[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered on Maundy Thursday, the 6th of April, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church. This afternoon's service included our observance of Holy Communion with our Lord. Our YouTube streaming channel is:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
For this afternoon, I’d like us to put ourselves back in time to the first century, to early April in 33 AD. We’re in the great Jewish city of Jerusalem, where the permanent population has more than tripled as devout Jews from all over enter the city to observe the Feast of Passover. Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in the same age as the Gospel writers, put the Passover population at over 2,000,000! The place is crowded, to say the least.
All manner of domestic and exotic goods are being sold in the marketplace and in stalls and from carts dotting the streets. Up until Sunday, you could have bought doves and grain and incense and other things used for sacrifices right there on the Temple grounds. But not now, because Sunday was when Jesus came to town.
You’ve heard of Jesus, haven’t you – the great healer and holy man from Nazareth? He rode in with a whole parade of followers, and all the people came out shouting “Hosanna” and throwing their cloaks and some palm branches onto the street for His mount to walk on. And get this – He came riding in on a donkey. A little, lowly donkey! What kind of king rides into Jerusalem on a donkey?!?
Anyway, He went right into the Temple and drove off everyone who was trying to profit off the pilgrims who’d come here to worship, turning over their tables and kicking their chairs. Well, that was Sunday and now it’s Thursday, the day of preparation for the Feast of Passover, which begins tomorrow evening at sunset. Come with me and let’s go hear what He tells His followers.
Please listen and follow along to the recording left in chapter 14 of the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark, verses 12 through 50, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible. This passage is long, but that day was even longer…
12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”13 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”16 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.27 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:‘I will strike the Shepherd,And the sheep will be scattered.’28 “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”29 Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.”30 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”31 But he spoke more vehemently, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”And they all said likewise.32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.”45 As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.46 Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him. 47 And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.48 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”50 Then they all forsook Him and fled.
--Mark 14:12-50 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we step back in time to one day nearly 2000 years ago that may have lost some of its meaning for many of us. It was a long and painful day for Your Son Jesus. So much happened that day, and it was all for our benefit, we poor sinners. Speak to us, Father, speak into our hearts, that we might relive that day and understand its true meaning and full impact on us, both in this life and especially the next. Speak to us that we might know the truth of our ways. Convict us of our sin and forgive us of our disobedience. This we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen
Today is Maundy Thursday. The word, “Maundy”, comes from the Latin word meaning command or commandment. On the night of His last supper with His disciples, Jesus gave us a commandment to “Do this in remembrance of Me”. He also gave us a new commandment: to love each other, just as much as He loves us.
In just a few minutes we will share the elements of our Lord’s body and blood, just as He shared the bread and the wine with His disciples that night. We will renew the covenant God made with us, sealed by the precious blood of Jesus. But first, let’s look a little more closely at the events of that Thursday so long ago.
Now it’s important to remember that Jesus knew exactly what was about to happen. This is evident in Mark’s account when he noted that the disciples sent to prepare a place for them all to eat the Passover meal, found everything exactly as Jesus had said they would. They found a man carrying a water pitcher and followed him into a house. They told the master of that house that their Teacher needed to use the guest room for the Passover, and he showed them the fully furnished upper room.
Since we believers today know and accept that Jesus was God in the flesh, we are not at all surprised that Jesus knew beforehand what would occur, because God knows everything. But I bet those two unnamed disciples were a little surprised. It’s just like last Sunday when He told another pair of followers where they’d find a donkey and her foal. At some point, you’d think these men would start to realize Jesus would be correct with anything and everything He said, yet they still seemed to doubt Him, they still seemed amazed when He told them what would happen next. We can see that again at supper.
While they were eating, Jesus told His friends that one of them present that night, one of them sitting right there, one of His twelve chosen disciples would soon betray Him. Now at this point they seemed to accept the truth of His words. Even though obviously astonished, they began asking Him, “Is it I? Am I the one who will betray You?”
Still, though, even after what should have been shockingly bad news, they continued to eat their supper. And here, Jesus varied just a little from the Passover meal tradition by sharing the bread and announcing that it was His body. Just as He blessed and then broke the loaf of bread so that they might eat, His body, blessed by God, would soon be broken so that they, and all of us, might be forgiven of our sins before God. Then He passed the cup, declaring its contents to be His blood, poured out to seal our new covenant with God, shed for the many who will believe, not just those gathered there that night.
And then we have a nice touch. Mark is usually a man of few words when it comes to his account of Jesus’ life and ministry. He usually sticks just to the details, and the barest minimum of those. But here he takes a moment to tell us that after they had all eaten, they sang a hymn before heading out to the Mount of Olives.
They sang a hymn. After some bad news, after being told they were eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood, they sang a song of worship and praise to God.
Why did Mark bother to tells us this when he is usually so frugal with his words? Why did God make sure this one little verses was included in our Bible? Why else but to show us that no matter what we might hear, no matter what we’re going through or what we can expect to happen next, we should always take time to be thankful to our merciful God and praise His holy name, in song and in deed.
Now I said that the disciples seemed to accept it when Jesus said one of them would betray Him. They didn’t argue about it – they just asked if they were the one He spoke of. A little later on, though, their disbelief and surprise rose to the surface once again.
Jesus informed them that they would soon all stumble, would leave His side, scattering like frightened sheep whose shepherd has been struck down. Peter pounced on this and indignantly refuted it, leaving Jesus to respond by letting His hot-headed disciple know that he would indeed deny his Master three times this very night, before the rooster crows twice at sunrise. And of course Peter became even more vehement in his refusal to believe this, saying that he would never abandon his Lord, that even if he had to die for it, he would never deny Jesus!
All the others followed Peter’s lead and took up the chorus: “We will not deny You! We will not leave You!”. But we know they did. They all abandoned Jesus, leaving Him alone.
They came to the garden named Gethsemane, when the troubles of the world and deep distress settled in on Jesus and He needed to pray. He wanted a little alone time with His Father, so He asked all the disciples to wait nearby while He took Peter, James, and John a little further into the garden, where He asked them to stay and keep watch for Him.
Stepping out of sight, Jesus literally fell to the ground in despair and opened His heart to God. We all know the prayer. “Father, if it’s at all possible, take this cup away from Me. Don’t make Me go through with this! We both know how it’s going to turn out.” But then He relented. “OK, Father, do what You will, even if it isn’t what I want.”
Jesus came back to His three friends who were supposed to be watching out for Him and found them fast asleep. They had left Him all alone. He wanted them a little ways off, but still alert and “with Him” in spirit. Instead, they drifted off to sleep, leaving Him to His own devices.
He roused them, encouraged them to stay awake so that they don’t fall into temptation. Now if we take that literally, we’re pretty sure that while we may have some pretty wild dreams, we’re not really likely to be tempted to do something we shouldn’t while we’re asleep. But if we consider the situation where being physically asleep meant that the disciples were not with Jesus mentally, we can see that when we are not “with Jesus”, when we are not constantly conscious of Him in our life, when we forget that we call Him our Lord and Master, then we may indeed be easily tempted to do wrong. Being unconscious to Jesus’ presence in our lives can open the door for Satan to barge in, for while our spirit may be willing to serve Jesus, our flesh is weak, leaving us subject to earthly desires. This definitely happens when we forsake Jesus, turning our back on Him, denying Him.
This little scenario repeats two more times. Finally Jesus tells Peter and James and John to get up, that the time has come for Him to be turned over to the sinners, His life put in their hands. “Enough of this - get up”, He scolded, “My betrayer is here.”
And indeed there came Judas, along with a large contingent of well-armed temple guards, ready to betray his former Master with a kiss. While one of the disciples tried to defend Jesus (another of the Gospel writers tells us it was Peter), in short order they all ran away, obviously fearing for their own safety. Like sheep whose shepherd had been struck down, they all scattered.
First betrayal, now denial. They all denied Jesus by abandoning Him. Forsaken by the people He came to save. Forsaken by His closest friends.
We know that tomorrow, Friday, Jesus will be hung on a cruel cross, there to yield up His mortal life. He had been betrayed, He had been denied, He had been abandoned. All of this had to have weighed heavily on His heart.
Hanging there on the cross, struggling for breath, Jesus felt, for just a moment, that even His own Father had forsaken Him. Yet God was there with Him all along. Our God did not forsake Jesus and He will not forsake us. Jesus did not forsake us and never will. But we have forsaken Him. We abandoned Him when He needed us. We ran in fear for our lives while His was being given up for ours.
When, you might ask, did we here today forsake our proclaimed Lord and Master, Jesus? When did we run away in fear?
Every time we hesitated to witness for Him. Every time we failed to respond to apostasy or heresy. Every time we looked the other way when a wrong was committed. Every time we just didn't do what Jesus would have done, we have forsaken Him and forgotten the sacrifice He made for us. We may not have completely turned our back on Jesus, renouncing our commitment to Him, but we’ve definitely looked the other way when we should have stood firm and supported Him. We’ve refused to speak for the voiceless, help the helpless, lift up the downtrodden, strengthen the weak.
Family, we’ve fallen asleep and left Jesus alone, all by Himself. We need to wake up and get about the job He left us, our job as a church, His body left here on earth to carry on His work. For the time is at hand, and the ultimate betrayer is upon us. Rather than flee like sheep, rather than abandon Jesus, let us link arms doing what God would have us do, and face each day knowing that our Lord is always at our side.
In just a few moments we will come to the table of our Lord to share His last meal with Him. The Apostle Paul warns that we must be right with God before doing so. Otherwise, we share the guilt of His execution, of His death, with those who committed the act.
Now is the time to get right with God. If you are feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you are weighed down by the guilt of your disobedience, if you are holding a grudge against a fellow believer, if there is anything in your life that God would see as sinful, lay it all at the foot of our Lord’s cross, repent, and seek forgiveness. Get right with God.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we reflect back on a time when mankind saddened You yet again. For on that day so long ago we betrayed Your Son, Your only Son, whom You sent to offer us salvation. Instead of receiving Him, we rejected Him. And even today, we are often too timid and shy to testify for Him, too fearful of what others may think or say. Forgive us, Father, for our fear and hesitation to do what we know is right.
Father, we pray that You show us not only the error of our ways, but also how to do what is right in Your eyes. You gave us the faith to believe in Your Son Jesus, and then He gave of Himself to wash us clean of our sin. Thank You, Father, for loving us this much! Please help us understand how everything we do while bearing the name of Jesus, reflects back on Your Son. Please let others know Your love through our love, through our words and deeds.
Lord Jesus, You gave so much of Yourself on our behalf. You took our punishment, You bore our stripes, You died so we could avoid the final and permanent death just by believing in You and accepting You as Lord. You accepted us as if a gift from God, and You loved us to the very end.
Forgive us, Lord, when we abandon You. Forgive us our times of doubt and confusion. Forgive those who refuse to believe, who reject Your authority. Forgive us when we could stand up for You against the doubters and disbelievers, but we are just too timid, too afraid, to do so. Forgive us when we can’t let go of the world, refusing to put all our faith and trust in You and our Father God. Help us, please Jesus, to not be so concerned with what others may think about us, or with anything this world might offer. Give us the strength of our convictions, the fullness of our faith, so that we can serve You by serving others. Help us be good and faithful servants.
This we pray in Your sweet name, Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God. Amen.
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