From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus in the Upper Room

Maundy Thursday
April 2, 2026
1 Corinthians 11:23-32

“From Ashes to Alleluia: With Jesus in the Upper Room”

Our Lenten journey has brought us to the Triduum, the Three Days that celebrate the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. These Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Sunday are all bound together as a unified whole. The worship services of these Three Days lead from one into the next as we celebrate Jesus’ passing over from death to life. In our Lenten journey, we have been with Jesus in all the places and with all the people that he encounters on his way to the cross. We have been with Jesus out in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11), finding our strength from the Lord Jesus in his victory over the tempter. We have been with Jesus in his late-night conversation with Nicodemus about being born again of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1-17). We have been with Jesus at Jacob’s well as he spoke with the Samaritan woman about his gift of living water which becomes in all who receive it a well springing up to eternal life (John 4:5-42). We have been with Jesus at the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem where he gave sight to a man blind of birth (John 9:1-41). We have been with Jesus at the grave of his friend, Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead (John 11:1-53). We have been with Jesus on the way into Jerusalem as he entered the city on a donkey amidst shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (John 12:12-19), on his way to the cross. And now this evening, we are with Jesus in the upper room as he celebrates the Passover meal with his disciples and washes their feet (John 13: 1-17, 31b-35). In heart and mind, as we are with Jesus in that upper room, more importantly he himself is with us here in his holy Supper which he instituted this night, giving us his very Body and Blood under earthly forms of bread and wine. The message for this Maundy Thursday, based on both Epistle and Gospel lessons, is entitled: “With Jesus in the Upper Room.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

The sacrificial lamb of Passover was all important, as we heard in tonight’s Old Testament lesson (Exodus 12:1-14). The lamb was to be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). The blood of the lamb, painted on the doorposts of God’s people in Egypt, would ensure that they were kept safe when destruction fell on the firstborn of the Egyptians. This was the tenth and final plague which the Lord God sent upon Egypt so that Pharaoh would finally do as God had commanded him through Moses: “Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 9; et. al.). And so it happened: this was the turning point for God’s people as they left the slavery of Egypt for the freedom of the Promised Land. All of the Passover lambs offered in sacrifice pointed ahead to another, greater Lamb, also spotless and “without blemish.” As John the Baptist said: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This is Jesus, that once-for-all sacrifice, whose blood cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). And now, in the same night in which he is betrayed, Jesus institutes the sacred meal in which he himself is Host and we are guest, feeding us with his very Body and Blood. It all occurred in that upper room where Jesus met with his disciples for what would be his last celebration of the Passover.

In giving to his Church this blessed Sacrament, Jesus words are clear: “This is my body which is for you… This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25). We can try to second-guess what Jesus is saying here. We can try to do a work-around of what he has said, but his words are his words. Not just a picture or symbol; not just a representation or memorial, as some teach. As Jesus himself teaches us, in this holy meal we receive the real Body and Blood of Jesus in, with, and under” the bread and wine. This is the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament. The Passover meal finds its fulfillment in the meal which Jesus instituted in that upper room on the night of his betrayal; the same meal which we are blessed to receive again this Maundy Thursday.

Jesus’ words also tell us this: “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25). This is a very different kind of remembering than what we usually think of. The original word here (ἀνάμνησις) is more than a sentimental calling to mind; a trip down memory lane. The meaning here is a calling back again into memory a vivid experience; sort of a “you are there” kind of thing. It is a calling forward of a past event that has such meaning and importance that it continues to shape and mold our lives. That is what the Passover event was for God’s people as they celebrated this each year. That is what the Lord’s Supper is for Christians today whenever we celebrate this. More than a once-per-year celebration, Jesus tells us “Do this… Do this, as often as you drink it…” (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25). How often should that be? In former times, Holy Communion was once a month. That is what many of us grew up with. In our grandparents’ time, it was even less frequent; perhaps only some three times a year at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. But in more recent years, we have gone back to the pattern of the early Church, which gathered around the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s day; that is, every Sunday in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week. And so we do gather often around this blessed meal, this Holy Communion, this Sacrament of the Altar, this Eucharist, this Breaking of the Bread, this Lord’s Supper. We do this because as Luther writes in the Small Catechism: “These words ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,’ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.”

Where does being with Jesus in the upper room lead us? Where does this eating and drinking of Christ’s very Body and Blood take us? Jesus himself sets the example as recorded in the Gospel lesson (John 13:1-17, 31b-35) as he washes the feet of his disciples. Jesus, who came “not to be served, but to serve, and to offer his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), who feeds us with his very Body and Blood in his holy Supper, now calls us to do as he himself did. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Amen.