Maundy Thursday

For Maundy Thursday -- A reading from Luke 22:14-23 (ESV):

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.  For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.  But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.  For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”  And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

From Calvin's Sermon, "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ" (from Sermons on the Saving Work of Christ, Baker, 1980, 196).

"When, then, we come to approach this Holy Table, by which the Son of God shows us that he is our meat, that he gives himself to us as our full and entire nourishment, and he wishes that now we participate in the sacrifice which he has once for all offered for our salvation, we must see to it that we do not bring to it our corruption and pollutions to be mixed with it, but we renounce them, and seek to be fully purified, so that our Lord Jesus may own us as members of his body, and that by this means also we may be partakers of his life.  That is how . . . we must make use of this Holy Supper which is prepared for us.  That is, it may lead us to the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then to his resurrection, and that we may be assured of life and salvation, as by the victory he has obtained in rising from the dead.  Righteousness is given to us, and the gate of paradise opened to us, so that we may be boldly approach our God, and offer ourselves before him, knowing that always he will receive us as his children."