Remembrance
Commentary
The emphasis for today is on meals, which are very prominent throughout the Cycle C lectionary. Luke's Gospel also seems to display an unusual interest in food. It is often noted, somewhat humorously, that in Luke's Gospel Jesus appears to be always eating. In fact, the book mentions nineteen meals, thirteen of which are peculiar to Luke. Jesus also talks about food a great deal, telling parables about banquets (14:7-11, 12-14, 15-24; 15:25-32; 16:19-30) and speaking about discipleship in terms that, on the surface, appear to be lessons in table etiquette (7:44-46; 14:7-14; 22:27). Jesus is criticized for eating too much (Luke 7:34) and with the wrong people (Luke 5:30; 15:1-2).
What's going on? In the first chapter of this Gospel, the coming of Jesus is described poetically as meaning that God "has filled the hungry with good things" (1:53). Food is a metaphor for life and the sharing of food symbolizes the sharing of life. In this sense, the food motif in Luke may resemble the imagery we also encounter in the Gospel of John, where Jesus describes himself as "the Bread of Life" (John 6:35, 51). And in Luke's second volume, the book of Acts, we learn that Christian fellowship and worship in the first century often occurred within the setting of a meal (Acts 2:42, 46).
All of this is background for today's lessons. We do not actually read from Luke's Gospel on Maundy Thursday, but we do want to interpret the texts within the broad context of this lectionary year. Before we look at the lessons, then, we may want to reflect specifically on Luke's story of the Last Supper, which was read as part of the long passion narrative last Sunday. Luke's version of this supper emphasized three elements that, we will see, are also prominent in this Sunday's Gospel reading from John. And it is interesting to note that Luke links these elements to his theme of "meals" in general:
A. In Luke, suppers are supposed to be inclusive events.
Jews eat with Gentiles (4:25-26; 10:7-8).
Saints eat with sinners (5:30; 15:1-2; 19:5-7).
Clean eat with unclean (14:12-13; cf. 11:37-38).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus eats with transgressors (22:21, 34).
B. In Luke, suppers are occasions for instruction in humility and service.
Lack of etiquette reveals lack of Love (7:44-46).
Guests should show humility (14:7-11; cf. 20:46).
Hosts should show humility (14:12-14).
People who serve Jesus are called "deacons," literally "table waiters" (women, 4:39; 8:3; men, Acts 6:1-6).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus teaches about service and humility (22:24-27).
C. In Luke, suppers are a symbol of God's blessing.
Servants are rewarded by eating at the master's table (12:35-37).
The Kingdom of God is like a banquet (13:29; 14:15-24).
Suppers are the occasion for forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation (7:48-50; 19:5-7).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus speaks of the blessing to come in the Kingdom of God (22:18, 28-30).
Exodus 12:1-14
The text comes from the priestly material in the Pentateuch and outlines the procedures for the Jewish celebration of Passover. In recent years, many Christians have become more familiar with this festival and some churches even conduct Passover seders as part of their Maundy Thursday observance. Participation in such events may make this text more meaningful in some respects but could lead to confusion if we are too literalistic. Liturgical worship has undergone development over the centuries in Jewish circles just as it has in Christian ones, and current Passover observances differ markedly from what is outlined here.
Christians have tried to allegorize elements of the meal, identifying Jesus as the Passover lamb and then taking the reference to the lamb being without blemish as indicating that Jesus was without sin. Such interpretive schemes work only sporadically. More to the point, perhaps, is the reason that the meal is to be observed in the first place: remembrance (v. 14). Participants are to remember the bad and the good. The bitter herbs recall servitude, and unleavened bread, the necessity of eating on the run. We were slaves and refugees, God's people say each time they eat this meal, and we will never forget that. But God delivered us, strangely, by marking us with blood, marking us as people saved by blood, and we will never forget that either.
It is theologically significant that a historical action of God is to be remembered by all subsequent generations. It ties the human family together temporally and spatially: what God did for them, then and there, is relevant to us, here and now. It is also frankly amazing that this has worked. Three thousand years later, God's people do still remember what God did and regard that act of salvation as determinative for their own lives.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
This passage records the institution of the chief Christian meal -- the eucharist -- in a way parallel to that in which the first lesson records the institution of the chief Jewish meal (Passover). Exodus presents the Lord (Yahweh) instructing Moses and Aaron on how to celebrate a sacred meal; Paul presents the Lord (Jesus) instructing apostles on how to do the same. Both texts end with a call to remembrance.
This is not to be taken for granted. The words of institution recorded in Matthew and Mark do not include the phrase, "Do this for the remembrance for me" (Luke 22:19). The development of sacramental theology in Christian tradition quickly emphasized other functions of the meal. It becomes an event in which the presence of Christ is actualized within the community to provide forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). It becomes an eschatological prolepsis through which the community experiences a "foretaste of the feast to come," an anticipatory participation in the kingdom of God (Luke 22:18). But here, it is first and foremost an act of remembrance.
If the Lord's Supper were nothing but a memorial, then we would probably celebrate it only once a year, like Passover. The sacramental and eschatological associations are what moves it, appropriately, to become central to regular Christian worship. But, I think a good case can be made that the Maundy Thursday service -- which is observed only once a year -- should focus on the meal as a memorial. It may be more than that, but it is that. On this day, it is mainly that.
What exactly are we remembering? That Jesus gave his life for us, shed his blood on our behalf? Yes! Paul wants the Corinthians to remember this because they are torn apart by schisms and are enamored of spiritual gifts that seem to elevate one above another. They have embraced a theology of glory, forgetting too soon the cross that Paul proclaimed unfailingly while with them (1 Corinthians 2:2). Even their celebrations of the Lord's Supper have become marred by self-aggrandizement and cavalier neglect of the humble. They need to remember that the very institution of this meal was a giving up of self: "My body is given for you. My blood is for you."
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
For reasons that no one has quite figured out, the Gospel of John omits the "supper part" from its story of Jesus' last supper and goes straight to an incident that happened after the meal. Although John alludes to the eucharist elsewhere in his story (John 6:54-57), he does not relate its institution or describe Jesus sharing the bread and wine with his followers. What he does offer us is the compelling account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and directing them to do the same for one another.
The meaning of the story is obvious and is usually easy to preach. I will simply note that John in his account incorporates all three of the themes that I have indicated Luke emphasizes in his story of the last supper (which we heard last Sunday):
Inclusivity: Jesus washes the feet of all his disciples. The story underscores the fact that Judas was there among them (v. 10) and that he had already succumbed to the devil (v. 2). But Jesus knelt before him and washed his feet as well. What an image this is! What went through the mind of Christ at that moment? And the mind of the traitor? Why don't artists paint this scene rather than the more benign one involving Jesus and Peter?
Humility and service are obviously center-stage. As is often said, footwashing represented the work of the lowliest servant in a household. Jesus is willing to accept such a role for himself and to commend it for his followers.
God's blessing is also promised. See verse 17. What precisely is the blessing? Perhaps it is revealed in verse 35, the famous "They'll know we are Christians ..." verse. If we obey the new commandment Jesus gave, then we will be blessed to be identified by everyone as followers of Jesus.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
In the oldest tradition that we have of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, Paul tells us in our epistle lesson that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. While Passover and the Lord's Supper are very different in many respects, they share some features in common. Perhaps those common characteristics can deepen our understanding of what we are about on Maundy Thursday.
As it now stands, the institution of Passover is embedded in the story of the exodus, falling immediately before the account of the final plague on the Egyptians in the form of the death of the firstborn. And it is the Passover ritual that is designed to protect the enslaved Israelites from that plague.
According to the dating in our passage, the Passover is to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, which is our March/April. It is a family festival, sometimes shared with a neighbor. The food that is eaten is the food of travelers in a hurry: the unblemished lamb of a sheep or goat, roasted on an open fire, instead of in a cooking pot; bread without leaven, because leavened bread takes too long to rise; bitter herbs that are some kind of uncultivated vegetable, pulled up from the ground. Moreover, the participants are to be prepared for flight, with their long robes pulled up and girded, their sandals on their feet, and their staffs in their hands.
The whole lamb is to be eaten and any parts remaining are to be burned. But the blood of the lamb is to be smeared on the framework of the Israelites' doors. When God sees the blood, he will "pass over" the houses of the Israelites and not slay their children. The slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians, however, will prompt the Pharaoh to let Israel go from slavery. Thus, the blood itself is not what saves. Rather, it is a "sign" to God and the symbol of his promise that he will save his people from bondage.
In short, Passover is a celebration of God's redemption of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Moreover, it is at the time of the Passover and exodus that Israel is constituted as a nation and is chosen by God as his people and as his adopted son (cf. Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 3:19; 31:20; Isaiah 63:16). In every succeeding generation, therefore, Israel is to celebrate the Passover as the memorial of God's redemption of his people.
We share the same memorial, don't we? Our epistle lesson tells us that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we "show forth" the Lord's death until he comes again. We remember Jesus' death on the cross. In fact, in the Gospel according to John, Jesus' crucifixion takes place on Passover day. So John the Baptist can call our Lord "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Similarly, Paul reminds us that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). We were "bought with a price," he tells the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). That is, we were "bought back," we were "redeemed," which is the meaning of "redemption," by the death of Christ on the cross. Christ's death on the cross is the New Testament parallel to the story of the Passover and exodus in the Old Testament. As Israel was redeemed from slavery in Egypt, so we are redeemed by the sacrifice of our Lord on Golgotha. And Christ's blood, symbolized for us in the cup of the Lord's Supper, is the "sign" of God's promised redemption, as the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites was the sign of God's promised deliverance of them.
Israel remembers the Lord's redemption of her every time she holds her Passover feast, and we remember Christ's redemption of us every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper. But "remembering" for Israel was much more than simply calling to mind a past event. Rather, when each subsequent generation of Israelites remembered their deliverance from slavery by celebrating the Passover, that became a present event for them. "The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand," they confessed (Deuteronomy 26:8). We were there. God did his mighty deed for us who are living now. So we are now a free people, chosen by God to be his.
So it is too with us. God's redemption of us by the cross of Christ was not just a past event. It is the redemption of you and me, right now, in our situation. The old Negro spiritual has it right. "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" it asks. Yes indeed, we were there. Christ died for us. Christ set us free from slavery, our slavery to sin and death. His mighty act of love is wrought for us here and now. And we not only "remember the Lord's death until he comes," but we participate now in the results of that death. We are redeemed and free, redeemed from all of the sins and guilts of the past that held us captive, and free from the clutches of death forever. Right now, at this Lord's table, you and I are a delivered people.
We all join together in that common deliverance, don't we? As Israel was first made a people at the Passover and exodus, so we too here at the Lord's Supper are united once again as one people of God. This is "communion" at this supper. We are chosen here to commune once again with our God, and to commune once again with one another. And the unity that we share at this supper is not to be broken.
The Israelites were a traveling people, waiting at that first Passover event with their loins girded and their feet shod to set out on the adventure of God. The Lord had a destination for his people and a journey to be undertaken. They were not at home in Egypt. There was a promised land awaiting them. And you and I are not at home where we live either. The land that we inhabit is much too filled with violence and corruption, with evil and hatred to be called God's kingdom. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo, for it does not at all match what God desires for us and for all people. And so God says to us, as he said to Israel, be prepared to travel. Set out on the journey of faith to make your home, your neighborhood, your society into new places worthy of God. Follow the leading of the Lord Christ who promises to be with us always. Be prepared to go wherever God will lead you. For at the end, there is indeed a promised land called the Kingdom of God.
What's going on? In the first chapter of this Gospel, the coming of Jesus is described poetically as meaning that God "has filled the hungry with good things" (1:53). Food is a metaphor for life and the sharing of food symbolizes the sharing of life. In this sense, the food motif in Luke may resemble the imagery we also encounter in the Gospel of John, where Jesus describes himself as "the Bread of Life" (John 6:35, 51). And in Luke's second volume, the book of Acts, we learn that Christian fellowship and worship in the first century often occurred within the setting of a meal (Acts 2:42, 46).
All of this is background for today's lessons. We do not actually read from Luke's Gospel on Maundy Thursday, but we do want to interpret the texts within the broad context of this lectionary year. Before we look at the lessons, then, we may want to reflect specifically on Luke's story of the Last Supper, which was read as part of the long passion narrative last Sunday. Luke's version of this supper emphasized three elements that, we will see, are also prominent in this Sunday's Gospel reading from John. And it is interesting to note that Luke links these elements to his theme of "meals" in general:
A. In Luke, suppers are supposed to be inclusive events.
Jews eat with Gentiles (4:25-26; 10:7-8).
Saints eat with sinners (5:30; 15:1-2; 19:5-7).
Clean eat with unclean (14:12-13; cf. 11:37-38).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus eats with transgressors (22:21, 34).
B. In Luke, suppers are occasions for instruction in humility and service.
Lack of etiquette reveals lack of Love (7:44-46).
Guests should show humility (14:7-11; cf. 20:46).
Hosts should show humility (14:12-14).
People who serve Jesus are called "deacons," literally "table waiters" (women, 4:39; 8:3; men, Acts 6:1-6).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus teaches about service and humility (22:24-27).
C. In Luke, suppers are a symbol of God's blessing.
Servants are rewarded by eating at the master's table (12:35-37).
The Kingdom of God is like a banquet (13:29; 14:15-24).
Suppers are the occasion for forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation (7:48-50; 19:5-7).
At the "Last Supper," Jesus speaks of the blessing to come in the Kingdom of God (22:18, 28-30).
Exodus 12:1-14
The text comes from the priestly material in the Pentateuch and outlines the procedures for the Jewish celebration of Passover. In recent years, many Christians have become more familiar with this festival and some churches even conduct Passover seders as part of their Maundy Thursday observance. Participation in such events may make this text more meaningful in some respects but could lead to confusion if we are too literalistic. Liturgical worship has undergone development over the centuries in Jewish circles just as it has in Christian ones, and current Passover observances differ markedly from what is outlined here.
Christians have tried to allegorize elements of the meal, identifying Jesus as the Passover lamb and then taking the reference to the lamb being without blemish as indicating that Jesus was without sin. Such interpretive schemes work only sporadically. More to the point, perhaps, is the reason that the meal is to be observed in the first place: remembrance (v. 14). Participants are to remember the bad and the good. The bitter herbs recall servitude, and unleavened bread, the necessity of eating on the run. We were slaves and refugees, God's people say each time they eat this meal, and we will never forget that. But God delivered us, strangely, by marking us with blood, marking us as people saved by blood, and we will never forget that either.
It is theologically significant that a historical action of God is to be remembered by all subsequent generations. It ties the human family together temporally and spatially: what God did for them, then and there, is relevant to us, here and now. It is also frankly amazing that this has worked. Three thousand years later, God's people do still remember what God did and regard that act of salvation as determinative for their own lives.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
This passage records the institution of the chief Christian meal -- the eucharist -- in a way parallel to that in which the first lesson records the institution of the chief Jewish meal (Passover). Exodus presents the Lord (Yahweh) instructing Moses and Aaron on how to celebrate a sacred meal; Paul presents the Lord (Jesus) instructing apostles on how to do the same. Both texts end with a call to remembrance.
This is not to be taken for granted. The words of institution recorded in Matthew and Mark do not include the phrase, "Do this for the remembrance for me" (Luke 22:19). The development of sacramental theology in Christian tradition quickly emphasized other functions of the meal. It becomes an event in which the presence of Christ is actualized within the community to provide forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). It becomes an eschatological prolepsis through which the community experiences a "foretaste of the feast to come," an anticipatory participation in the kingdom of God (Luke 22:18). But here, it is first and foremost an act of remembrance.
If the Lord's Supper were nothing but a memorial, then we would probably celebrate it only once a year, like Passover. The sacramental and eschatological associations are what moves it, appropriately, to become central to regular Christian worship. But, I think a good case can be made that the Maundy Thursday service -- which is observed only once a year -- should focus on the meal as a memorial. It may be more than that, but it is that. On this day, it is mainly that.
What exactly are we remembering? That Jesus gave his life for us, shed his blood on our behalf? Yes! Paul wants the Corinthians to remember this because they are torn apart by schisms and are enamored of spiritual gifts that seem to elevate one above another. They have embraced a theology of glory, forgetting too soon the cross that Paul proclaimed unfailingly while with them (1 Corinthians 2:2). Even their celebrations of the Lord's Supper have become marred by self-aggrandizement and cavalier neglect of the humble. They need to remember that the very institution of this meal was a giving up of self: "My body is given for you. My blood is for you."
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
For reasons that no one has quite figured out, the Gospel of John omits the "supper part" from its story of Jesus' last supper and goes straight to an incident that happened after the meal. Although John alludes to the eucharist elsewhere in his story (John 6:54-57), he does not relate its institution or describe Jesus sharing the bread and wine with his followers. What he does offer us is the compelling account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and directing them to do the same for one another.
The meaning of the story is obvious and is usually easy to preach. I will simply note that John in his account incorporates all three of the themes that I have indicated Luke emphasizes in his story of the last supper (which we heard last Sunday):
Inclusivity: Jesus washes the feet of all his disciples. The story underscores the fact that Judas was there among them (v. 10) and that he had already succumbed to the devil (v. 2). But Jesus knelt before him and washed his feet as well. What an image this is! What went through the mind of Christ at that moment? And the mind of the traitor? Why don't artists paint this scene rather than the more benign one involving Jesus and Peter?
Humility and service are obviously center-stage. As is often said, footwashing represented the work of the lowliest servant in a household. Jesus is willing to accept such a role for himself and to commend it for his followers.
God's blessing is also promised. See verse 17. What precisely is the blessing? Perhaps it is revealed in verse 35, the famous "They'll know we are Christians ..." verse. If we obey the new commandment Jesus gave, then we will be blessed to be identified by everyone as followers of Jesus.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
In the oldest tradition that we have of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, Paul tells us in our epistle lesson that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. While Passover and the Lord's Supper are very different in many respects, they share some features in common. Perhaps those common characteristics can deepen our understanding of what we are about on Maundy Thursday.
As it now stands, the institution of Passover is embedded in the story of the exodus, falling immediately before the account of the final plague on the Egyptians in the form of the death of the firstborn. And it is the Passover ritual that is designed to protect the enslaved Israelites from that plague.
According to the dating in our passage, the Passover is to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, which is our March/April. It is a family festival, sometimes shared with a neighbor. The food that is eaten is the food of travelers in a hurry: the unblemished lamb of a sheep or goat, roasted on an open fire, instead of in a cooking pot; bread without leaven, because leavened bread takes too long to rise; bitter herbs that are some kind of uncultivated vegetable, pulled up from the ground. Moreover, the participants are to be prepared for flight, with their long robes pulled up and girded, their sandals on their feet, and their staffs in their hands.
The whole lamb is to be eaten and any parts remaining are to be burned. But the blood of the lamb is to be smeared on the framework of the Israelites' doors. When God sees the blood, he will "pass over" the houses of the Israelites and not slay their children. The slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians, however, will prompt the Pharaoh to let Israel go from slavery. Thus, the blood itself is not what saves. Rather, it is a "sign" to God and the symbol of his promise that he will save his people from bondage.
In short, Passover is a celebration of God's redemption of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Moreover, it is at the time of the Passover and exodus that Israel is constituted as a nation and is chosen by God as his people and as his adopted son (cf. Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 3:19; 31:20; Isaiah 63:16). In every succeeding generation, therefore, Israel is to celebrate the Passover as the memorial of God's redemption of his people.
We share the same memorial, don't we? Our epistle lesson tells us that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we "show forth" the Lord's death until he comes again. We remember Jesus' death on the cross. In fact, in the Gospel according to John, Jesus' crucifixion takes place on Passover day. So John the Baptist can call our Lord "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Similarly, Paul reminds us that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). We were "bought with a price," he tells the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). That is, we were "bought back," we were "redeemed," which is the meaning of "redemption," by the death of Christ on the cross. Christ's death on the cross is the New Testament parallel to the story of the Passover and exodus in the Old Testament. As Israel was redeemed from slavery in Egypt, so we are redeemed by the sacrifice of our Lord on Golgotha. And Christ's blood, symbolized for us in the cup of the Lord's Supper, is the "sign" of God's promised redemption, as the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites was the sign of God's promised deliverance of them.
Israel remembers the Lord's redemption of her every time she holds her Passover feast, and we remember Christ's redemption of us every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper. But "remembering" for Israel was much more than simply calling to mind a past event. Rather, when each subsequent generation of Israelites remembered their deliverance from slavery by celebrating the Passover, that became a present event for them. "The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand," they confessed (Deuteronomy 26:8). We were there. God did his mighty deed for us who are living now. So we are now a free people, chosen by God to be his.
So it is too with us. God's redemption of us by the cross of Christ was not just a past event. It is the redemption of you and me, right now, in our situation. The old Negro spiritual has it right. "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" it asks. Yes indeed, we were there. Christ died for us. Christ set us free from slavery, our slavery to sin and death. His mighty act of love is wrought for us here and now. And we not only "remember the Lord's death until he comes," but we participate now in the results of that death. We are redeemed and free, redeemed from all of the sins and guilts of the past that held us captive, and free from the clutches of death forever. Right now, at this Lord's table, you and I are a delivered people.
We all join together in that common deliverance, don't we? As Israel was first made a people at the Passover and exodus, so we too here at the Lord's Supper are united once again as one people of God. This is "communion" at this supper. We are chosen here to commune once again with our God, and to commune once again with one another. And the unity that we share at this supper is not to be broken.
The Israelites were a traveling people, waiting at that first Passover event with their loins girded and their feet shod to set out on the adventure of God. The Lord had a destination for his people and a journey to be undertaken. They were not at home in Egypt. There was a promised land awaiting them. And you and I are not at home where we live either. The land that we inhabit is much too filled with violence and corruption, with evil and hatred to be called God's kingdom. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo, for it does not at all match what God desires for us and for all people. And so God says to us, as he said to Israel, be prepared to travel. Set out on the journey of faith to make your home, your neighborhood, your society into new places worthy of God. Follow the leading of the Lord Christ who promises to be with us always. Be prepared to go wherever God will lead you. For at the end, there is indeed a promised land called the Kingdom of God.
