The Last Supper | Holy Week | Thursday

As Holy Week continues, we arrive at Maundy Thursday - the night of the Last Supper. 

The word Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “mandate.” And in this sacred moment around the table, Jesus gives exactly that - new commands for His followers. From loving one another, to remembering Him through the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup. 

What begins as a meal becomes something so much more. 

In this episode, we slow down and sit at the table with Jesus and His disciples - taking in the weight of His words, the depth of His love, and the reality of what was about to unfold. This is the moment where the tone of Holy Week begins to shift…where celebration gives way to sacrifice.

Because the bread would soon be His body - broken.
And the cup would soon be His blood - poured out. 

We reflect on the significance of communion, the beauty of Jesus’ command to love, and the sobering truth that the cross was no longer distant - it was imminent. 

As we continue this journey, may we not rush past this table - but truly sit, remember, and receive.

Let’s keep walking.

Song Credit:
This episode includes a brief acoustic portion of “Love Ran Red”  written and performed by Chris Tomlin. Used here for devotional and illustrative purposes.

Sermons on the Side Bible Readings

Connect with us on our FACEBOOK page

Connect with us on INSTAGRAM @sermons_on_the_side_podcast

Check out our website HERE

Love the show? If you’re enjoying the stories, laughs, and conversations we share here, we’d be so grateful if you’d consider “buying us a cup of coffee” to help keep things brewing. It’s a simple way to show your support and keep the podcast going strong!

Here’s the link: buymeacoffee.com/sermonsontheside

Thank you for being part of the journey with us!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to Holy Week with Sermons on the Side.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

This week, we're doing something a little bit different.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Each day, Monday through Friday, we're walking through Holy Week together, slowing down to follow the final days of Jesus' life, leading up to the cross and ultimately the resurrection.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

From the celebration of Palm Sunday to the quiet weight of the upper room to the sorrow of Good Friday.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

We want to sit in each moment and see what it reveals about who Jesus is and what it means for us right here, right now.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

So whether you're listening in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment alone, our hope is simple. That this week wouldn't just be something you remember, but something you experience. So let's step into today's part of the story.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Brad, it's good to see you, brother.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Yes, sir. You too, man. Maundi Thursday. Monday Ma. I always Mondi Thursday. Yeah, I know, but I always say Maundi Thursday.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Just because I don't know. It's just funny. There you go. The word Maundy, M-A-U-N-D-Y. I was gonna ask you about that. Is actually the definition of it, it's it's kind of a derivative of the word mandate.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Because uh when Jesus during uh the Last Supper, which is what we observe on Thursday of Holy Week, the the last time Jesus had a meal with his disciples, and he instituted what we know as communion or the Lord's Supper or the sacrament of the Eucharist. And so Jesus instituted all of that that we as believers have been engaging in and observing those uh worship moments for thousands of years now. And he instituted all of that on Thursday of Holy Week when he had the last uh Passover Supper with his disciples. Wow and uh during that time he put out some mandates for them. He they they didn't just share a meal, he actually washed their feet. That was a very important moment, and he uh instructed them to the disciples, he said, This is the way you should serve and wash each other's feet in the same way. So he he put that mandate out there, he put a mandate out in during this conversation around the table that we should love one another, even as Jesus had loved the disciples and all the love he expressed and showed and lived for them. So it was these mandates that he said this is what being a follower of me and being a part of this kingdom that I'm sorry, this is what it looks like. And uh so that's what the word Monday Maundi means.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Well, so in some capacity, every day after that is a Monday day, right? So does that make does that make next Monday? Mondi Maundi.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

No, you had to go that that's too cool. That is too cool. Oh boy, but you know what, honestly, and we're chuckling about it, but these are the things, these are some of the things that are so special about Holy Week. Because on every day there's something for us to consider about how Jesus instituted this wonderful world-changing movement that we call the Christian faith and what it really means to follow Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Yeah, and not just during Holy Week, but in every week of the entire year. Indeed.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Oh, well said. Let the things that we're considering this week just inform and give us fuel for our lives and our faith journeys 52 weeks out of the year, right? Oh, that's good stuff. But since we are on the Thursday of Holy Week, we wanted our time together today to be about the Last Supper as it's been known, or the Lord's Supper. So this moment that Jesus had with his disciples, it was as they were observing the annual event that Jewish people always did every year at the same time. It was called the Passover meal. And some had Jesus had planned for this to be a very different Passover than what the guys were used to. Right. And during the meal, he took the bread and he took the wine they were drinking, and he made some statements that probably indicated to them, woe. This is not like other Passovers. We find this in Luke chapter 22. It says Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So they ate bread, and he said these very interesting things. He said, Think of this bread like my body, which is broken for you. What does that mean? Well, not not long from after this meal, Jesus would be crucified. And then eventually they would understand he was foretelling his death. And then the the scripture tells us, and after supper, he took another cup of wine and said, This cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice to you. So he's saying, The bread and the wine are not just part of the meal anymore. I want you to know from henceforth, even forever, starting tonight, moving forward, you're going to gather occasionally for a meal, and you're going to remember my body broken and my blood spilled out, poured out, given for you. And of course, once the crucifixion took place and the disciples began to understand really what Jesus was saying, they realized he was instituting this wonderful thing that we call communion, or some of those other terms that other that through the years Christians have used to describe the body and the blood, the bread and the cup. And so what we were hoping to do here today in our episode was to encourage all our listeners to remember Jesus' broken body and his blood poured out for us. And the next time that you're gathering with a few believers, whether it's a church or in some sort of small group, and you take a communion together, remember that on Holy Week, it is really almost the best time of the year to do it as such a vivid reminder of what Jesus did for us. His body was broken and his blood was poured out. So during our prayer time today, I would like us to turn our hearts and our minds and imagine that night where Jesus had the Last Supper with His disciples. And let's consider his broken body and his spilled out blood. And I would like us to pray together. And I'd like, if you would, wherever you are, if you're able, to repeat this prayer after me, phrase by phrase. So you'll hear me speak out part of the prayer, and then you'll hear Brad responding with a repeat after me thing. So I'd ask you to join Brad in just speaking these words out to the Lord as we remember the night he shared his last meal with the disciples. Let's pray together.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Jesus, your body was broken. So that we could be made whole. So that we could be made whole. Jesus, your blood was poured out. Jesus, your blood was poured out. And it washes us clean. And it washes us clean from all our sins. From all our sins. The power of sin and shame are gone. The power of sin and shame are gone. Because of your body broken. Because of your body broken. And your blood poured out. And your blood poured out. So now we turn to you. So now we turn to you. And we pray. And we pray. Make us whole. Make us whole and cleanse us from our sins. And cleanse us from our sins. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

There's a place where mercy raints and never dies. There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and awesome. I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down at the cross, at the cross, as life, I'm in all you. I'm in all of you. Where you sin was do I ad you ad you're supposed for sending our swift and comes where you have symbols to high? I love to you. I love to you, Jesus. Here on holy ground. Here I bow down. Here I bow down. Arms open wide. You saved my life.