Maundy Thursday
Bishop Ray Sutton

Imagine a full course meal with servings that never end and never make you fat. A meal that never ends might seem impossible. It is with our regular times for eating. The first bite we take evokes a sense that we want more and we never want to stop. The last bite we take is the opposite. By the end of the meal, we are ready to stop; we don’t want more. The quality of food has not changed; our capacity for more has.

On Maundy Thursday, a sacred meal was introduced that never ends. Quality remains the same. Capacity expands. The communion meal goes on forever.  St. Luke brings this dynamic out in his account of the Last Supper (Luke 22:14-20). He speaks of four cups that were associated with the Passover. Except, at the Last Supper, three were partaken; one was left to be consumed at another time. Let us consider the lesson of the four cups.

First, Luke speaks of the first cup when he records, “And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this, and divide among yourselves’” (22:17). This cup was prior to the actual consecration of the bread and the wine. It is the cup that would have begun the Passover Meal. It was followed by a prayer of thanksgiving for God the Creator, hence the connection to the beginning. The Passover was the start of a new creation. The very first Passover was the inauguration of an entire new world order. The same night Israel fled Egypt, crossed through waters of the Red Sea, and emerged on the other side of a re-ordering of the ancient world. The night Jesus partook of the first cup, the ultimate new creation was beginning, the final yet eternal Passover meal called the Eucharist.

The second cup in Luke’s narrative Jesus describes as “. . . the New Testament in My blood, which is shed [literally poured out] for you” (22:20). The second cup of the Passover meal was literally poured out on the ground, refilled and drunk. The symbolism of the pouring out refers to a sacrificial death. The first Passover was all about death. A lamb was sacrificed for each household that wanted to be spared death. The blood of the lamb was put on the doorposts of the house. The shadow of death passed over those houses with the blood of the sacrifice. When Jesus used the language of “pouring out” regarding the second cup, He used sacrificial language familiar to the Jews. Pouring blood of a sacrifice on the ground was a symbol of a life having expired. Life was in the blood. Life on the ground was a sign of death. When Jesus used the words, “My Blood poured out for you,” He declared Himself to be the bloody sacrifice emptied on the ground. He became the cup of death for the sins of the world (you and me).

Third, Luke mentions a third cup. Jesus speaks of this cup in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prays, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from Me” (22:42). The cups of the Passover meal of the Last Supper have been extended into the Garden. Remember, the Last Supper was interrupted by the betrayer, Judas. The meal was not completed until Jesus finished it.

The third cup of the Passover meal was also poured out on the ground. It was the most special cup. It was called a cup of blessing. The metaphors seemed to be confused. A cup or sacrifice poured on the ground meant death, judgment and curse. How could a second cup poured on the ground be associated with blessing? In the Garden of Eden, God judged original sin by placing a curse upon the ground. Anything associated with the dust of the earth was considered unclean and cursed. Most of all, the serpent was judged by being made to crawl on his belly through the dust. Thus, when sacrificial blood was poured on the ground it not only represented a life being taken. It also indicated that in some sense the life sacrificed offset sin and death. It became the means for blessing to remove the curse God put on the ground in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus spoke of His death as a cup He desired to have removed. It was not the Father’s will to take it away. He too became the third cup that the blessing of forgiveness might come.

Finally, there was a fourth cup in the Passover meal. It was the last cup finalizing the meal. But the finish was not the end. The last cup symbolically extended the meal into heaven and for eternity. After the fourth cup of Passover, the company at the meal sang special Hillel psalms. These psalms are also called Psalms of ascent. As such, they were typically also sung on the steps of the Temple that led up to the altar of sacrifice. The fourth cup was the fulfillment of all the others. It was the cup of redemption ushering into the presence of God.

Now the question is, “Where is the fourth cup in Luke’s account of the Last Supper?” It is only there in a future sense. In a sense, He tells them He will not drink the last cup with them. He only states, “For I will not drink [of the cup] of the fruit of the vine [now], until the kingdom of God shall come” (22:18). The kingdom of God came after Jesus was raised on that first night after the Resurrection. Thus, it was then that Jesus again entered a Holy Communion with them. The cup in this communion was the final, the fourth cup of the Passover that had been delayed. Yet, between the third and fourth cups the Death and Resurrection of Jesus has occurred. Thus, the fourth cup brought an end to Passover. It was forever replaced by the Lord’s Supper.

The fourth cup is also with us tonight. It is the cup of salvation we partake in Holy Communion. Just as the first fourth cup embodied all the cups, so it does for us. It is the cup that never ends. Let partake by faith. Amen.