This is a copy of my talk given at Saint Luke’s and Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Maundy Thursday 17 April 2025. The Bible readings were Exodus 12:1-14 & John 13:1-17.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.

So, we find ourselves, once again, on this Maundy Thursday, thinking more deeply about what took place at ‘The Last Supper.’ A meal instituted by Jesus on the most sacred of all Jewish festivals. The Passover commemorates that, within God’s plans and purposes, his chosen people will be delivered from bondage and freed to live in the Promised Land.  And, because The Passover is a meal of commemoration, Jewish people, generation after generation, eat the same meal their forefathers ate.

Before the feast is eaten, a young child asks the traditional question: Father, what does this mean? The patriarch of the family then begins to tell the story of the night the Angel of the Lord ‘passed over’ the Israelite houses – where the blood of a lamb had been sprinkled on the door posts and lintel – and spared the lives of their first born children. He also tells the history of the Exodus and the glorious liberation of their ancestors – their ‘salvation’ history.

But the Hebrew word Pesach doesn’t mean “to pass by”—it means to hover over or protect. God didn’t avoid those homes, He hovered over them like a shield. He stood guard as death swept through Egypt. Passover isn’t about avoidance – it’s about presence. A God who draws near to protect those marked by His covenant.

And in that upper room, Jesus, God in the flesh being present with the disciples, with those two simple elements of bread and wine, explained the deeper meaning of the festival and, in doing so, related the Passover meal, and its historic, symbolic and spiritual significance, with his own journey to the cross and so the Passover, for the Christian, became a meal of remembrance and thanksgiving. A reminder of God’s presence with us.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus memorialises his death through bread and wine – not his life, or his miracles, nor his teaching, but his death. Jesus wants us to remember not only how he died, but also why he died.

It’s no coincidence that Judaism and Christianity overlap in significant and meaningful ways. Both Passover and Easter share the same core truth – that God in His mercy will deliver His people by the blood of the Lamb.  And despite these parallels we recognise Jesus as Messiah and the Jews don’t – yet!.

In Luke’s account of the Last Supper, ch22, he writes that the disciples began to argue about who would be the greatest. It was an ongoing debate wasn’t it?  Who would sit at Jesus’ right hand, left hand …

Jesus knew there was a competitive spirit in the hearts of the disciples but it was through his actions, rather than his words, that Jesus gave them an unforgettable lesson in humility as he chose to put on a towel, pick up a basin of water and wash their feet and, in doing so, rebuked their self-centredness, selfishness and pride.

Peter, as ever, was the one who dared speak out his innermost thoughts.  I’m sure the other disciples felt the same way but Peter, with that impetuous nature of his, was always able to say what others didn’t dare, John 13:8, You shall never wash my feet. But, after a rebuke from the Lord, Peter responds, OK, you can wash me but not just my feet, my hands and my head as well.

The King of heaven kneels and washes and anoints the feet of his friends and betrayer and, in doing this, Jesus demonstrates his willingness to exercise his power and authority in absolute submission and service to those he loves.

I’m sure the argument about who would be the greatest ended there and then! It was C.S.Lewis who said that: Humility is not thinking mainly of yourself: it is simply, not thinking about yourself at all.

A little later, we will share bread and wine together, to remember all that Jesus said we should do in that Upper Room. The ultimate reminder of servanthood, surrender and sacrifice that empowers us to: live and work to his praise and glory. I don’t know about you, but I find it a constant struggle to do this.  

Because, my heart isn’t big enough to forgive those who hurt me. My heart isn’t big enough to forgive those who cause me grief and upset. My heart isn’t big enough to absorb all the pain around me in this church, community, nation, world …

I need something extra to help me to cope with the rigours of life.  I need something extra that puts my arrogance to one side. I need something extra that puts my life into its true perspective.  Remembering the dying love of Jesus on the cross does all that for me.

The remembrance of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood provides an opportunity for my personal healing: spiritually, emotionally and physically.

Remembering the dying love of Jesus on the cross is, for me, that something extra which enables me to live and work to his praise and glory.

And it’s through our participation in the Lord’s Supper, of eating bread and drinking wine, that the Holy Spirit nourishes our souls and bodies and we are formed and empowered to be like him: not only to follow Jesus’ example of humble service one to another; but, more importantly, to take up our own cross as we commit ourselves to that lonely road which may lead each one of us to pay the ultimate price for the sake of love.

Jesus delivers us from sin and death, in order that we, in turn, may share that deliverance with others.

Jesus loves us enough to sacrifice his life for us, in order that we might love others to the point of sacrificing our lives for them.

And so, as we share communion together this evening, may we remember that:

  • Communion is a time to remember that it was for our sins that such terrible suffering was necessary.
  • Communion changes and shapes us both individually and corporately.
  • Communion encourages us to look inward, to examine ourselves and to look outward, so that we become the Body of Christ in the world.
  • Communion means taking on Jesus’ life of service and of love for others.
  • Communion means receiving the freedom of the new covenant that God gives us and then sharing that life with others.
  • Communion is at the very heart and centre of the church’s life and mission and compels the church into being mission orientated.
  • Communion makes the church, Church.
  • Communion exists for the purpose of remembering the cross and remembering how much Jesus loved each one of us.
  • Communion reminds us that God is present with us in our world.

In the upper room, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment that they should love one another, and he prayed that they might be one and each one of us should pray that for our churches here in the Anglican Church of Paphos and for all Christian churches in the Paphos region.

Jesus gave his disciples an everlasting sign of his own love in bread and wine and he consecrated himself to be the High Priest of the New Covenant.

May each one of us, on this most special of days/evenings, dedicate ourselves afresh to His service as stewards of the mysteries of God and ministers of His grace.

A Maundy Thursday Prayer

Lord God,
You sent your Son into the world,
And before his hour had come,
He washed his disciples’ feet.

You had given all things into his hands.
He had come from you, and was going to you,
And what did he do?
He knelt down on the floor,
And washed his friends’ feet.

He was their teacher and their Lord,
Yet he washed their feet.
Lord God, help us learn from his example;
Help us to do as he has done for us.

The world will know we are his disciples
If we love one another.
Strengthen our hands and our wills for love
And for service.

Keep before our eyes the image of your Son,
Who, being God, became a Servant for our sake.
All glory be to him who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and forever.
Amen.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.