Body Given, Blood Shed

Body Given, Blood Shed

Holy (Maundy) Thursday – 4/2/2026

1 Corinthians 11:23–32

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this evening is our Epistle lesson from the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the eleventh chapter with special emphasis on verses twenty-three through twenty-six which read as follows:

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Tonight is a night of gifts. That may not be the first thing we think of when we think of Maundy Thursday. Usually our minds go to the Upper Room, to Judas slipping away into the darkness, to Peter’s coming denial, to the agony in Gethsemane. Everything is moving rapidly toward the cross.

But here, before Good Friday arrives in full, before the nails and the spear and the cry of dereliction, our Lord Jesus Christ gives gifts to His people. More to the point, He takes time to give them on the night when He was betrayed.

He gives them not to worthy men, not to disciples who had proven themselves especially courageous or faithful, but to weak men, sinful men, frightened men. He gives them to men who are about to fail Him. He even gives them to weak men such as us.

Tonight, we hear of the gift that is His incarnation and death, the gift that is His Supper, and the gift that is His Church. All of it comes from Christ. All of it is given in His gracious love. All of it is for sinners.

The Gift of the Lord’s Incarnation

Before the Lord gives His Supper, He first gave Himself. Maundy Thursday cannot be separated from this truth. This night does not stand on its own. It is tied to the cross. It is tied to the sacrifice for sins. It is tied to the perfect Lamb. This is what we heard in Exodus chapter twelve. The people of Israel were still in bondage in Egypt. Death was coming upon the land. And the Lord provided a way of rescue. A lamb was taken and slain. Its blood was put on the doorposts. And where the blood was, the judgement of God passed over. In this way, the Lord was teaching Israel how He saves.

He saves by sacrifice, by blood, through a sacrificial lamb. And now, in the fullness of time, the true Lamb has come. The eternal Son of God has taken on flesh. He has not remained far away from us. He has not loved us from a distance. He has entered into our misery. He has taken our nature upon Himself. He has walked among sinners. He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. He has set His face toward Jerusalem.

Why? Because love does not remain abstract. Love acts. Love gives. Love suffers. And the love of Christ is not merely the love of a teacher giving instruction. It is not merely the love of an exemplar showing humility. It is the love of a Savior giving Himself over to death for the ungodly. The Church has always confessed that Christ is not only our example, but our even more substitute. He is the Passover Lamb. He is the One whose blood marks His people. He is the One who stands between us and judgment. He is the One who dies so that death passes over us.

Tonight, we must not sentimentalize the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus is not soft or vague or merely emotional. The love of Jesus is bloody. It is costly. It is concrete. It is the holy love of the Son of God who would rather die than lose you to sin and death.

The Gift of the Lord’s Supper

And now, from that coming death, Jesus gives a second gift: His Holy Supper. Saint Paul says: “The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread…” Again, notice the setting: the night when He was betrayed. On that night He gave His Church a Sacrament that does not depend on the worthiness of man, but on the promise of God. He took bread. He gave thanks. He broke it. And He said: “This is My body, which is for you.” He took the cup and said: “This cup is the new testament in My blood.” This is not symbolic language. This is not mere metaphor. This is not Jesus saying, “This represents My body,” or “This stands for My blood.” He says what He means, and He means what He says: “This is My body.” “This is My blood.”

Because it is His true body and blood, this gift is not empty. It is not merely a memorial.

Detail of the Last Supper from The Reformation Altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger (1547).

It is not simply an occasion for us to remember Jesus inwardly. It is Jesus actually giving what He says He gives. That is what makes the Sacrament so precious. Here Christ does not merely tell you that He loves you. Here He delivers that love to you in a way you can receive with your mouth. He attaches His promise and work to earthly things, bread and wine, so that doubting sinners may have certainty. He does not leave you to speculate. He does not tell you to climb up into heaven and search your feelings for His presence. He puts His gift of grace and salvation into your mouth and says, “This is for you.” The Supper is the Gospel made edible.

This Supper means what it means because it is inseparably connected to the atonement.

If Jesus had not gone to the cross, this Supper would mean nothing. If His body were not truly given into death, this sacrament would be empty. If His blood were not truly shed for the forgiveness of sins, then this cup would be only wine and nothing more. But the Lamb of God went forth to be sacrificed, so this meal is full of salvation. The body given in the Supper is the same body given into death on the cross. The blood given in the Supper is the same blood shed for the forgiveness of sins.

The Altar and Calvary

This is not a new sacrifice. Christ is not sacrificed again and again. His sacrifice was once for all. But the fruits of that once-for-all sacrifice are distributed here. The forgiveness won there is delivered here. This is why the Sacrament is such a profound comfort to sinners.

You do not come to it to offer something to God. You come here to receive what Christ has offered for you. You do not come here to prove your devotion. You come here because your sins are many and His mercy is more. You do not come here because you are strong. You come here because He is gracious.

This is why Saint Paul speaks so seriously about it. This is not ordinary bread and wine. This is not a casual religious snack. This is not something to treat lightly, thoughtlessly, or irreverently.

Paul says: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” And again: “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

Why such seriousness? Because this gift is holy. Because this gift is one of great love. And true love does not play games with holy things.

The Gift of Love That Is the Christian Congregation

There is one more gift on this night that we must not overlook: the Christian congregation herself. The Church is not an accidental gathering of religious consumers. The congregation is not just a useful social arrangement. It is not a voluntary club built around shared interests. It is a gift of Christ.

And in John thirteen, our Lord shows us what kind of people Christ makes us to be. He rose from supper, laid aside His outer garments, took a towel, and washed the disciples’ feet. It was astonishing. The Lord stooped down in humble service. The Master became the servant. The Holy One knelt before sinners.

This is not disconnected from the Supper. It belongs to the same night and the same Christ.

The One who gives His body and blood also gives Himself as the servant of sinners. But even more than that, Jesus shows that His people must first be served by Him before they can serve one another. When Peter objected, Jesus said: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.”

The Church is not first a group of people trying to imitate Jesus. The Church is first a people whom Jesus has washed. Only then do we live as His people. Only then do we love one another. Only then do we serve one another. And that means the Christian congregation is to be shaped by the self-giving love of Christ. Those who have been loved by Him are now to love one another.

Those who have been forgiven are now to forgive. Those who have been served by the Lord are now to serve. Those who have received gifts are now to live as generous givers.

This also means the congregation is not only to have affection, friendliness, and goodwill.

It is to have unity in faith. This is one of the things modern Christianity often tries very hard to avoid saying. We are told that visible unity is enough. We are told that shared feelings are enough. We are told that common religious language is enough. Saint Paul will not let us say that. The Lord’s Supper is not only about the individual and Jesus. It is also about the Church’s confession. To commune together is to say something together. It is to say that we believe the same Gospel we confess the same Christ, and we receive the same Sacrament because we are one in Him. The Sacrament of the Altar is not a place for pretending unity where unity does not yet exist.The Sacrament does not create unity by ignoring the truth. It is the joyful expression of unity already given in a common confession of the faith. Doctrine, Christian teaching, is not the enemy of love.

It belongs to love. And that is why we must speak plainly and carefully about closed Communion. In our time, many hear that practice and immediately assume it is unkind, inhospitable, or loveless. But if it is practiced rightly, it is actually the opposite. Closed Communion is not about arrogance. It is not about pretending that some Christians are better than others. It is not about withholding grace from the needy. It is about taking Christ’s words seriously, taking Paul’s warning seriously, and taking our neighbor’s spiritual well-being seriously. To admit someone to the altar is not merely to say, “You are welcome here socially.” It is to say, “We are united in what this is, what it gives, and what Christ teaches.” And if that unity does not yet exist, the loving thing is not to pretend that it does.

The loving thing is to tell the truth. The loving thing is to teach patiently. The loving thing is to avoid bringing harm where there is misunderstanding or division concerning the Supper.

Because the Lord’s Supper is not ours to redefine. It belongs to Christ.

Saint Paul gives us two urgent reasons for this. First, closed Communion is for protection from harm. Paul says that those who eat and drink without discerning the body eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is not exaggeration. That is an apostolic warning. This Sacrament is always a gift, but it is not received beneficially apart from faith in Christ. To invite someone to the altar carelessly is not kindness. It is spiritual negligence. Real love protects. So it warns about possible harm; it takes the care of souls seriously.

Second, Paul insists on unity. The Corinthian congregation was fractured. They were divided. They were treating the Supper as though it could coexist with contempt for one another and disorder in the body of Christ. And Paul says this is not the case. Common communing cannot be separated from church fellowship. Altar fellowship is church fellowship. The altar is not a place for papering over division. It is a place where the Church confesses unity in truth.

Closed Communion, when practiced faithfully and pastorally, is not the opposite of love.

Observing this confesses that we love Christ enough to honor His words, we love the Sacrament enough to treat it as holy, we love our neighbor enough not to let him harm himself, and we love the unity of the Church enough not to fake it.

That does not make us cold. Quite the opposite. It means we should eagerly desire that all Christians be brought into full unity in the truth. It means we should teach clearly, welcome warmly, invite conversation, and care for souls patiently.

Conclusion

Tonight is a night of gifts. The gift that is the Lord’s incarnation and death. The gift that is the Lord’s Supper. The gift that is the Christian congregation. All of them come from Christ.

Maundy Thursday is not merely the remembrance of an ancient meal. It is not merely a meditation on service. It is not merely church custom before Good Friday. It is the night when Christ, knowing what was before Him, still gave Himself for us. And He still gives. He still gives His forgiveness. He still gives His body and blood. He still gives His Church. He still gives Himself.

So come tonight not boasting, not pretending, not relying on your own worthiness. Come as one who needs mercy. Come as one marked by the blood of the Lamb. Come as one who is loved by Christ. For on the night when He was betrayed, He did not turn inward. He did not withhold Himself. He did not abandon His own. Instead, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and in it gave Himself, His very body, for you.

In the holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

[1] 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.