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| Image credit: Last Supper by Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese |
The
Passover with the Disciples Matthew
26:17-30 (NRSV)
17
On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus,
saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to
eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain
man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will
keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 So the
disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the
Passover meal.
20
When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve;[a] 21 and
while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will
betray me.” 22 And they became greatly distressed and began to say
to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He answered,
“The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray
me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that
one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for
that one not to have been born.” 25 Judas, who betrayed him, said,
“Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”
The Institution of the Lord’s
Supper
26
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after
blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take,
eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving
thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28
for this is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will never again drink
of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you
in my Father’s kingdom.”
30
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Footnotes:
a Other ancient authorities add
disciples
b Other ancient authorities add new
Some readers may not be aware of
the word Maundy. There are actually three possible origins of the
word. Perhaps the most widely held view is that it comes from the
Latin word mandatum, meaning “command,” as in Jesus giving
his disciples a new commandment to love one another as recorded in
John chapter thirteen on the last Thursday evening of Jesus’ life
on this earth. Others think it may come from another Latin word
mundo, meaning “wash,”
as in Jesus washing his disciples’ feet on the last Thursday of his
earthly life. A third possibility may be that it originated from the
word maund, meaning
“basket,” as in providing food baskets for the poor on this day.
Maundy Thursday this year is
certainly the saddest one that I can recall. Indeed, it may go down
in the annals of church history as one of the most tragic ones of all
time. Maundy Thursday, of coarse, is best celebrated in the community
of faith—since our identity as Christians is collective. This year,
Christians around the globe will not be gathering together because of
the coronavirus.
This year, as we celebrate
Maundy Thursday alone in our homes, we are mindful of a couple very
sobering realities. This day, just as centuries ago when the ancient
Israelites celebrated the first Passover, the angel of death passed
over their homes that had doorposts marked with the blood of a lamb.
Tragically, because of the oppressive policies of the Egyptians, many
of their people died. This Maundy Thursday, many people around the
world will likely die of COVID-19. Some of the people who die today
may be our friends, neighbours, members of our faith community, and
even family members.
So there is sorrow and grief in
our lives this Maundy Thursday knowing that this was Jesus’ Last
Supper with his disciples; and knowing that for some people whom we
love it may be their Last Supper too. In this context, we are in a
state of lamentation; lamenting the loss of opportunity to gather
together as a faith community to celebrate Maundy Thursday; lamenting
the sorrow of that first Maundy Thursday which was our Lord’s Last
Supper; lamenting the sorrow and tragic deaths of those who have
died; who will die soon; and who are now suffering from the
coronavirus.
Be that as it is, we can
celebrate Maundy Thursday in our homes by choosing to remember the
great love Jesus had (and still has) for his disciples and for all
future followers of Jesus down through the centuries up until
today—including you and I. Focussing on Matthew’s account of the
Institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus taking bread, giving thanks
to God, and then commanding his disciples to take and eat it, gives a
new meaning to the bread. It becomes his body. Just as bread is a
life-giving food for our physical body; so the body of Jesus is
life-giving spiritually. By giving up his body in love for the whole
world when he suffered and died on the cross; we have the gift of
spiritual life; the promise of eternal life.
After taking the cup of wine and
blessing it, Jesus commanded his disciples to take it and drink from
it, saying that it was his blood of the [new] covenant, which
forgives sins. Blood is the symbol of life. Just as the blood of a
lamb on the doorposts of the Israelites saved them from death; so the
blood of Jesus shed on the cross saved humankind by forgiving sin and
promising life-eternal.
Then Jesus tells his disciples
that he will not drink with them again until the life-to-come at the
Messianic banquet in God’s realm.
So, this Holy Meal is the Lord’s
Supper because he is the One who instituted it; and he is the One who
is present both as the Host and Guest of Honour. We also refer to the
sacrament as Holy Communion—emphasising that the holiness of it is
due to Jesus’ presence with us in, with and under the elements of
bread and wine. The word communion also emphasises that we celebrate
the sacrament together with other members of the faith
community—hence the sacrament draws us closer to Jesus and one
another. In addition to this, we refer to the sacrament as the
Eucharist. The word comes from the Greek, meaning “to give thanks.”
We are most grateful for what God does for us through Jesus in this
Holy Meal—forgiving our sins, being present with us, and promising
the gift of eternal life where we will eat and drink at the heavenly
Messianic Banquet.
With hope and longing, we
anticipate the time when the plague/the COVID-19 pandemic is over and
we can gather together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with one
another—not in virtual space, rather, in real, physical presence.
Until then, in the midst of this
sombre time of suffering and death, let us do as Jesus and his
disciples did to lift their spirits and ours. Matthew tells us they
sang a hymn. I encourage you dear readers to do likewise. For as
Martin Luther once observed; next to the Word of God music is God’s
wonderful gift to humankind.
