Maundy Thursday: We Love Because He First Loved Us

“Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning “command or mandate.” This day of the church year focuses on Jesus’s new commandment to love one another. But why do we name this day for the commandment rather that the gift of God bestowed? It’s telling. Our inclination as humans is to take control, to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, to do rather than be. But before Jesus gave His mandate to His disciples, He gave them two very important gifts. We learn from this that service to others flows out of God’s servanthood toward us.

First of all, He gave the gift of the Lord’s Supper. Paul gives us the “words of institution” in I Corinthians 11:23-26 (see also Matthew 26):

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (NIV).

“On the night in which He was betrayed”—Why do we say this each communion Sunday? Because we want to remind ourselves that Jesus gave this gift on the very night when his followers would betray and deny Him. Jesus knew both of these responses were coming, but He still chose to serve His disciples. He chose the very night in which He was betrayed to give us a gift of Himself willingly, a gift without our coercion or demand, a gift that would bring us the forgiveness of sins.

“This is my body, this is my blood.” Jesus promises His real presence in these common, ordinary things: the bread and the wine. Lutherans don’t believe that they change into flesh and blood but that Jesus Himself is present in, with, and under the bread and wine. Jesus was promising here to give Himself to us fully and without reserve. It is a giving of life and sustenance just like a mother breastfeeding her child. When a child nurses, especially in the early months before other foods are introduced, every bit of the cell make-up in that baby’s body is from the mother. Interestingly enough, human milk is made up of white blood cells, so a human mother could rightly say that she is giving her child her body and blood.

The child has nothing of his or her own. The child depends completely for its very life on the mother. This can be a lot for a human mother to bear, and she must drink lots of water and eat plenty of healthy meals and get plenty of rest to keep up with this demanding, ravenous creature. But with Jesus, the supply of life-giving power is endless. All that we are is drawn from the nourishment of His body and blood. The only difference is that the child only receives nourishment for this life. When we eat the bread and the wine, we receive nourishment for eternal life.

For you. Matthew adds that this gift of the Lord’s Supper is “for the forgiveness of sins.” As a young pastor, I would not face the altar but instead would face the congregation when I said the Words of Institution on Communion Sunday. I did this because I wanted to look at my congregation and remind them that the gift of forgiveness and grace is a gift “for you.” It was not a sacrificial rite that I would perform at the altar, it was not first and foremost a remembrance, but it was a direct gift of Jesus that day, making Himself vulnerable and giving Himself wholly and without reserve “to you.” I told my congregation, “In all of the events that happened throughout Holy Week, Jesus was not doing things just because. He was doing things thinking of you. Jesus cares about you, the individual. Even in your times of betrayal and denial, Jesus proclaims His love for you. He would do anything for you. This gift is for you. And that is why communion is primarily proclamation of the Good News of Jesus giving Himself to you.” This is true for you as well, dear reader.

A testament. Jesus says that communion is “a new testament” in His blood. Think of the primary other time we use the word “testament.” When someone dies, we gather and read their “last will and testament.” This will and testament tells us what they value and whom they value. It tells us who will receive their most valuable possessions. It tells us who will receive the inheritance. And so we come to the crucial point: however we apply the many complex atonement theories present in the theological history of the Church, someone has to die in order for the inheritance to be given out. Jesus dies and His last will and testament says that all that is His is now ours. Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may share in his glory” (NIV). Galatians 3:29 says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

In communion, you receive the rich inheritance of a child of God: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Everything that belongs to Christ becomes yours while He takes everything that belongs to you: your sin, your sorrow, your death, your bondage. You get the good stuff; He gets the bad stuff. It’s a wonderful deal for you but a terrible one for Him. And yet, because of His great love for you, Christ takes this on and gives you the great gift of His body and blood.