Does anybody remember a television show from the 1980’s called The A-Team? It was a show about a “crack commando unit who was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground ..., still wanted by the government, They survived as soldiers of fortune. (it was said) If you have a problem, If no one else can help and if you can find them maybe you can hire the A-team”.
The leader of the A-Team was Lieutenant Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith. In every episode Hannibal came up with an elaborate plan that often-involved extravagant disguises, massive amounts of explosives, and at least one car and/or helicopter chase. Yet somehow at the end of every episode the family farm was saved from the greedy land developer, the water supply was protected from industrial pollution, and the drug cartel shipment sank to the bottom of the sea. Does anybody remember what Hannibal would say at the end of every episode? “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Hannibal would have loved Holy Thursday. As we are about to see in Luke 22:7-20, the Lord’s Supper is: masterfully Planned, Meticulously Prepared, and Mercifully Provided.
In verse 7 saint Luke reminds us how the Lord’s Supper is masterfully planned. There he writes, “7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” Saint Luke is careful to point out that the setting in which the Lord’s Supper takes place is the Passover. The Passover, as you may know, is a 3,000-year-old celebration during which the Jewish people remember how they were set free from slavery in Egypt and delivered from death at the hands of Pharaoh. The central figure of this celebration is the Passover lamb. During the Passover, the Jewish people are reminded that an innocent lamb was sacrificed, and its blood was painted on the doorframes of their house, so that when the angel of death came to Egypt it would see the blood of the lamb that covered the house and would pass over the people inside.
As we prepare to take the Lord’s Supper, saint Luke wants us to keep the Passover in mind. He wants us to think about a people enslaved and living under the fear of death. He wants us to be thinking about the innocent lamb that was slaughtered. He wants us to be thinking about how those people who were set free and delivered because the blood of that innocent lamb was shed for them and covered them. As we prepare to take the Lord’s Supper saint Luke wants us to think about the Passover lamb and then recall the words of John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[1] ‘Look the Lamb of God who sets us free from our slavery to sin and delivers us from eternal death. The Lord’s Supper is not something Jesus came up with as He ate dinner with His friends on Thursday night. The Lord’s Supper is a meal that has been masterfully planned.
At the time Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper over a thousand years of planning had gone into it. Therefore, it ought not surprise us that Jesus ensured that the Lord’s Supper was meticulously prepared. In verses 10-12 Luke tells us Jesus instructed Peter and John, “10… As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” I hope I am not projecting any of my behaviors on Jesus when I say this but Jesus’ attention to detail here is a thing of beauty. Jesus didn’t tell Peter and John to go stalk a random stranger, He told them to follow a guy carrying a jar of water. That in and of itself was an unusual thing, normally women carried the water. A man carrying a jug of water would stand out in a crowd. I am not saying this man the only man in all of Jerusalem carrying a jug of water but there would be very little confusion for Peter and John which specific man they were to follow. Jesus tells Peter and John the water jug carrying man will lead them to a specific house, where a specific room has been reserved and specifically furnished for Jesus and His disciples to celebrate the Passover Supper. Finally, Jesus tells Peter and John to make preparations for the Passover meal, which required a specific meat, specific bread, and specific herbs.
Jesus was meticulous in his preparations. Should we not be meticulous in ours? This is no mere snack to be mindlessly consumed. This is a sacrament that deserves the meticulous preparation of our selves. Before we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we will want to have more than a vague understanding of what this meal is. We will want to know that in with and under the bread and the wine of this supper is the very body and blood of our Savior Jesus. Recognizing that the Lord’s Supper is so much more than a memorial meal, we will want to determine whether or not we worthy to come to the table of such a sacred supper. To make that determination we will want to stand before the mirror of God’s Holy Law and see what sort of reflection is revealed in that mirror. As we stand before that mirror, we will want to think about the specific thoughts we think, the specific words we speak, and the specific things that we do. It is easy to have a superficial view of yourself as someone who is not that bad, but when we are meticulous in our personal preparations, we are compelled to confess that we are not and do not; we are not worthy to come to his table and we do not deserve to partake of the Lord’s Supper. We may not like it, but it is important for us to be as meticulous about our personal preparations for this Supper as Jesus was with His.
Jesus was meticulous in His preparations, not because He suffered from OCD but because He was eager to provide mercy to His followers. In verses 19-20 saint Luke writes, “19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” I know you have heard those words so often that it is likely you have them memorized, but try to imagine what it would be like to hear them for the first time. Try to imagine you are one of Jesus’ followers sitting at the table and you hear Jesus say the words “for you”. Try to imagine you were the one Jesus rebuked saying, “Get behind me Satan”, or that you struggled to believe things you could not see, or that you were filled with so much arrogance that you believed you deserved a better place in heaven then others, or that before you knew Jesus you were a cheating man or a loose woman. Try to imagine you were one of the disciples sitting at the table with Jesus; try to imagine what it would have been like to hear Jesus talking about His body being broken and His blood being poured out… “for you”.
I don’t know what sort of baggage you have brought with you to church tonight. I don’t know what sin eats away at you, what guilt keeps you up at night, what shame threatens you with despair. I don’t know what sort of lies Satan has been telling you about how your sins are unforgiveable, or your guilt is unpardonable, or your shame is inexcusable. I don’t know what sort of baggage you have brought with you to church tonight, but as you come with empty hands and heads bowed low to stand before the sacrament that is the Lord Supper, I do know what Jesus says to you. He says that His body was broken, and His blood was poured out … “for you”.
Come Friends, the Lord’s Supper has been masterfully Planned, Meticulously Prepared and is Mercifully Provided. Amen.
[1] John 1:29