Maundy Thursday 04-02-15

Meditative Sentences
"When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now." - Mother Teresa

"I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ ...; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love." - Ignatius of Antioch

"The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, it produces Love." - Thomas Aquinas

The Commemoration                         Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 

01 Passover 4
7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 

02 Passover 6
8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 

03 Passover 1
Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 

04 Passover 5
11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

05 Passover
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

06 LS 7
On Jesus’ last night, he gathered with the disciples in an upper room, to celebrate the Passover, as had been done for centuries. 

06.1LS 3
During the meal, he took some of the bread on the on the tables, as you will soon do. 

06.5 the-last-supper-simon-dewey
The Bread.
He took it. The Bread of Life came from God and it is that which continues to provide what we need to live. 

06.51LS 2
He Blessed It . He thanked God for giving that bread. All that we have comes from God. 

06.52 LS 9
He Broke it. He allowed his body to be broken and bruised for our iniquities. (At this point the whole loaf of bread is to be broken.) 

06.53 LS 18
He Gave it. He gave himself that we may live if we believe that he has what we need to have the life that he lived. 

06.54 LS 5           1 Cor. 11:23-24 NIV
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 

06.55 LS 5
“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

07 LS 8         The Cup.
He took it. Jesus took our cup of pain and suffering so that we could receive his cup of blessing. 

07.1 LS 13
Have you taken his forgiveness? If you would, will you pass it on? 

07.2 LS 12
He Drank from it. Have you truly drank from that cup? (Crush the grapes) 

07.3 LS 4
He Gave it. He gave himself so that we could receive him thus giving to us the power to live like Him and with Him forever. 

08 LS 6
Even though it seems that we die, we die to that which separates us from him and from others. 

09 LS 20          1 Cor. 11:25-26 NIV
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

10 LS 22
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

11 LS 10        The Cup of the New Promise:  Mark 14:25-26 NIV 
“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 

12 LS 21
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

13 Passover 3
Remember that He gave his life that we may live. Remember that he is coming again to receive us to be with him. Are you ready to meet him face to face?

14 LS 23
Commission and Blessing
One: We have been cleansed; we have communed; we are new creatures in Christ Jesus.

All: We have received God’s forgiveness and blessing; we have been reconciled with one another.

One: Take with you the mandate we have from Christ:  “Love one another as I have loved you.”

All: We will love in word and deed, reaching out with helping hands and caring hearts.

One: Even in the face of rejection and suffering, we can this night rejoice with Jesus the Christ.

All: We are free to make our witness to God’s love without fear of the consequences. 

One: We are the body of Christ and individually members of it; go forth and serve in Christ’s name.

All: We face the world well equipped and unafraid.  God, in Christ, goes with us every step of the way.  Amen.  Amen.

Passing of the Peace