Saints of God, those redeemed by the blood of Christ and declared righteous by His holy death – grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tonight, we are here for the beginning of the Sacred Triduum. As the saints of God, we are here to receive the gifts of God in Jesus Christ. We come here tonight as people who are needy, broken, worn down and wore out, sinners in need of forgiveness.  Some of feel and experience this more than others.  Sickness and poverty are all around us.  Pain and suffering are our constant companions. And all our good works, all our efforts, all our worries and grasps for control, at best, are sacrifices that only stave off the inevitable approach of death. In the midst of this, we bow down today in humble worship, remembering our Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed, where the Devil began to do his worst to the Son of God, and wherein Christ institutes a holy gift for His holy people.

We know where this is all going. We know the outcome. We hear the Word of God and by hearing again of Jesus’ passion and resurrection, faith is delivered and strengthened.  We know that Easter is coming. This is the reality behind all of our ceremonies, all our holidays, all our prayers and songs and praise.  This lies behind the Sacraments. We don’t baptize into a memory. We are baptized, present tense, into the living Christ, the one who is the life of the world.   We aren’t eating the dead flesh of our God, we aren’t cannibals.  We partake of the risen, living body and the risen living blood of Jesus Christ, that which is given, is poured out, for you.

To receive this gift of God is to receive Jesus’ suffering and death as the atoning sacrifice for one’s sins. To refuse to recognize Christ’s body and blood in the Holy Meal is to court condemnation. We treat God’s Word very seriously about this, and wish that no one would harm themselves by receiving it without faith, or make a false confession of faith. Sharing in Christ’s suffering and death is only means to glory. As the Church now proclaims the Lord’s death until He comes in our reception of the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, we are bound together as the new creation, the body of Christ, a holy people sustained by the holy gifts of God.

What makes this meal so special, what makes it and every Lord’s Supper miraculous are Jesus’ words spoken over the bread and wine: “This is my body… This is my blood.” His Word is sure and certain, it does what it says, and delivers the goods. The provision of these holy gifts in the Supper bestows the forgiveness of sins and new life with God, based on Jesus’ death. This meal is the new Passover by which He establishes a new community that will celebrate this meal in remembrances of His death and resurrection in anticipation of His return.

Today we remember the holy desire of Christ to give Himself to us in His body and blood for our forgiveness. It’s a gift He continues to give unto eternity. Jesus still gathers His holy people, His saints, around a table, welcomes sinners, and gives to us the body that was on the cross and the blood that ran from his pierced hands, feet, and side, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of a world. 

Luke points us tonight to Jesus’ death as the sacrificial Passover lamb who fulfills the sacrifices of the Old Testament and who unites us to Himself in this way. The Passover lamb whose blood atones for all is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This isn’t just any Passover, but Jesus’ Passover, because on this night, the Lamb who must be sacrificed stands on the threshold of the new era of salvation. After this Passover, there is no need for the Jews to celebrate it anymore because Christ is our Passover. He interprets the food at the meal, the story of the Exodus, the broken bread and the cup of blessing in terms of Himself. Jesus’ words to His disciples is a prophecy of what He will do, in a greater way, on the cross and then in the Church’s celebration of the His Supper. It is the final fulfillment of the Exodus, wherein God frees us from our slavery to sin.  Because of what Jesus does through His Word, both then and now, He instructs His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

In this holy meal, God remembers us for Christ’s sake.  Every time God showers His holy people with gifts, it is because He remembers His promises in Christ to save us.  This is especially true in Holy Communion, wherein these divine gifts are the body and blood of Christ for our forgiveness. As we receive the benefits of Christ’s perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection, God remembers us for Christ’s sake as He bestows a holy thing to His holy people. This then is the cause of our remembrance – God gives, we receive, and we remember Him in faith as we respond in love to Him and toward our neighbor.

As God reminds and we remember, eternity unfolds in time. The eternal life of Christ is present by His grace, which will usher us into the eternal state.  This Sacrament, this Holy Meal, is the most important meal from Eden to the End. For it delivers unto us, the very body and blood of Christ, offered up in death on the cross and now given with the bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins and life eternal.

Our eating of this Supper, from Easter to the Last Day, is an act of table fellowship between God and man celebrating that the kingdom of God has come and is present.  It is in our celebration of the Lord’s Supper that the fulfillment of Jesus’ promises come to us, are delivered to us, are kept in us.  God’s kingdom comes to us, while we also anticipate, we have a foretaste of, the final day when Christ will bring all His saints to the eternal marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which shall have no end. Amen.