Sermon for Maundy Thursday, April 17, 2025
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Psalm 51:10-13 10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God. Renew an unwavering spirit within me. 11Do not cast me from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Sustain me with a willing spirit. 13I will teach rebels your ways, and sinners will turn to you.” (EHV)
Renewed through the Gospel.
Dear fellow redeemed,
In many ways, Maundy Thursday always seems like a somewhat somber occasion. We are reminded of so many harsh and tragic things that would soon happen in the last days of Jesus’ earthly life, and knowing Jesus as our great Friend, that feels somewhat gloomy. On top of that, we have been reminded throughout the season of Lent that it is because of us and our sins that Jesus had to face the awful pain of the abuse and crucifixion in our place.
It might surprise us, then, to be reminded that for Jesus, this night was a high point of His mission. As Jesus reclined at the table for the supper in that upper room, He said to His disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:15-16) It kind of blows my mind that Jesus eagerly desired to eat that last meal. He eagerly desired the service and sacrifice He would give to rescue you and me. Yes, maybe there is more going on there than just eating a meal.
In fact, in the progress of that evening, Jesus was answering David’s prayer in our text: “Create in me a pure heart, O God. Renew an unwavering spirit within me.” Whether we realize it or not, David prayed to be Renewed through the Gospel. Already way back a thousand years before Jesus entered our world or any of the New Testament was written, David understood that he couldn’t fix the damage sin had done in his whole being. Only God could restore righteousness in David.
There are lots of religions and lots of faithful people who imagine that they can do something to make themselves righteous before God, but as we have been shown throughout this Lenten season, our corruption was total, our depravity too deep for us to repair. In his letter to the Roman congregation, St. Paul was moved to summarize several of the prophets concerning the condition of man: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who searches for God. They all turned away; together they became useless. There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12) Not one person among the billions who have lived on this earth, or yet will, is able to make himself holy. Our only hope comes from above, from the very source of all that is good, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
Several hundred years after David wrote this psalm, the Lord would speak through His prophet, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.” (Ezekiel 36:26) The message is consistent throughout the Bible. It is always telling us how God Himself would remedy our fallen situation. Though we could never begin to approach God in His holiness, God came down to earth to do for us what needed to be done to save sinners, including you and me.
Now, David used a verb form here that is only used for God’s creating work in making something new out of nothing. It is the word used when the book of Genesis tells us, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) David pleaded, “Create in me a pure heart, O God.” Using the part for the whole, David pleads for God to make him newly holy and wholly righteous. It is a plea for a complete transformation—a recreation to holiness anew. Through Jesus, God makes us, who have nothing good in us, a new creation. Paul wrote, “So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The question for us, this evening, is “How is this transformation accomplished?” In answer, we should understand David’s second plea, “Do not cast me from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” Two points I need to make. First point: God had a plan in place from the beginning to rescue us from condemnation. Yet, that plan doesn’t follow our impatient timeline. Before Adam and Eve ever sinned, God knew His plan would have to be accomplished for anyone to have fellowship with Him. God didn’t ordain sin, but He knew we would. Still, He desires to have a fellowship of faith, so He had to create mankind with the ability to fail—to sin against God and fall into death, with the provision that through repentance and faith, peace between God and people would be restored.
Therefore, God doesn’t immediately destroy sinners. Rather, as Peter explained, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness. Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) God was patient throughout all the ages of history. His meticulous plans were accomplished exactly as God intended so that His Son, Jesus, would regain righteousness for mankind, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, righteousness is given to us as we are Renewed through the Gospel.
Through the first half of the Church year, our focus is directed mainly on Jesus coming into the world and all He did to accomplish everlasting peace between God and His people. During the second half of the Church year, beginning after the Easter season, the focus tends more toward the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That brings us to my second point of how our transformation from sinner to saint comes about. It is through the Spirit’s work in us that we are justified by faith through the gift of the Spirit in the Gospel. Justification always comes with sanctification, and our sanctification is an ongoing process.
After he was brought to repentance, David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Sustain me with a willing spirit.” We are restored in the joy of salvation when the Lord pours out on us all the Good News of what Jesus did for you and me and everyone. It comes to us through the proclamation of the Gospel and the absolution by which (through His messengers) God Himself announces the forgiveness of all our sins so that we are Renewed through the Gospel.
We are Renewed through the Gospel by the water and Word applied to us in Baptism through which God rescues us from death and restores life to formerly lost souls. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote to Titus,
When the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, he saved us —not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)
Even though we are granted new life and membership in God’s eternal kingdom, He doesn’t usually immediately take us out of this world to heaven. He leaves us in this world to serve the Lord for His ongoing purpose which is to bring life and salvation to all people who will hear, repent, and believe. How we all fit in that plan is as varied as people are varied. However, because we live in a sin-damaged world, we need continual sanctification as long as we remain in this hostile, foreign place. Yes, heaven is our home, but until we get there, we need our Lord’s ongoing care—which brings us to Maundy Thursday.
As I said, in the first half of the Church year, we focus on Jesus’ life on earth. Tomorrow, we will concentrate on His sacrifice and death to pay for our sins. On Sunday, we will celebrate Jesus’ glorious victory over sin, death, the devil, and the grave. Tonight, we rejoice, because Jesus was eager to set in place another way for Him to keep us set apart from the world and purified by His blood.
I suspect that as I read our sermon text, those words seemed quite familiar to you. That familiarity comes because it is so often our prayer after we have received in the sermon the Gospel of what Jesus has done to save us. It is often our prayer just before we enter the communion portion of the liturgy. There, we too pray for God to create new hearts in us and to sustain us along our way. Jesus was eager to eat that last Passover meal, because He was transforming that Old Testament memorial meal into a new celebration that brings forgiveness and peace to us personally, again and again and again.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples. He said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” (Matthew 26:26-28) As the Passover had so long predicted, Jesus was going to the cross to save us by His death. In the Lord’s Supper, we eat His flesh in the bread just as the Israelites in Egypt ate the flesh of the Lamb whose blood kept them safe from the angel of death. In the consecrated wine, we drink Jesus’ blood so that it sprinkles our souls like the lamb’s blood marked the doorposts of Israel protecting those inside the house as God’s chosen people.
My friends, our dear Savior invites us to eat and drink His body and blood often, because He knows we are bombarded daily by the temptations of the devil, the world, and our own weak flesh. Jesus invites and commands us to come to Him for this healing medicine because it brings in physical form the Gospel of Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners. Our Lord encourages us to come to Him because He knows we cannot sustain ourselves without His help and power. Thus, by the Holy Spirit working in us through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, our eternal lives are kept secure, as by the Lord’s hand and command, we are again and again Renewed through the Gospel.
When King David prayed this prayer in faith, he recognized that God calls for His beloved people to share His mercy with others in this troubled world. Like David, as sinners restored and renewed by faith, we too want to serve the Savior who rescued us from sin and eternal condemnation by proclaiming the joy of our salvation to others, so that they learn of Jesus for their forgiveness and peace.
Eager to see all his people enjoy the grace of God, David declared, “I will teach rebels your ways, and sinners will turn to you.” David confidently reminds us that there is only one way that anyone we love will enter heaven, and that is by hearing the Gospel of our God, “because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16) This is how we can bring true joy and everlasting peace to those around us, for through the proclamation of the Gospel and right administration of the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit grants forgiveness and salvation to many more sinners who are made saints as they are Renewed through the Gospel. Amen.
God will fully supply your every need, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever! Amen.