Maundy Thursday
Our Lord’s Will
Grace, mercy, and peace
to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Listen again to
what God says in today’s Epistle from Hebrews nine, starting with the fifteenth
verse:
Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those
who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has
occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first
covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must
be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force
as long as the one who made it is alive.
Dear
Christian friends,
When
tonight’s Epistle uses the Words “new
covenant,” we should probably be gear our minds toward the Holy Communion
that Christ gave to us. In tonight’s Gospel from the Book of Matthew, Jesus
took up the cup of His wine-mixed blood and He held it our lips, promising us,
“This is My blood of the covenant”
(Matthew 26:28). Another Gospel writer, Luke, wanted to make sure we did not
miss the point. Luke reported Jesus’ Words as, “This cup… is the new covenant
in My blood” (Luke 22:20). This covenant
language not only brings to mind the great promises God spoke to His people of
old—to Noah (Genesis 9:8-17) and to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-20) and Isaac and
Jacob (Exodus 2:24)—but the covenant language also brings to mind the Words of
the prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, the days
are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant” (Jeremiah
31:31). If full view of that ancient promise, Jesus held the cup while
promising us, “This is the covenant; the
new covenant.”
So
we should probably think upon the Holy Communion when we hear tonight’s Epistle,
Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant… a death has
occurred… For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must
be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force
as long as the one who made it is alive.
With
these Words, God has given us a wonderful twist on His Word “covenant.” Many
people are foolishly
hung up on the idea of covenant as “contract” or “treaty.” But they got that
idea from someplace other than God’s Scriptures (i.e., Hittite suzerainty
treaties). In His Old Testament, God introduces and develops the idea of
covenant first and foremost as divine promise. In His Gospels, Jesus brings
bread and wine into the picture, giving us a meal that is been baked and
fermented in God’s promises. Here tonight, the idea of a last will and
testament gets added. It is a bit difficult to see because the guy who
translated this Epistle has committed a crime against us by being inconsistent.
Where you see the word “will” in this Epistle, it is the same word as
“covenant”:
Jesus
is the mediator of a new covenant… A death has occurred… for where a will (a
COVENANT) is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For
a will (a COVENANT) takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as
long as the one who made it is alive.
We
are about to drink of the cup of our Lord, which Jesus describes as “the new
covenant in [His] blood” (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25). What does this
mean? What should we
think of ourselves, of our Lord, and of this meal? We should think that
· this meal is our dear Lord’s last will and testament, the final and
official expression of what He most earnestly desires to give to us. Why?
Because
“a death has occurred.” It is
written,
They
came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead… one of the soldiers pierced his
side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it
has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the
truth— that you also may believe (John 19:33-35).
· this meal provides for us exactly what our Lord desires to give, just
as anyone’s last will and testament provides exactly what that person desires
to give. What does Jesus desire to give? You heard it in tonight’s Gospel:
“Take,
eat; this is My body… Drink of [this cup], all of you, for this is My blood of
the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”
(Matthew 26:26, 28).
· our Lord Himself still remains among us, serving us and participating
with
us in His last will and testament. Why? Because tonight’s Epistle promises us
that “Jesus is the mediator—the man
in their midst—of the new covenant.” And
again, Jesus says in tonight’s Gospel, “I
will drink this cup anew with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
· we are the heirs and inheritors of our Lord, named in His will. How? By
Baptism, through which we have become “members
of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19), “brought near by the blood of
Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). This is what
Jesus meant in tonight’s Gospel when He said the Words “all of you” (Matthew
26:26) and “for many” (Matthew 26:28).
· our dear Lord Jesus is the sum total of all salvation history, given to
us in bread and wine. Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise God ever spoke
from the earliest of days. Jesus is the Hope and the Expectation, and the
Fulfillment
and the Satisfaction, of every member in His family, from Adam and Eve to you
and me. Jesus is the Crown Jewel of all God’s covenant promises and Jesus now
makes those promises ever new for us. Why? Because God’s covenant is only
established by the death of God. Why? Because God has written in tonight’s
Epistle,
“a will (a COVENANT) takes effect only at death, since it is not
in force as long as the one who made it is alive.”
Come
now to the new covenant, Christians! “Come
from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven!” (Matthew 8:11)
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