Maundy Thursday

So let’s go to dark Gethsemane. For there we see that even in his greatest moment of weakness, Jesus is our only source of strength. He drinks the cup of wrath so we can drink the cup of grace.

This is how the God of Abraham has become our God, too. This is how God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham and His promise to us: by breaking open His own body and shedding His own blood.

In the upper room, Jesus revealed himself as the Lord of the dirty business of life.

Luther sees in the Lord’s Supper the most concentrated form of the Gospel[5] because in it the death of Christ is proclaimed and the benefits of that saving death are bestowed in His body and blood given us to eat and drink.

This text is chosen for Maundy Thursday and involves eating and drinking with God—in His presence, real presence. This is only possible with the shedding of blood.