Maundy Thursday

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Holy (Maundy) Thursday
April 21, 2011

Hendrik ter Brugghen, The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John, ca. 1612.

Sermon Title: A Remembrance of the Passion of Jesus.

Preached Text: John 19:16-27 // Matt 26:17-30

[How does the painting inform us of the reality of Christ’s crucifixion and death? What does it mean for us?]

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN.
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest” (Matt 21:9). The cries of the crowds singing praises to the Son of God echo throughout Holy Week. The Son of David has entered Jerusalem upon a humble donkey. The red carpet of the day is rolled out for Him, with palm branches and the clothing of those who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah. In Jerusalem the week that leads up to Jesus’ crucifixion and death is a busy one. It would be filled with events that find their reflection in the the Crucifixion. In righteous anger and rage with a whip of cords He cleanses the Temple of those who bought and sold and had defiled the House of God. In unrighteous sinfulness and rage would the sacred body of Jesus be scourged and whipped with the cat of nine tails. In judgement He would curse a barren fig tree, which would wither and die. In sin Jesus would be falsely accused and judged and sent to the Tree of the Cross to wither and die. During this Holy Week, Jesus would sit in the Temple teaching and infuriate the religious leaders of the day who were unable to give answer to His challenge to their practice and authority. In the darkness of sin these same religious leaders would pour out their fury and scorn by plotting the death of Jesus. Knowing the work of the Father that He was to accomplish, Jesus comes to the end of the week and this night gives His last will and testament to His disciples and to all believers through the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
Before you tonight is a painting by the Dutch painter Hendrick Ter Brugghen. Born in 1588, Ter Brugghen painted this scene in 1612 at the age of 24. Ter Brugghen was heavily influenced by the work of Caravaggio, of whom we’ve featured several paintings during this Lenten preaching series. Ter Brugghen and his followers became known as the Caravaggisti, due largely because they adopted and emulated Caravaggio’s style of painting, which emphasized light, contrast, and focus on emotionally charged subjects. Before you tonight is the painting entitled The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John. Indeed, it’s an emotionally powerful work that teaches us much on this night we celebrate the Institution of the Lord’s Supper.
The painting takes its inspiration from John 19: So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two there, on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ...[B]ut standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. One of the final acts of Jesus is an act of adoption. Mary is adopted by John as mother, and John is adopted by Mary as son. This act of love shows the depth of Jesus’ love. Even while on the Cross, bloodied and suffocating, Jesus thinks not of Himself but only of the care and mercy of others.
There are several things about this painting that stand out. First, the central focus of the painting is Christ crucified. Notice the body of Jesus. It’s twisted, gnarled and gangrenous. His arms are stretched thin and gaunt, strung outward from His emaciated rib cage and stomach, His skin yellow with death. It’s difficult to look at Jesus, because this is what sin, our sin, has done to Him. He becomes the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah: He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Is 53:2-3). This is the body that becomes death so that death may be swallowed up forever and have no power over you. Jesus is the death of death, with death itself being symbolized by the skull and crossbones at the base of the cross. He is made sin, who knew no sin, to die the death that you deserve. This is the body that is broken for you.
Second, notice how the blood flows from the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s bright red, and it falls on John, the beloved disciple, and Mary His mother. Ter Brugghen paints this to remind us that this is the blood that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. It now covers Mary and John, and it covers death and the world. The blood of Jesus is the forgiveness of sins, and as it baptizes Mary and John we are asked by Ter Brugghen to take our own place under the blood that flows from the body of Jesus. In it and by it we are bathed with mercy, forgiven by the blood of the King of the Jews that we might have life and salvation. This is the true blood of Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.
Finally, notice how Mary and John stand and look at Christ Our Lord. They behold the crucified Jesus with worshipful gazes. With awe and fearful wonder they look to Jesus, their hands are folded in prayerful reverence. They behold their Lord as the one whom has given His life as a ransom for the many, indeed for them. They worship and adore Him for the sacrifice and work that He is and has accomplished. Ter Brugghen invites us to take the places of Mary and John. In their place the truth of the painting is made clear: to worship God is to worship Christ crucified. On the cross, in bloodied form, is the revealed God through whom mercy and forgiveness has come. Behold your Savior. Behold your King. Behold your God.
Which brings us to the reason why we gather this night. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. (Matt 26:26-29) The painting before you tonight reminds us that Christ has fulfilled the promise He gave to the disciples. Before you on the altar is the evidence of that fulfilled promise expressed in this painting. The broken body of Christ is found here, for you. The blood of Jesus shed for the forgiveness of sins is found here, for you. Tonight you come and partake in the celebration of that fulfilled promise of Jesus your Lord. With repentant hearts, let us now come to taste the fulfilled promises of the crucified Jesus. Come! Taste and see that the Lord is good!

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.