April 2, 2026 - Maundy Thursday

SERVICE OF WORD AND SACRAMENT

MAUNDY THURSDAY—LOOK UP TO GET A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN

We need to be washed clean in the blood of Jesus. Our own need can distract and overwhelm us with the details of our sin and our guilt. Blood always gets our attention, but it can make us feel queasy and uneasy. Jesus wants to lift our eyes above all that to his marvelous promise of forgiveness. Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. The Lord’s Supper gives us a glimpse of the heavenly feast where we will eat of the eternal manna and drink from the river of God’s delights forever.

HYMN 416 When You Woke That Thursday Morning

1 When you woke that Thursday morning,
    Savior, teacher, faithful friend,
thoughts of self and safety scorning,
    knowing how the day would end;
Lamb of God, foretold for ages,
    now at last the hour had come
when but One could pay sin’s wages:
    you assumed their dreadful sum.

2 Never so alone and lonely,
    longing with tormented heart
to be with your dear ones only
    for a quiet hour apart:
sinless Lamb and fallen creature,
    one last paschal meal to eat,
one last lesson as their teacher,
    washing your disciples’ feet.

3       What was there that you could give them
    that would never be outspent,
what great gift that would outlive them,
    what last will and testament?
“Show me and the world you love me,
    know me as the Lamb of God:
do this in remembrance of me,
    eat this body, drink this blood.”

4 One in faith, in love united,
    all one body, you the head,
when we meet, by you invited,
    you are with us, as you said.
One with you and one another
    in a unity sublime,
see in us your sister, brother,
    one in ev’ry place and time.

5       One day all the Church will capture
    that bright vision glorious,
and your saints will know the rapture
    that your heart desired for us,
when the longed-for peace and union
    of the greatest and the least
meet in joyous, blest communion
    in your never-ending feast.

Text: Jaroslav J. Vajda, 1919–2008
Text: © 1991 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: OneLicense no. 717826

Stand

In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

CONFESSION

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this Lenten season we have heard again how our Lord walked the path of suffering which led him to the cross for our salvation. We have also heard our Lord’s call to intensify our struggle against sin, death, and the devil—all that keeps us from loving God and one another. This is the struggle to which we were committed at Baptism; God’s forgiveness and the power of his Spirit to amend our lives continue with us because of his love for us in Jesus our Savior.

Within the family of the Church, God never wearies of giving peace and new life. In the absolution, we receive forgiveness as from God himself. We should not doubt this absolution but firmly believe that our sins are thus forgiven before God in heaven, for it comes to us in the name and by the command of our Lord.

We who receive God’s love in Jesus Christ are called to love one another, to be servants to each other, as Jesus became our servant.

In Holy Communion, first instituted on this night, the members of Christ’s body participate most intimately in his love. Remembering our Lord’s Last Supper with his disciples, we eat the bread and drink the cup of this meal. Together we receive the Lord’s gift of his body and blood for forgiveness and participate in that new covenant that makes us one with him and one another. The Lord’s Supper is the promise of the great banquet we will share with all the faithful when our Lord returns, the joyous culmination of our reconciliation with God and each other.

As we begin the solemn celebration of our Lord’s passion, let us confess our sins to him, receive his absolution, and be reconciled to God and each other in Christian love.

Holy God, gracious Father,
    I am sinful by nature
        and have sinned against you in my thoughts, words, and actions.
    I have not loved you with my whole heart;
    I have not loved others as I should.
        I deserve your punishment both now and forever.
    But Jesus, my Savior, paid for my sins
        with his innocent suffering and death.
    Trusting in him, I pray: God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Silence for meditation and reflection

Our gracious Father in heaven has been merciful to us. He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven us, has reconciled us to God, and has promised us the power to forgive and love one another. Relying on his promise, therefore, be reconciled with one another.

Brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, in our words, and in our actions.

Please stand

THE WORD

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, you give us your true body and blood as a remembrance of your suffering and death on a cross. Grant us so firmly to believe your words and promise that we may always partake of this sacrament to our eternal good; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Be Seated

FIRST READING Exodus 24:1–11

Forgiven by the shedding of blood, the elders of Israel were given a glimpse of heaven.

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

8Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

READING Psalm 116

1I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

3The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”

5The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.

7Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.

8For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

10I trusted in the Lord when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”

12What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness to me?

13I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
14I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

15Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.
16Truly I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains.

17I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19in the courts of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord.

SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 11:23–28

St. Paul maintains that every time we celebrate the sacrament, our eyes are lifted to the death of Jesus on the cross.

23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.

Please Stand

GOSPEL (in English and Karen) John 13:1–15,34

Jesus opens the eyes of his disciples to a life of service.

1It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to you, O Christ.

Be Seated

HYMN OF THE DAY 425 Go to Dark Gethsemane

1 Go to dark Gethsemane,
all who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
your Redeemer’s conflict see,
watch with him one bitter hour.
Turn not from his griefs away;
learn from Jesus Christ to pray.

2 Follow to the judgment hall,
view the Lord of life arraigned.
Oh, the wormwood and the gall,
oh, the pangs his soul sustained!
Shun not suff’ring, pain, or loss;
learn from him to bear the cross.

3       Calv’ry’s mournful mountain climb;
    there, adoring at his feet,
mark that miracle of time,
    God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear him cry;
learn from Jesus Christ to die.

4       Early hasten to the tomb
    where they laid his breathless clay;
all is solitude and gloom.
    Who has taken him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes.
Savior, teach us so to rise.

Text: James Montgomery, 1771–1854, alt.
Text: Public domain

SERMON

Please Stand

CONFESSION OF FAITH Nicene Creed 325 & 381 AD

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Be Seated

OFFERING PRESENTED BEFORE THE ALTAR

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Dearest Jesus, you are the true Passover Lamb who was slain for us. Your body was offered for us. Your blood spares us from death.