Maundy Thursday Communion Service
Our Maundy Thursday Communion Service continues our series on words from the cross and is based on John 19: 28-37. The service is designed to be used in conjunction with the order of service email earlier but also available to download here.
Call to Worship
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21).
Opening song
Here is love vast as the ocean
Opening Prayer & Confession
Loving God, we give thanks for the wonder of your love;
on this holy evening may we remember that beyond brokenness there is forgiveness incomprehensible, beyond betrayal there is grace eternal, beyond sin there is love inexhaustible, beyond death there is life unimaginable,; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord God, we have sinned against you and against one another. Have mercy on us according to your love. Wash us and cleanse us from our sin. Renew a right spirit within us and restore to us the joy of your saving presence, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
May God our Father forgive us our sins, and bring us to the fellowship of his table with his saints forever. Amen.
Reading John 19: 28-37 (WEBBE)
28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty!” 29Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 Therefore the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him; 33 but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. 36 For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.” 37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.”
Maundy Thursday Reflection
Watch the Maundy Thursday Communion Service in its entirety here.
WORDS FROM THE CROSS (4) `It is finished’
Have you heard of the unfinished symphony? It was written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1822, but he died six years later with it unfinished. Have you ever started something but never finished it? When I was a child I tried to make a toy bobsleigh using a plastic carton. It was a Blue Peter idea. I cut up a plastic container to the right dimensions and painted it bright blue and waited for it to dry. However, after a couple of days it still wasn’t dry. I had presumably used the wrong kind of paint. My Mum wanted her table back and so it was never finished.
During this COVID-19 pandemic so much is unfinished. There is the unfinished academic year, with unfinished GCSE and A level exams. Then there is the unfinished work waiting for people to return. There are the family get together that haven’t taken place because of the lockdown – unfinished. There is the lack of closure for grieving families because they couldn’t attend their loved ones funeral – unfinished. The heart transplant patients that cannot have surgery and the cancer patients that can’t start treatment – unfinished. There is so much that is unfinished because of the coronavirus.
However, one thing that is definitely finished is Jesus’ work of salvation on the cross. `It is finished’ he said. In our series over Lent we have been looking at words from the cross. The words for this Maundy Thursday are “It is finished.”
In Mathew, Mark and Luke’s gospels they all have Jesus crying out in a loud voice before he died (Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46). John has Jesus saying these words, “It is finished.” What did Jesus mean by this? Imagine you are a football fan and your team has won the league or the cup. You’d shout in victory. That’s what Jesus did on the cross, he cried out a victory cry for heaven and earth to hear.
John wrote these words of Jesus in the Greek perfect tense, which means Jesus was saying, “It is finished and will always be finished.” What had Jesus finished? He had completed the Law and fulfilled it – the ceremonial law, the Messianic prophecies but most of all the atonement. John tells us that they used a hyssop plant to offer Jesus a drink. It was also a hyssop plant they used to smear the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts at the Passover (Ex. 12:22). Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb.
`It is finished’ was put another way by Paul: “God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). On the cross Jesus was separated from God so that we wouldn’t have to be, so that we would never know the horror of eternal punishment but have eternal life.
Hold your hands out in front of you. Because Jesus took the punishment for our sins, we come to him empty-handed. We come just as we are. We then receive from Jesus our Saviour the certainty that because `it is finished’ will can now enjoy friendship with God for eternity. “It is finished and will always be finished.” We have eternal life and will always have eternal life. And that’s what we celebrate as we gather at the Lord’s Table.
Prayer
Lord of eternity, we thank you for the finished work of Jesus our Saviour. May these times of difficulty around the world cause people to seek you. We pray that they may discover the truth and glory of your finished work; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pre-communion song
Behold the lamb who bears our sins away
Communion
So we share in this bread of life, and we drink of His sacrifice, As a sign of our bonds of peace around the table of the King. The body of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, torn for you: eat and remember The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life, paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this bread of life, and we drink of His sacrifice, As a sign of our bonds of love around the table of the King. The blood that cleanses every stain of sin shed for you: drink and remember He drained death’s cup that all may enter in to receive the life of God.
So we share in this bread of life, and we drink of His sacrifice, As a sign of our bonds of grace around the table of the King. And so with thankfulness and faith we rise to respond and to remember Our call to follow in the steps of Christ as His body here on earth. As we share in His suffering we proclaim: Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven around the table of the King.
Eucharistic Prayer
The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Holy and gracious God, we give you thanks and praise that in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin; who set his face resolutely towards Jerusalem to be lifted high upon the cross, that he might draw all people to himself.
When the hour of his glory came, and loving his own to the end, he sat with them at supper, took bread and, after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, `Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, `Drink this, all of you; this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
Dying you destroyed our death.
Rising you restored our life.
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
In obedience to his command we recall his suffering and death, his resurrection and ascension, and we look for his coming in glory. Send now your Holy Spirit that these gifts of bread and wine may be for us the body and blood of Christ. In union with Christ’s offering for us, we offer ourselves in love. Unite us in love and peace with all your people until we are brought into your eternal and glorious presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory are yours, almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.
Sharing of the bread and wine.
Receive this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and feed on the Lamb of God with reverence and faith.
The body of Christ broken for you.
The blood of Christ shed for you.
Prayer after Communion
Merciful God, you have called us to your table and fed us with the bread of life. Draw us and all people to serve your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Song after communion
Closing prayer
May Christ, who accepted the cup of sacrifice in obedience to the Father’s will, keep you steadfast as you walk with him the way of the cross. Amen.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.