Maundy Thursday • Year B

Historical Collect

O Lord God, you left to us a wonderful sacrament, a memorial of your passion. Grant, we beseech you, that we may so partake of this sacrament of your body and blood that the fruits of your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Thomas Aquinas)

Thematic Collect

Holy God, your Son gave us a new commandment and through his act of radical servanthood showed us the way of true love. Grant that we may share his servant nature as we live out your reign awaiting the promise of his return; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

Moses built an altar, made sacrifices, read God’s word of covenant before the people, then sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the people, proclaiming that is was the blood of the Lord’s covenant. In this, the people beheld God, and ate and drank together, enjoying the goodness of the Lord. How can we repay the Lord for all of his benefits to us? All we can do is lift up his cup of salvation, and drink deeply of his grace. This cup that we drink is fellowship in the blood of Christ. The bread that we break is sharing in the body of Christ. This eating and drinking of bread and wine consecrated by the Word of God, is how we behold God. 

First Reading • Exodus 24:3-11

A covenant requires agreement between parties. Here, the Lord has made his commandments and the people responded with their vow to keep his rules. For this obedience, even the promise to be obedient, God showed himself to the people. The glory of the Lord appeared to his covenant people.

Psalm • Psalm 116:12-19

The psalmist "knows no other way to repay the Lord except to preach God and thank Him in the presence of all His people and thus keep his vow according to the First Commandment" (Luther’s Works, vol. 14, pp. 34-35). As there is nothing we can do to merit our salvation, there is nothing with which we may repay except to give thanks for what he has freely given. 

Second Reading • 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

People still understand the idiom “cup of wrath” (Revelations 14:10). It means full of wrath — a cupful. Here we have a cup full of blessing. We bless and speak highly of the cup of God's blessing, for it is full communion and fellowship in the very blood of Christ. When we break bread together, we share in the true body of Christ. When we drink the wine and eat the bread of Holy Communion, we truly drink the blood of Christ and eat his body. In this way, we have become Christ's Body. In this blessed union, the cup of wrath has been supplanted by the cup of blessing. 

Gospel • Mark 14:12-26

In our Reading, Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples. There in that large upper room, they experienced that meal in a new way. He began by announcing knowledge of his own betrayal. Though one of the disciples would do it (and note that each one wondered if he was going to be that betrayer), Jesus still hosted the feast. As he broke the loaf of bread into pieces and handed them to the Twelve, he said something they had never heard at the Passover meal: This bread “is my body.” Eat! He did the same with the cup: “This is my blood.” Drink! And indeed, they were his body and blood, for his Word made it so. “As soon as Christ says: “This is my body,” his body is present through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. If the Word is not there, it is mere bread; but as soon as the words are added, they bring with them that of which they speak” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 36, p. 341).

Note also that, though we betray him with our sin, he still hosts the feast of his body and blood for us today. 

Alternate Gospel Lesson – John 13:1-7, 31b-35 Jesus performed the task of a servant or slave by washing his disciples' feet. Jesus considered this humble and even undignified service to his disciples as part of his mission. He viewed his ultimate act of service, the laying down of his life, as the greatest honor. For in giving his life for the sins of world, the father was glorified in the death of his Son. Because of his great love, Jesus gave himself to the sacrificial service of others. He commands us to follow his example and love one another. In doing so, the world will understand that we are his disciples.