Easter Devotion: Maundy Thursday

By Charlie Winters

Associate Pastor of Pastoral Care

Read Matthew 26:17-29.

Before every execution, the death row inmate is offered a last meal. From what I understand, the inmate can request just about anything he or she wants as a last meal. Presumably, such a gesture offers the individual a last bit of comfort before the terminal event. Though not as a gesture of comfort, Jesus also had a last meal before His execution. The last meal was what we now call the Lord’s Supper. This was the institution of the Christian communion meal, but the ordinance sprouted from a practice the Jews had observed for thousands of years. 

In Matthew 26:17-29, we have the account of the Passover Meal before the coming crucifixion of Jesus. The Passover was to remember when God told the Israelite before their deliverance from Egypt to sacrifice a pure lamb and to spread its blood over their door posts. This was to direct the Death Angel away from their house when it saw the blood.

This was looking forward to the day when we who have been covered with the blood of our Lord Jesus will be cleansed from our sin and received as pure sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. The Passover was a shadow or a reflection of the sacrifice Christ would offer on the cross. Think about this for a minute: Jesus’ last meal before His crucifixion was a meal that was originally instituted as a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb of God. As Chad has been sharing with us over the last couple of months, the Old Testament is loaded with foreshadows of what is to come. And Jesus, in fulfillment of every prophecy and sign, accomplished all the Old Testament said the Messiah would. 

During this resurrection week, take some time out of your busy schedule to reflect on God's providential and sovereign plan to bring about the salvation of the world. This is a plan set in place before the foundations of the world were ever created, and it is a plan that has been imprinted upon human history since the beginning. And God, in His almighty power, steered–indeed, directed–all of human history to lead up to this pinnacle event–the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord. These pointers to the great sacrifice of Christ were not mere hints planted within historical events. They were markers woven into the very fabric of the Israelites day-to-day existence. 

Thank the Lord for what He has done. And praise Him. Trust if He can direct human history, He can most certainly direct and guide you in life.