Luke 22:7-20
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." They said to him, "Where will you have us prepare it?" He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there." And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new testament in my blood."
Why Shouldn't We Kneel?
Holy (Maundy) Thursday
1 April 2010
On Maundy Thursday we hear that the Lord Jesus before His betrayal saw to the deepest needs of His church by offering His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28) to poor sinners like us. This is a full disclosure of the heart of God. In this sacrament He turns Himself inside out to us. What has been hidden is disclosed. What we always wondered about has been opened to us. What could never be seen has been shown to us. We are able to rest upon His chest to be fed by His hand with the shocking intimacy humans think impossible. He feeds the morsels of precious life into our mouths open in chick-like anticipation. Those who tasted only the bitterness of death now have had the medicine of immortality set upon their parched tongues. We could never exhaust the beautiful descriptions of this Supper in which Christ feeds us Himself.
We should never exhaust the praise and worship that is due our Lord Christ for His self-disclosure to us in the Supper. Many churches are going to the "standing" communion, at which the communicants do not kneel and get a "drive by" communion. There certainly may be occasions when this is necessary for the sake of time when many thousands are communing such as happens at the opening communion service of the national convention of the LCMS, however, what we do with our bodies certainly gives some clues to what we think about what we are receiving in the sacrament. We ought to kneel in reverence and worship as we have Christ Himself using the hands of our ministers to place in our mouths His blood and to set upon our tongues His body. Those who refuse to kneel know not what they are receiving.
The body takes the shape of the heart. If we kneel in body, it is because there is true reverence in the heart. Who would decline to kneel in worship at the presence of God if He should suddenly appear among us? And yet He has appeared among us in the means of grace. What's the difference? None. He has appeared here by turning the face of His Word and sacraments toward us. Our act of worship confesses what is happening when we receive this body and blood. Christ is turning Himself inside out for us, so why shouldn't we kneel?
Martin Luther
"When we hear the Word of God, we should receive it with special reverence and piety, if not with bended knees, at least with humble hearts. Thus it is good that the Sacrament of the Altar is honored with bended knees; for it is the true body and blood of the Lord, likewise the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise or the divine Word, which should be heard reverently. For God works there, and the Lord shows Himself. In Moses this is sometimes called the face of God. He means that God is present and appears to me. Here it is certainly fitting for me to rise or to fall to my knees. And the appearances and faces of God we experience are equal to, yes, superior to, all the appearances in the law of Moses. When I approach baptism, I must certainly conclude that nothing human is being done there. But the water is the veil or the instrumental means. So is the Word with which God is veiled. Behind these stands our Lord God, and they are the divine faces through which God speaks with us and works in every person individually and personally. He baptizes me. He absolves me. He gives me His body and blood through my tongue and the hand of the minister. For God works salvation in baptism. This is the presence or form and epiphany of God in these instruments. Therefore it is right when with all our hearts, if not our bodies, we bow and revere God when He speaks with us."
Prayer
O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
For Sai Trinh, who was brought through surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor, that she would quickly recover fully
For all those who will commune on Christ's body and blood this night that they would receive in faith and with bodies conformed to that faith
For Ella Holsinger, suffering from Leukemia, that the Lord would be with her granting her healing
Art: JUANES, Juan de The Last Supper 1560s