Maundy Thursday Homily - April 1, 2021 - Christ our Passover Lamb is Given for Us

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12:1-14

Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 13:1-35

I.

Jesus, our Passover Lamb,

 has given Himself 

  for us.

By His servanthood,

 by his betrayal into the hands of his slaughterers,

  and by the giving of His very Body and Blood

     to write a New Covenant

     in the name of Jesus Christ,

     our Spotless Lamb.

For Jesus,

 very God of very God,

  to take a towel around his waist

   and to wash the feet of his own disciples

    was something that not even the disciples understood 

     at the time when Christ did it. 

Instead, Jesus then takes his seat at the Table

 and tells them plainly:

  "If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,

   you ought also to wash one another's feet.

    I have set you an example,

     that you should do as I have done."

Servanthood is not just a nice idea:

 it is the revealed way of God Himself,

  shown most fully in the very revelation of God Made Man,

   our Spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ.

And servanthood in the manner of Christ

 is also deeply connected to his own sacrifice.

Judas, one of the Twelve,

 one who has been with Jesus from the beginning,

  becomes the instrument of the Tempter, 

   the Serpent of Old.

    And yet, even in this way,

     even when Jesus would have every right to name and reveal Judas's true motives

      Christ the Lamb instead releases him

       to go do as he must. 

Jesus Himself indicates this,

 as the moment Judas leaves to betray Jesus,

  this is when Jesus says,

   "Now the Son of Man has been glorified..."

Jesus, the Lamb of God,

 has now freely submitted Himself

  for the slaughter

   for our redemption. 

And for an everlasting remembrance,

 Jesus Christ takes his Body

  and the chalice of his Blood of the New Covenant,

   that same Precious Blood of the Spotless Lamb

    and gives it to his disciples:

     "Take, eat: this is My Body...drink this, all of you: this is my Blood..."

Full, 

 uncompromising,

  sacrificial love

   given for the world,

    even for the ones who would soon betray him,

     deny him three times,

      and hide away in fear.

This is the Lamb of God,

 who has given Himself for us. 

  This is He who takes away the sin of the world.

   This is the very image of the invisible God.

And this is He who is about to pour Himself out for us

 in a manner that none of us, his disciples,

  are ready for.

Now is the time for Christ to be glorified,

 to be lifted up, so that he may draw the whole world to Himself,

  to be raised high that all who look to Him may be saved.

Now is the time of the Holy Cross of Christ.

 Let us therefore walk with our Lord

  through the darkness of His Passion

   that we may behold the dawning light

    of a New Creation.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.