Sermon for April 17, 2025 — Maundy Thursday

Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19 • Exodus 12:1–4, 11–14 • 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 • John 13:1–17, 31b–35

The theme for this Maundy Thursday is we love because God first loved us. In our Psalm for the day, the psalmist rehearses God’s mercy and compassion and tells how they awaken within him a response of thanksgiving and praise. The passage from Exodus reminds us of how Israel, as instructed by God, set apart the Passover lamb for slaughter. This lamb, whose flesh was to be eaten in celebration, allowed its blood to be shed so that the people would be saved from death. This picture of Jesus’ own self–offering was celebrated in the early church practice of eating the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance. The apostle Paul, in our New Testament passage, reminds the church of how Jesus established the new covenant in his blood, offering his own body and blood in our place. Our reading from the Gospel, reminds us of how Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, offering himself as a humble servant, willing to go to the lowest position to express his love. As the disciples respond to his humility with amazement, Jesus gives them the command to love one another as he has loved them.

Greater Love Has No One

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

This service is designed to include communion, receiving the bread first, and later, the wine.

Today we come together to celebrate the self–offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are reminded it is a celebration meant to be done with others. It is a reminder of our Lord’s covenant with his people, the Body of Christ. Jesus has declared that he is ours and that we are his. This is a bond of love ratified in his own self–offering — he allowed his body to be crucified, and he poured out his blood. And Jesus wants us to remember his love for us, so that we will love one another as he has loved us.

In the apostle Paul’s day, the church in Corinth faced challenges when it came to living out their faith in a corrupt and decadent society. As we also face many of these same challenges today, we want to listen closely to Paul’s admonition to the church through this letter written so many centuries ago.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV.

There were some serious problems within this fellowship in Corinth. Cultural norms and traditions were brought into their meetings and impacted how they treated one another. The recognition of social status was being practiced by the members towards one another. Some were given preference over others. Those who were well to do were inconsiderate of those who were poor. The members were not observing God’s commands to love one another. There was disunity and those who were less fortunate were suffering. Paul was grieved by how the members mistreated one another.

The gathering of members around the table of fellowship was meant to create unity and feelings of warm affection for one another. But instead, this gathering had become a place where those who had abundance overindulged, and those who had little went hungry. This was the exact opposite of what should have happened within the Body of Christ. And it certainly wasn’t what Jesus intended when he set aside the practice of communion for us to observe in remembrance.

So, the apostle Paul took the believers back to the basics, reminding them of what Jesus had originally instituted on that last night before his crucifixion:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

Notice Paul states that Jesus gave this instruction. So, we observe it because it is important to the Lord. Jesus, after breaking the bread, said, “This is my body, which is for you.” Jesus, who told us he is the bread of life, says that in eating this bread we are partaking of his body. In this gathering on Maundy Thursday, we are reminded that we each, in Christ, are a member of Christ’s Body. Our participation in Christ’s Body is by faith, trusting in Jesus’ self–offering in our place, on our behalf. When we eat the communion bread, we are rehearsing anew our inclusion in the Body of Christ.

We are each valued members of the Body of Christ. We all find ourselves at the same place at the table. We receive our status, our value, our worth, our inclusion from Jesus Christ. He is the Bread who sustains us, and who includes us in his very own life with his Father in the Spirit.

Let’s take a moment now and consider these questions:

• • How has God uniquely made and gifted you?
  • Do you recognize your own particular place within the Body of Christ and are you actively sharing in what Jesus is doing?
  • Are you treating others as you desire to be treated as a valued member of the Body of Christ?

Pause for a moment between each question to allow time for meditation. Then offer a prayer of acknowledgement of our need for God’s grace and gratitude for his forgiveness. Ask Jesus to help each person to forgive those hurts that they have experienced within the Body of Christ. Thank God for every person he has brought into the Body of Christ. Ask God’s Spirit to empower each believer to treat the others as a valued member of the Body of Christ.

Moving on to the next part of this passage:

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

Notice how Jesus uses the cup of wine normally offered at this meal to do something new — to inaugurate the new covenant in his blood. Jesus knew that soon he would be shedding his blood on behalf of all. It was human hands that would shed his blood — human hands he had designed to show love to God and to others. It was never God’s desire that any blood ever be spilled through violence. So, Jesus took his own blood that would be spilled through violence and used it to bind our hearts and lives with his own through covenant love. We remember the amazing love of God each time we drink from the communion cup and are reminded of his covenant of love ratified in Jesus’ shed blood.

When we gather as God’s people, we have an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that there is a better way — the way of Christ–centered, self–giving love. Consider this question: Do our actions and words as we gather with other believers or with those who do not yet believe demonstrate the love of God?

Pause for a minute after asking the question to provide a time of meditation. As the congregation considers this question, pass out the communion cups or welcome everyone forward to receive them. Offer a prayer of acknowledgement of our need for God’s grace and gratitude for his forgiveness. Ask God’s Spirit to empower each believer to love God and love others in the way he designed us to, as members of the Body of Christ. After the prayer, invite all to take the wine or grape juice together.

The apostle Paul finished his comments regarding the practice of communion in this way:

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

Do you realize that each time you eat the bread and drink the wine or grape juice of communion, you proclaim the Lord’s death? In the simple act of eating and drinking with your siblings in Christ, you tell the world about the death of Jesus and all that it means for us. And we are encouraged by Paul to do this and keep on doing this until the Lord comes.

This is why it is so important that when we gather as the Body of Christ, we do so in Christ–centered, self–giving love and in unity. In John 13:34–35, Jesus told his disciples that others will know we are followers of Christ because of our love for one another. The members in the church at Corinth needed to be reminded of their foundational faith in Christ — Jesus is the One who brought them together and made them one. So, they needed to act like it. They needed to care for each other the way Christ cared for them.

And this was the very reason Jesus came, to unite us and bind us together with cords of love, in his own broken body and shed blood. Every one of us was created and redeemed so that we may love God and love one another. In sending us his Spirit, Jesus includes us in his own right relationship with his Father in the Spirit, and Jesus unites us with one another in the Spirit. We share God’s love with one another because it is Christ in us by the Spirit who enables us to do this.

Taking in the bread and the wine as we have done is one way we are reminded that it is Christ in us by the Holy Spirit who enables us to love God and love one another — to be who God created us to be. And taking communion together reminds us that one day, when Jesus returns in glory, we will be glorified and able to share together in the celebration of the divine wedding banquet of our Lord in new heaven and earth. This is good news! It is such good news that we want to continue to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Who will you invite to join with you next time you gather with the Body of Christ?

You may wish to accompany or close this sermon with the song, “Jesus Messiah,” by Chris Tomlin.

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Small Group Discussion Questions