This evening, we remember the night that our Lord instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It is appropriate that tonight we also dedicate our stained glass window which reminds us of the importance of this Sacrament. In this window, you will notice a gold chalice with three drops of blood above it. This, of course, represents the Sacrament of Holy Communion, where Jesus gives us His body and blood through bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins. There are three drops of blood to represent the Holy Trinity. Each person of the Godhead is active in giving us forgiveness through this Sacrament. And the blood is to serve as a reminder that in this sacrament the bread and wine are not mere symbols. When we come to the sacrament and receive the bread and wine, we are receiving also the very body and blood of Christ, which He poured out for us on the cross.

But in our window, you notice that the bread is not pictured. This is to focus our attention on what Jesus says in our text. This sacrament is a part of a new covenant that Jesus came to establish through His blood. That’s what we want to focus our attention on as we consider this window: the blood of the new covenant.

The events in our text took place during a Jewish Passover meal. The Passover, you remember, was to celebrate God’s deliverance of His people Israel from their slavery in Egypt. Every year since that time, all faithful Israelites would gather together to remember that event. They would remember that first Passover by sharing a meal with their family or close friends. This meal was to be celebrated in exactly the way God had prescribed. This would include eating the flesh from the lamb that had been sacrificed in the temple, along with unleavened bread, bitter herbs, fruit, and wine.

Now to help us better understand what’s going on here, I’m going to ask you to bear with me just a little longer, as we go back to the Old Testament and see how God instituted the old covenant, or the first covenant. This is what we read about in our Old Testament lesson this evening. It occurred when the children of Israel reached Mt. Sinai. Moses built an altar at the foot of Mt. Sinai, upon which animals were sacrificed to the Lord. Then, Moses took half of the blood from the sacrifices and sprinkled it on the altar, and the other half he sprinkled directly upon all the people of Israel. Now, what is interesting here is that this is the only time in Israel’s history where the blood of the sacrifice was applied directly to all the people. The only other time the blood was ever applied directly to a person was in the anointing of priests. But, here blood is applied to the whole nation. Also significant are the words of Moses, said as he applied the blood of the sacrifice directly to the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Then, Moses took the seventy elders up the mountain into the very presence of God, and we are told that “they saw God and they ate and they drank.”

You are probably already beginning to notice the close connection between what happened in the institution of the first covenant and what happened in the Last Supper, when Jesus institutes the new covenant. But, just to review, let me list the essential elements. There was the sacrifice. Then, the blood of the sacrifice was applied directly to the people. Then, there were the words Moses spoke, “This is the blood of the covenant.” Finally, there was the meal eaten in the presence of God. With that ceremony, God instituted the first covenant with His people, Israel.

So, we see that something extremely significant took place in that upper room on that first Maundy Thursday. God did away with the old covenant, that had served Israel for some 1500 years, and instituted a brand new covenant for His church.

Now there are two things that have to happen before a last will and testament can go into effect. First of all, the person who made the will has to die, and secondly the inheritance has to be delivered. Both of these things happen in the case of Jesus. On Good Friday, Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He really died. The soldier pierced His side with the spear to make sure He was really dead. His body was taken down from the cross and buried. In the Creed, we still confess today about Jesus that He was “crucified, died, and was buried.”

The second necessary thing has also happened. Jesus now delivers the inheritance to us personally. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus applies to each of us, personally, the blood of His sacrifice. And, through that blood, He gives us our eternal inheritance. What is this eternal inheritance? It is everything that Jesus earned for us through His sinless, holy life, and His innocent suffering and death on the cross. That means, in the Sacrament, He brings us forgiveness of sins, peace with God, salvation, assurance of eternal life, and access to God. All of this Jesus left to His church in the Lord’s Supper, before He ascended to heaven. And this is what we receive this evening when we come to the altar and receive the body and blood of our Lord in the bread and wine. Jesus will be applying to us, personally, the benefits He earned for us on the cross.

Now, before we end, there is one other thing to notice about our stained glass window. That’s the color of the chalice or cup. It is gold. And, if you get up close to the window, you would notice that there is also a sparkling glass on the handle of the chalice, representing a precious stone. This is to remind us of the great value of this Sacrament. Think of the value. Here our Lord is giving us the very body and blood He shed for our redemption. The more we understand that we are sinners who cannot in any way save ourselves, the more we understand that we daily sin and fall short of the glory of God; the more we understand what our sins deserve, the more we will understand the great value of this Sacrament that Jesus has left to His church. There is nothing in the world that is more important or more valuable than the blessing that Christ gives us in this meal. Those who have come to see the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in this way cannot but hunger and thirst for it, as Luther said. It is the most wonderful assurance of the forgiveness of sins and the most certain guarantee of eternal life, because here Jesus comes to us personally with His gifts.

So, today, as we dedicate this window let us remember the love of our Lord, who not only went to the cross to suffer and die for our sins, but who also brings forgiveness and salvation to us personally in the Sacrament He instituted for His church on Maundy Thursday. Amen.