with HIs disciples, what hope do the rest of us have?
The last thing I want to point out today is we’re currently experiencing some of the waiting Jesus has been experiencing for 2 millennium. The last line here says Jesus won’t celebrate communion again until He returns. We’re in a bit of a weird time where we can’t celebrate communion with each other right now either. Despite being Holy Week right now, we’re not even able to meet together, so I hope there’s a sense of longing in all of us! I can’t wait to get back together and encourage each other and remember Jesus’ death on our behalf. I’d encourage you to take some time today to read through the various accounts of Maundy Thursday!
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Pastor Mike's Musings 