Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor
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Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church - Sunday is coming. It's Thursday, March 28 (Maundy Thursday), and we're walking with Jesus.
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Maundy is such a strange word. It comes to us in English from Latin, which was spoken for millennia. In the Western world, there's a Latin verb mandare from which we get the English word mandate (or command) and it's on this Thursday that Jesus gives a new commandment to his disciples. In fact, there's both an old commandment and a couple new commands from which Maundy Thursday gets its name. The old command is this: celebrate the Passover. When Jesus and his disciples gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem, it was to celebrate the Passover meal together, keeping with more than 1000 years of Jewish tradition. God asked his people to remember that they had been set free after 400 years of slavery in Egypt; to remember that God spared them from the plagues that afflicted Egypt and to remember the special instructions of their hasty departure. This tradition of eating the Passover meal continues to this day in 2024. Jesus, however, broke from tradition and did something new in the presence of his disciples - he let them know that he himself was the real Passover lamb. His blood was about to be shed. His blood would be spread across wooden posts of another kind. His blood would pay the high price of freedom and forgiveness for all God's people. And in that Passover meal, Jesus also gave them two new commands.
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First: John 13, verse 34, "A new command I give to you: Love one another." And Jesus demonstrated how to embody this by washing the feet of his disciples like a servant. This showed that a leader in his kingdom is the one who kneels first and helps first. This was a sign of how deep his love was. And the second command that Jesus gave at this upper room Passover meal was this: "Remember me." As he broke the bread, he encouraged them. "...as often as you eat this, remember me." As they drank the cup of wine together, "...as often as you drink of this, remember me." It was on this night, in an upper room, that Jesus demonstrated how deep his love really is. Tonight at 7pm we will relive, remember, sing about and witness these very things. You're invited to the sanctuary to take part in that.
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Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, prepare our hearts to walk with you the rest of the way through this Holy Week. Help us to find ourselves in this part of your story, in that upper room and not run from the difficult questions and the pain that is ahead. Draw us to sit with you at that last supper where you shared your heart so tenderly with your friends and face your betrayer with such honesty, and courage, we want to be with you. Amen.