Holy Week 2021: Maundy Thursday

Mark 14:12-72 ////////// The Lamb of God 

Today is a particularly special day because it is Opening Day for Major League Baseball! Now, I'm excited about that, but you may not be. If you don't know this about me, I love baseball. I'm sorry that I'm not a Royals fan. I was thinking about baseball this morning and how it is "America's great past time." In honor of Opening Day, I thought I would give a baseball illustration for this devotional.

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Many of you might remember the week that the entire nation was on the edge of their seats, wondering if the Cubbies could pull it off. Entering game 5, the Cubs were down 3-1 in the best of seven series to the Cleveland Indians. Overcoming impossible odds, the Cubs came back and won an emotional game 7 in extra innings after a rain delay. If you watched the series, I'm sure you still remember it because it was one of the best sports moments in history. If someone watched this series and knew nothing about baseball, you can imagine that they still could have followed along with the games. They could have enjoyed the series without even knowing about the past. If you weren't a Cubs fan at the time, you probably enjoyed the games as well. But, I would like to suggest that the Cubs victory had special significance to those who (1) were Cubs fans and (2) were aware of the history of baseball. Both clubs in the World Series that year had long droughts without a World Series title- a combined 176 years between the two teams. Once you know that this was the first time the Cubs had won the World Series since 1908, the series takes a little different meaning. You understand the Cubs victory a little differently if you know the backstory. How can you not be romantic about baseball?

Today is Maundy Thursday, and it is on this day that we typically remember and celebrate the Last Supper. Similar to the Cubs, many people can read this passage and have a level of appreciation for it without really understanding the context. The text for today begins by describing "the Festival of Unleavened Bread" and something called "Passover," and if you don't know what those things mean, you can probably pick up on the idea of the passage. However, we cannot fully understand and appreciate the Last Supper unless we know the backstory. 

In Exodus chapter 12, the enslaved Israelites are about to be set free by the tenth plague invoked by the hand of God on the Egyptians. The Israelites were given specific instructions about what to do in preparation for this final plague. They were to kill a male lamb without blemish or defect and spread the blood on the frame of their houses. This is the part that we typically focus on, but there is more to the story than that. God tells the Israelites to observe the Passover, not just in Egypt, but every year after so that they can remember what God had done for them. How did they remember this great act of deliverance? With a meal. That is what Passover was to the Israelites for all practical purposes- it was something to experience. Now, for the Israelites, this was their moment of salvation. Think about it- the Israelites were not just meant to read the story of their salvation. God did not give them a book to remember Passover. They weren't only supposed to tell their children about the deliverance wrought by God. Instead, they were invited to participate in the salvation that God had brought to them. Year after year, they were instructed to share a meal together to remember what God had done for them. 

When we get to the story of Jesus, it seems that he is inviting us to a new kind of Exodus, this time from our own sin. On the cross, Jesus became the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was killed for our sake, and what did Jesus give us to remember the moment of our salvation? A meal. He is inviting us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Our invitation from Jesus is to participate in our salvation by consuming something, remembering how God has poured himself into a human body to pay for our redemption from sin. Now that we think about the backstory, the Last Supper has a wider meaning, doesn't it? We are invited to participate in a new Passover feast to commemorate his broken body and shed blood as our moment of salvation from our sin. 

"And as they were eating, he took break, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.'"

Jesus, thank you!