Passion Week: Maundy Thursday

“And as they were eating, He took bread, 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. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."—Mark 14:22-25

It was His last night in the world—the night when Satan entered into Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:27). Later that evening Jesus would be filled with anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayed by Judas’ kiss (Luke 22:47-48), arrested, tried before Caiaphas (the Jewish high priest) (Matthew 26:57-75), the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53-72), and Annas (the former high priest, Caiaphas’ father-in-law, and true power behind the high priest) (John 18:12-27).  His disciples would desert Him, leaving Him alone—one of His closest confidants would deny even knowing Him.  The next day would be His crucifixion day—when He would give His life to bring about our salvation.

It was the night of the Last Supper, when Jesus held the Passover Seder with His disciples in an upper room (Luke 22:12-13).  The Passover Seder was a meal instituted by Moses to commemorate the night God set the Israelites free from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-28). Jews were told to sacrifice the Passover lamb and take the blood of the lamb and place it on the doorposts of their homes so that when the destroyer came to kill the firstborn in the land of Egypt, they would be spared (cf. Exodus 11:4-7; 12:12-13, 22-28).  After God judged the Egyptians by killing the firstborn of Egypt, and death had passed over those who had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, God brought the nation forth in freedom from bondage. 

The Passover pointed forward to the day when we would be free from the bondage of sin and death.  And Jesus was about to become the ultimate and final Passover Lamb, whose blood will protect from judgment all of those who take refuge in Him (1 Corinthians 5:7).

There were four cups of wine to be drunk in the Passover Seder (all based upon the “I will…” statements of God in Exodus 6:6-7):  the Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Deliverance or Judgment, the Cup of Redemption or Deliverance, and the Cup of Praise or Restoration.  It was the third cup (the Cup of Redemption which symbolized the blood of the Passover Lamb) that Jesus took and instituted communion or the Lord’s Supper when He said,  

“This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Jesus was presenting Himself as the true Passover Lamb who would redeem His people from their sins.  He was also looking to the day of ultimate redemption when the Kingdom of God would be realized in its fullness and seen in the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (Revelation 19:9-10). 

Jesus also did something amazing that night.  John records that Jesus rose from supper, set aside His outer garments, took a towel and tied it around His waist.  He poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet (John 13:4-5).  Though He was the ultimate Passover Lamb, He also demonstrated the necessity of serving one another.  There was no example for footwashing in the Passover Seder.  It was the job of a slave to wash his master’s feet, and even then a Jewish slave could not be required; that job was only for a non-Jewish slave! 

Jesus demonstrated the necessity of sacrificial humility and love.  The Passover Lamb came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many, leaving us an example to emulate.  Let us throw off our pride and follow His example.  Let us give our lives in love and service to our King, thanking and praising God for the true Passover Lamb—Jesus—our Lord and Savior, who gave His life for us to free us from sin and death.  Amen.