Power in Blood

Maunday (commandment) Thursday is the night in which we celebrate and remember the night Jesus was betrayed but first when he sat with his disciples during his Seder meal and afterwards broke bread and shared a cup of wine and gave the disciple new commandments, that we partake of this meal often in remembrance of him  and to love one another just as Jesus has loved us.  


While the gospel for the evening is John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, I actually preached on the second lesson 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 but more about the overall meaning of the day.


Enjoy

The body of Christ given to you!  The blood of Christ shed for you!

Those words or something similar are spoken to you each week as you receive communion.  And they remind us as we receive the bread and wine the words that are recalled just a few minutes before, the words Jesus said “This is my body given for you, eat of it in remembrance of me.  This is my blood shed for you, drink of it in remembrance of me.” 

Each week we receive Christ’s body and blood, the ultimate sacrifice. 

And there is power in blood.  Blood means life.  Through blood new life is given in birth and life is saved through transfusions.  A small amount of blood contains our DNA, can be tested for a variety of diseases, and can tell someone about our diet or possible drug use.  There is power in blood.

And yet blood is unclean.  We avoid touching any but our own for fear of diseases including hepatitis and AIDS.  We often don’t want to know about our own blood because we associate the sight of it with pain.  Some people even faint at the sight of blood. Many become squeamish when there is too much of it in movies, especially ones like Saving Private Ryan or The Passion of Christ. 

And yet Jesus gave us his blood!

Blood!  The blood of a lamb had kept the Israelite’s alive during the Passover.  And now here the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God was given to the disciples during the Passover, in order to keep them from death. And it is still given to us, to keep us from death.  Through the blood of the lamb, God saved the Israelites from physical death and through the blood of the Lamb of God, God saves us from spiritual death, from eternal death. 

And when we drink the blood of the Lamb of God we are doing something radical.  The early Christians were persecuted not because they were worshiping Jesus, not because there was a hope and joy in them that could not be contained, but because they were thought to be cannibals.  Rumors spread about this group of people who were eating the body and drinking the blood of the man they worshiped.  

And we today are still participating in this metaphorical cannibalism.  Jesus is in, with, and under the bread and wine of communion.  We are drinking Jesus’ blood, while the wine still remains wine, and receiving new life through Jesus’ gift of life and in doing so we are asking for mercy.  “Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”

Lord have mercy upon us, through your life giving blood.