Could anything have been more simple? Jesus was with his disciples in a borrowed room. They went there to celebrate the Passover, which was the yearly remembrance of Israel’s delivery from Egyptian slavery. They went to recall how glorious it was when the angel of death passed over the houses of the people of Israel who had their doorposts painted with the blood of the lamb. They remembered how that angel of death brought death to the firstborn of every household in Egypt that did not have its doorposts painted with the blood.

Passover was the central festival of the Jewish calendar. Everybody looked forward to it. So did Jesus’ disciples. But this Passover was different. In the middle of the Passover celebration, Jesus quietly did something new, something different. He instituted a whole new feast. But he did it so simply that we have to wonder if the disciples got even a fraction of the significance of what was happening. For as usual, their minds were on other things. They had been so busy arguing about who was most important that no one took on the task of feet washing before the meal. Servants would do that when people came in from the dusty outdoors. But no one did it that night. No one, that is, except Jesus. He washed the feet of the disciples.

Then Jesus spoke of his coming death. But again, it was Passover, a celebration. Who wants to talk about such things at a celebration? And Jesus spoke about betrayal. The disciples did not understand. So much was packed that night, so much celebration of Israel’s past, so much confusion about the present, so much fear over the future.

And in the middle of it all, Jesus created a new feast. It is so simple, so easy to pass by and treat it as though it were nothing. He took bread. He broke it and gave it to them to eat. He declared as he did so: “This is my body!” He didn’t explain it. He didn’t say that it was a symbol for his body. The words are plain and clear: “This is my body.” He also didn’t tell them to save it up or put it on parade or worship it. He just said, “Take and eat.” And then with equal simplicity, he took a cup of wine. And he just said, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Again he didn’t explain what he meant. He didn’t have to. The words are plain and clear. “This is my blood,” he declared. He didn’t say that it was a symbol for his blood. He didn’t say that it was something to be worshiped and adored. No, just “Drink from it, all of you.”

Yes, it is all so simple that we may miss the glory in it. For glory it has, glory beyond all telling. Here is the Lamb whose blood redeems sinners. Yes, here in this new feast is the solution to the sins the disciples were committing that very night. For Jesus comes in this feast to give forgiveness. That’s what he said: “This is my blood . . . for the forgiveness of sins.” But so many miss the glory. The common conversation in many Lutheran homes before a Communion service may go something like this: “Are we going to Communion today? Well, let’s see. Did we go last time? No? Well, then I suppose we should go this time.” Perhaps even this evening before you came to church, someone said, “Well, it’s Maundy Thursday; that means we have to go to Communion; everybody goes to Communion on Maundy Thursday.” Yes, it’s all so simple that we easily treat it like an empty ceremony whose purpose we have long forgotten.

But Jesus makes the purpose clear. And Jesus shows us the glory that is here. Listen to what he said. Let the words be inscribed on your heart. Write this truth in your memory and never let it go. Jesus said, on the night he was betrayed. Jesus said, on the way to the cross. Jesus said as his last will and testament. Jesus said, “THIS IS MY BODY. THIS IS MY BLOOD, GIVEN FOR YOU, GIVEN FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS."

II. Way back on that first Maundy Thursday, the night before his death, Jesus spoke his last will and testament. He gave no stocks or bonds. There was no family silver or fine china to pass down. There was nothing in Jesus’ estate that was worth talking about—except, that is, Jesus himself! In his last will and testament he gave himself! “This is my body; this is my blood given for you,” he declares. Yes, and who is the “for you”? Why, it is you; it is me. On this most holy night of nights when there was so much on Jesus’ mind; the scourge and the crown of thorns, the nails and the spear; he thought about—you. He spoke his last will and testament, and he made you his beneficiary. Having nothing else to give you, he gave himself to you and for you.

Just look at the feast. Listen and wonder at its glory. “This is my body; this is my blood.” We do not eat and drink a symbol in this feast. No, it is the real, the true, the living Son of God. It is the same Jesus who spoke that night. It is the same Jesus who offered himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Yes, it is the same Jesus who was thinking about you when he cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And the answer to this most painful question is this: God forsook him because God wanted your salvation, because Jesus wanted to suffer the torments of hell on the cross for you, for me. All around him the people cried out, “If you are Son of God, come down.” Why didn’t he? Because the night before, he had willed himself to you. Why didn’t he? Because the night before, he had declared that he should never be separated from you. And the only way that that goal could be reached, the goal that we be united forever in this sacred supper, was for him to be abandoned by the Father. The only way was for him to endure the torment of hell on the cross as our substitute.

And so, in anticipation of what he is going to do on Good Friday, Jesus declares to us on the night before, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Ordinary food and drink have the ability to preserve our bodies and to give them strength. But look what is in this food and drink! It preserves not just the body but the body and the soul for eternal life. For here is Jesus the living bread from heaven. Here is Jesus the cup of salvation. Here is Jesus, who now gives us his true body and true blood. He declares that it works now and forever for the forgiveness of sins. That’s why he came down from heaven in the first place, to win our forgiveness. That’s why he suffered and died, to win our forgiveness. The world passes the Lord’s Supper by with disregard. Many Christians dismiss it as unimportant. But we are looking for the glory hidden in the cross. And here it is! For Jesus, our God and Savior, is here. It is glory that lasts for all eternity. For Jesus is here granting us forgiveness of sins; and where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.

Therefore, come with hearts that are broken because of sin and guilt and shame. Therefore, come with souls that are starving for food that will strengthen you for the ongoing battle with the devil, the world, and the sinful nature. Come and eat and drink the price of your salvation in this feast of feasts. Then go. Go to hold him fast who had nothing else to give this most holy night than himself. Go and hold him fast who on the night he was betrayed thought about you. Go and forget him never, who in his last will and testament made you his heir of the heaven. Go with the gift of his body and blood that strengthens and preserves you for life and for life eternal. Amen.