+ Holy Thursday – April 2nd, 2026 +
Exodus 12:1-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; John 13:1-7, 31-35
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We’re used to thinking of Scripture as a book. And rightfully so. It is certainly a book. Many books. One story of God’s rescue and salvation. And yet it’s also something more.
When you open Scripture you quickly discover that not only is God’s Word a book, it’s a banqueting table.
Here in God’s holy word he spreads a feast of forgiveness for us. He sets his divine dining table before us loaded with the daily bread of his word.
When God proclaims his promises and rescues sinners, he quite often does so alongside a table. A sacred meal. A holy supper. It doesn’t take you long to realize that God loves a feast.
When the Lord created the heavens and the earth promised and gave every good tree of the garden – save one – for Adam and Eve to eat of it’s fruit and live.
When the Lord made his covenant with Abraham he joined him for a feast, a sacred bbq with the Son of God who promised that from their son would come the Son and their descendants would be more than the largest dining room table imaginable.
When the Lord sent Joseph’s brothers to Egypt during the famine, upon meeting their brother whom they had sold, betrayed and left for dead – they were forgiven. They were fed.
When the Lord delivered his people from slavery in Egypt in the Passover he fed them. A holy meal. A sacred, sacrificial table. A dinner of deliverance. A lamb. Blood. Sacrifice. Death passed over. While God’s people feasted on the very lamb whose flesh and blood had saved them.
No sooner had the Lord rescued his people from Pharaoh’s chariots and horses at the Red Sea than he fed them once again. Bread from heaven. Quail of the air to fill their grumbling mouths and stomachs. Water in the wilderness.
When the Lord sent his prophets and psalmists to proclaim his coming in the flesh, he did so by giving us all a preview of his messianic menu:
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Not only is the Lord’s banqueting table piled high with holy promises. It is long and stretches all the way from Eden to Bethlehem, the house of bread. Where the Lord who feeds the ravens when they call is born for us. To hunger and thirst for us. To set the table of his mercy and goodness for us.
And so he did. When Jesus saw the crowds were like sheep without a shepherd, he fed them. By the thousands.
When Jesus called his disciples he filled their boats to the brim with fish.
When Jesus was invited to a wedding he poured out the finest of wines for the feast.
When Jesus sat down to dinner, he did so quite often, rubbing elbows and sharing table fellowship with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes.
When Jesus tells his parables so many of them end with a joyous feast, a lavish party, or a wedding banquet. When the wayward younger son leaves home and returns, his father sacrifices the fattened calf and throws a party for the whole house. The whole village. For he who was lost is found. He who was dead is alive.
And when Jesus comes to this most holy of weeks. This holy night in which he is betrayed. This holy supper which he gives and gathers us to.
Our Lord Jesus loves a feast. And tonight, once again, he sets the table. He gathers us as his chosen, beloved guests.
Once again he eats and drinks with sinners. Gives a sacred table for his body and blood. A holy supper of his holy body and blood by his holy death and resurrection and made possible all by his holy word. He throws us a feast of forgiveness. Pours out wine from his side. Flesh that was crucified. Into the chalice. Take and drink. For you. Into the bread. Take and eat. For you.
Here is true fruit of the vine of the tree, pressed in sacrifice to save you. Here is Abraham’s greatest offspring, the Son of God, giving his flesh for the life of the world. Here our famine – like Joseph’s brothers – has come to an end in Jesus our brother. Here is Christ, the Passover lamb, who has been sacrificed for us. We feast on the very flesh and blood of the Lamb who saves us. Here Jesus’ body in the bread from heaven. Jesus’ blood in a cup of wine in the wilderness. Here is the feast of rich food and well-aged wine that comes from the mountain where Jesus swallowed up death forever. Here, we who were lost, are found. We who were dead are alive. And seated at our Lord’s banqueting table. Our Lord Jesus loves a feast. And the good news is, it’s for you. welcome to the feast. You’re invited. Fed. Forgiven.
23 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, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[f] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[g] 25 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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