Maundy Thursday – April 17, 2025
“And [Jesus] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. 
Do this in remembrance of me.”
20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
- Luke 22:19-20 -
During this Passover feast, Jesus and His disciples ate supper together.  Supper included eating the meat of a lamb.  And as they did so, they called to mind the lambs whose blood had been used to pain the doorpost and lintels in Egypt, so that the angel of death would pass over the house of Israel’s firstborn sons.  Passover is one of the most important holidays, if not the most important holiday, on the Jewish calendar as Jews commemorate the exodus from Egypt, when God freed and saved his people from Pharaoh.  In addition to the lamb’s meat, unleavened bread would have been a part of the meal.  Jesus takes the unleavened bread from the Passover table, and he gives us a gift: the real presence of himself in the bread and the wine.  He miraculously joins his own body to the bread and his own blood to the wine.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God’s very own Passover Lamb.  And so, as we eat the bread and drink the wine, we receive that same body that was nailed to the cross and that same blood that poured out of His wounds.
Through his suffering and death, Jesus has taken away the sins of the world.  We are sealed by his body and blood.  We are safe and secure, and the devil has no ownership of us.  On the Day of Judgment, the angel of death will pass over us just as it did centuries ago for the Israelite people.
This is both a new covenant and testament.  It is a new covenant, meaning that it is a new binding agreement where God our Heavenly Father promises to accept Jesus’ sacrifice in our place.  He promises to give us full forgiveness of sins and peace.  It’s also a new testament.  It is Jesus’ new will and testament.  He has given us his new testament through his death, and in doing so, Jesus has given us the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation.  As Martin Luther states in his Small Catechism, these are the benefits of the Sacrament of Holy Communion: “It is pointed out in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Through these words the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the Sacrament, for where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.”

Maundy Thursday – April 17, 2025
“And [Jesus] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. 
Do this in remembrance of me.”
20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
- Luke 22:19-20 -
During this Passover feast, Jesus and His disciples ate supper together.  Supper included eating the meat of a lamb.  And as they did so, they called to mind the lambs whose blood had been used to pain the doorpost and lintels in Egypt, so that the angel of death would pass over the house of Israel’s firstborn sons.  Passover is one of the most important holidays, if not the most important holiday, on the Jewish calendar as Jews commemorate the exodus from Egypt, when God freed and saved his people from Pharaoh.  In addition to the lamb’s meat, unleavened bread would have been a part of the meal.  Jesus takes the unleavened bread from the Passover table, and he gives us a gift: the real presence of himself in the bread and the wine.  He miraculously joins his own body to the bread and his own blood to the wine.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God’s very own Passover Lamb.  And so, as we eat the bread and drink the wine, we receive that same body that was nailed to the cross and that same blood that poured out of His wounds.
Through his suffering and death, Jesus has taken away the sins of the world.  We are sealed by his body and blood.  We are safe and secure, and the devil has no ownership of us.  On the Day of Judgment, the angel of death will pass over us just as it did centuries ago for the Israelite people.
This is both a new covenant and testament.  It is a new covenant, meaning that it is a new binding agreement where God our Heavenly Father promises to accept Jesus’ sacrifice in our place.  He promises to give us full forgiveness of sins and peace.  It’s also a new testament.  It is Jesus’ new will and testament.  He has given us his new testament through his death, and in doing so, Jesus has given us the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation.  As Martin Luther states in his Small Catechism, these are the benefits of the Sacrament of Holy Communion: “It is pointed out in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Through these words the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the Sacrament, for where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.”