Holy Week in Luke’s Gospel: Maundy Thursday Sermon, 2 April 2026
Maundy Thursday, St Andrew’s Church, Dent
You can read the sermon below, or listen here:
A reading from the Gospel according to St Luke
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly 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.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving 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.’ Then he took a loaf of 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 he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’
Luke 22.7–20 NRSVA
It is a wonderful thing to have a special meal to look forward to. Many of us will be able to recall the excitement of a child’s birthday party, with mini sausage rolls, crisps, and of course most importantly the birthday cake with candles! Throughout our lives, we find ourselves marking important occasions by gathering around a table and sharing food and drink; whether celebrating a family reunion, a special anniversary, or a particular achievement.
We prepare for these meals with care and anticipation. We go out of our way to source premium food and drink. We use table decorations and ornaments to show that something special is about to happen. And we prepare shared rituals and traditions to bind us together. But as important as these elements are, they are not ultimately what make the meal special. What makes a meal special is the guests around the table. At its heart, it is a celebration of our connection with others. It is the human relationships that are important.
This Holy Week we are learning from Luke’s gospel, and seeing the distinctive way that the third gospel reveals Jesus and his saving work.
In our Choral Evensong for Palm Sunday we considered that Luke presents Jesus as a prophet of God, who comes offering forgiveness of sins to all who repent and turn to him.
This evening, as we celebrate and remember the Last Supper, we turn to another distinctive feature of Luke’s Gospel. In this Gospel alone, Jesus introduces the meal with these words: “I have eagerly 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.” (v15-16)
Just as we might anticipate sharing a meal with friends, so we hear in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus was looking forward to the same with the disciples. But it’s stronger than this. The original language uses two different forms of the same word for desire, literally ‘with a desire have I desired’. Jesus is expressing an intense form of desire and longing, as he prepares to share this meal with his friends.
There are many reasons for this. The first is that it fits with Luke’s overall presentation of Jesus as God’s prophet. Jesus knows it is his calling to suffer, to die, and to rise again. Only in this way will the Kingdom of God be ushered in. Of course, he does not want to suffer. But he knows it is necessary, and so he faces it stoically, much as a martyr courageously faces up to their fate. Jesus desires to share the Last Supper with his disciples, because he knows this is the path ordained by God that will lead to his ultimate vindication.
A second reason is because of the meal’s religious significance. They are sharing the Passover meal. We heard earlier in this service the Old Testament background to this, as God delivered his people from Egypt many centuries before Christ. In the Last Supper, Jesus takes up and reinterprets the Passover meal. He fulfils the passover lamb by providing his own body and blood. He fulfils the deliverance from Egypt by providing deliverance from the power of sin, evil, and death. And he fulfils the hope of the Promised Land, by opening wide the doors of the Kingdom of God and of everlasting life to all people. Jesus desires to share this Passover meal with his friends because he wants to transform it with new religious meaning: it becomes a sign through which we share in the New Covenant and the life of the Kingdom.
But as important as these first two reasons are, I think there is a third reason, a deeper, much more fundamental reason why Jesus intensely desires to share this meal with his disciples.
It goes back to the heart of any meal. Jesus desires to be in relationship with his friends. He loves them. He wants to be one with them. And so he has been eagerly waiting to give them this special meal, so that when they gather together and share it with one another, he can be present in their midst.
After all, why did Jesus willingly go to the cross? Because it was the Father’s will, yes. But why did the Father and the Son will this? Because God desires to be in relationship with his creation. He yearns for us. He wants to be with us through his Son.
Did you know that Luke’s Gospel has roughly twice as many parables and stories featuring a banqueting feast as Matthew’s Gospel, and four times as many compared with Mark? This is a big theme in Luke’s Gospel. Ultimately it is an image of the future hope that awaits us in the New Creation. The whole point of our salvation is that God desires our presence at his banqueting table. And so Jesus gives this special meal as a sign of his presence with us, and as a foretaste of the heavenly feast that is to come.
No wonder in Luke’s Gospel, we are told of Jesus’ intense desire to share the Last Supper with his disciples. It is all about relationship and connection.
And Jesus desires to eat and drink not just with his disciples, but with us as well. He invites each one of us to join him at his table. We are called to come, to find forgiveness, acceptance, love, joy, and wholeness as together we gather around broken bread and wine poured out.
It is a wonderful thing to have a special meal to look forward to. May the Holy Spirit kindle within us a desire to be with Christ, to delight in our fellowship with one another, and to be drawn in wonder as we take our seat at the heavenly banquet.
Amen.