Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-11
April 2, 2026
It’s easy to say that we trust in Jesus and believe His words – easy, that is, until our trust and beliefs are challenged by what we see right in front of us. It’s easy to say that we follow Jesus and abide in His teaching – easy, that is, until following His teaching leads us into difficult, uncomfortable, or even dangerous situations. It’s easy to say that we believe Jesus’ true body and blood are in the bread and wine when we’re around others who say the same thing, but it gets very hard to say it when faced with those who reject such a thing.
Think about Peter the disciple and how many times, how many times He heard Jesus speak or teach or talk about His coming crucifixion and Peter would argue with Him – argue with God Himself – and for what? Because Peter thought he was right, more right than even God Himself.
Peter’s bold objections to Christ and His teaching are not foreign to us for we do it all the time. It is part of our human nature, that old Adam in us who tries and tries to regain a footing in our lives. It’s that, “Did God really say?” thing which takes what God plainly says and makes it out to be something quite the opposite of what He said.
A blatantly obvious example is 1 Peter 3:21-22 where Peter writes, “Baptism now saves you” and he goes on and explains what it means. Yet, how many people, after looking at that text will, with bold confidence say, “No, baptism does not save.” This isn’t an interpretation issue but a faith issue.
It’s the same thing Peter did. Jesus would say something like, “I am going to suffer and die,” and Peter would come at Him and say, “No, I won’t let that happen,” or Jesus would say, “You will deny me three times,” and Peter will argue with Him and say, “I would never deny you.” In the Maundy Thursday Gospel reading from John, Jesus begins to wash the feet of the disciples, and when He gets to Peter, Peter objects and doesn’t want Jesus to do it, and Jesus responds by saying that he has no place in the kingdom of God if he refuses, to which Peter tells Jesus to wash more than just his feet, but his whole body…Peter, just listen to Jesus’ words; listen to what He says and don’t be so defiant, right?
But the same defiant, argumentative nature still exists in us; we still do it today, and one of the biggest arguments that exists in the church today is over the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And what you must understand is that it’s not just about different interpretations or differences of opinion. But it’s that nature in each one of us to think we know better than God. It’s that old Adam trying to make a name for himself.
What Jesus plainly says in His institution of the Sacrament of the Altar isn’t comfortable, it’s not rational, it’s not popular, it’s not what our friends believe, it’s not what our parents taught us, but it’s still what He says and we can’t change that.
And I want you to think about this. In the Sacrament of the Altar, our Lord promises forgiveness of sins. But on account of the old Adam nature in all of us, for millions of Christians, the comfort of Jesus’ words – FOR YOU, for the forgiveness of your sins – is stripped away. And what does the devil replace simple forgiveness with? That your salvation is, in one way, shape or form, earned by your works, whether it’s an actual work with your hands, a disposition of your heart, a thought in the mind – you have to do something to get it because nothing is free in life. This is all the “God helps those who help themselves” stuff, isn’t it?
In the Book of Acts, Peter goes right back to his arguing with the Lord. God gives him a vision while he’s sleeping, showing him that all the unclean animals are now for his eating. In the vision, God lowers a sheet of all kinds of ‘unclean’ animals, those animals that, in Jewish ceremonial law, were forbidden to eat, and He says to Peter, “kill and eat.” And Peter, what does he do in his dream? He argues.
This is so common in our Christian world today, denying our Lord’s plain, simple words. Denying His words because they don’t make sense; denying His words because they’re not rational; denying His words because they don’t fit with modern scientific theories, denying His words because it’s not what we see with our eyes. “Did God really say…” He created the universe in 6, 24-hour days or should we find reason to doubt what He said? Did He really say that Jonah survived in a big fish for 3 days and 3 nights or should we mythologize it so it’s more comfortable to swallow? Did God really say that He was incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary? Did He really say that Baptism saves, that simple water and His Word brings life and salvation? Did He really say that His body and blood are truly in the bread and wine, or should we make “is” to mean “symbolizes”?
The Lord says, “Take and eat this is my body given for you…Take, drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” and millions say, “It can’t be! It’s too easy, it’s too Roman Catholic, the spiritual and the physical can’t exist in the same plain,” excuse after excuse after excuse to deny His simple words.
Even the way Jesus says it; the way the evangelists record it in the Gospels makes impossible to be anything but what He says. It can’t be merely about some long-past event done purely as a memorial meal where it symbolizes something historic.
But what about those who deny His simple words or even change His words? Well, the Lord got angry with Peter and often rebuked him for his stubborn refusal to believe and his tendency to argue. Does the Lord’s anger not kindle against anyone who says, “Lord, I don’t believe what you say”? Yes, and why? Because they are robbing His children of the comfort and assurance of salvation by His word, “Given and shed for you…” Jesus did not institute His supper just to fill a gap in the last part of an hour-long worship service. He gave it just as He did – bread and wine, body and blood – FOR YOU, for your assurance, for your comfort, for your peace, for your unity in the faith, for your common union with Him and with one another. And when WE scandalize His gift and steal away that comfort, for whatever reason, of course it kindles our Lord’s anger, and because He’s angry, we should be angry too when we see it.
In the Small Catechism, we read Luther’s explanation of the Sacrament of the Altar, and he writes, “But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”
As Lutheran Christians, we are not asked to believe something that Jesus didn’t say. We’re not told by our pastors or church leaders, “Yes, Jesus said this, but you must instead believe something else.” No, but we must believe what Jesus says, without any doubt. And should any one of us have the “Did God really say…” disease, such as Peter the apostle had, there simply must be rebuke. For when you come to this rail, you cannot come with your pride and your stubbornness and your refusal to believe His words, but with humble hearts who abide and listen and believe.
Why? First, because to receive this holy and divine gift of His body and blood without faith in His words is dangerous – deadly, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11. Should you not discern this body and blood, it becomes a judgment against you just as anything our Lord says to which you do not believe. And yes, this puts many in a very bad place because they’re denying His simple words and comingling His words with doubt and human ideas.
Secondly, to deny His words and partake of this gift with ill intent or without faith steals away the comfort of His words and promise, that this sacrament is FOR YOU and for your forgiveness. You don’t eat and drink for Jesus’ sake, but He gives His true body and blood for your sake. There is real forgiveness, tangible, tastable, touchable forgiveness sitting on this altar and yes, it is truly a miracle. You see and experience and ingest a miracle every Sunday, and the Lord wants and encourages and even commands that you do this. This is not a meal you do for Him, to appease His wrath or make Him happy or show your devotion to Jesus, but it is a meal which offers His unending and relentless devotion to you, for you.
This holy supper is a cure for your doubts, your questions, your, “Did God really say…” disease given you by Adam. And it is a meal which also teaches us that, inasmuch as our Lord gives Himself to us by washing our feet and dying on the cross for our forgiveness, that we, in turn, go and wash the feet of our neighbor and forgive our neighbor and by teaching and praying, draw them to a right understanding of His gifts. And forgiveness of sins is what’s this meal, this service, this day is all about. Amen.
