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Series A – Maundy Thursday – Thursday, April 06, 2023 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:22	The holy Gospel
0:29	According to Saint Matthew the 26th chapter
0:37	now in the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying where
0:42	will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover he said go into the city to
0:47	a certain man and say to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples
0:55	and the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover when it was evening he reclined
1:02	at table with the twelve and as they were eating he said truly I say to you one of you will betray me and and they
1:10	were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another is it I Lord he
1:16	answered he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me the son of man goes as it is written of him but
1:22	woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for that man if he had not been born
1:29	Jews Judas who would betray him answered is it IRA Rabbi he said to him you have
1:35	said so now as they were eating Jesus Took bread and after blessing it he broke it and
1:41	gave it to the disciples and said take each this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it
1:48	to them saying drink of it all of you for this this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many
1:54	for the Forgiveness of sins I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new
2:01	with you in my father’s Kingdom and when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives this is the gospel
2:08	of the Lord in the name of Jesus oh Lord have mercy indeed what a great
2:15	prayer and the reality is is that we all need to pray this prayer not once like
2:21	some kind of a covid shot oh wait they make him get many of those don’t they but not once like a flu shot or in the
2:28	chickenpox or something like that but daily daily we’d pray oh Lord have mercy
2:34	have you noticed again that the world is on fire it’s crazy out there and as I
2:41	think about what’s going on in the world don’t think for a second as we kind of consider some of the low lights of
2:46	what’s happening in the world that somehow you are not complicit in all of this we all are you’ll note that sin has
2:53	made us crazy has made us stupid you look at the
2:59	world right now France is on fire if literally all the all the riots
3:05	occurring there the war in Ukraine has drug on now into its second year and
3:11	quite frankly I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t care who wins because I don’t I I don’t think that war is one
3:19	of these things where people legitimately win for each Soldier lost on the battlefield they have lost the
3:25	war whether they be for Ukraine or whether they be for Russia and then in our own country don’t even get me
3:32	started here it’s it’s just a hot mess from the shooting that took place last
3:38	week in Tennessee to the crazy trauma that’s going on as a result of all
3:43	things the can artwork for Bud Light I I by the way just just want to make this
3:49	clear Bud Light is not really a beer so I don’t understand what the controversy is but all of that being said these are
3:55	just symptoms of all of this when you look at your own life we sin against God
4:01	greatly have you ever noticed that when you read the account of Judas it hits
4:08	way way way too close to home because each and every one of us when we
4:14	sin against God we are legitimately betraying Christ and as I’ve pointed out
4:19	on multiple occasions in the book of Acts the Apostle Peter makes it clear that we are all guilty of the blood of
4:26	Christ this passion Sunday we heard the crowd cry out that Christ Bud be on them
4:32	and on them on on their children and oh wow what a statement that is and that’s
4:38	something that we absolutely need but tonight Holy Thursday Monday Thursday we
4:45	are taken back in time to the very very first Passover and in that very first
4:52	Passover we read about this in the book of Exodus chapter 12. it says Yahweh
4:58	said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt this month shall be for you the
5:04	beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year for you tell all the congregation of Israel that on the
5:10	10th day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father’s
5:16	houses a lamb for a household and if the household is too small for a lamb then he and his nearest neighbor shall take
5:23	according to the number of persons according to what each can eat you shall
5:28	make your count for the lamb I love it that even small households they get to share together ah the beginnings of this
5:35	idea of loving one another what a thought here he says your lamb shall be without blemish I wonder why because
5:43	it’s the Apostle Paul who makes it very clear in First Corinthians chapter 5 the Christ Our Passover Lamb has been slain
5:50	that Passover Lamb is a type and Shadow of Jesus himself have you noticed that
5:56	when we look at all of the different estuaries and rivers and streams that flow throughout the Old Testament that
6:03	they all flow into Jesus it’s always about him and what he is doing to save
6:10	us and he says the that you can take that that lamb from either the sheep or the goats and you shall keep it until
6:16	the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at
6:23	Twilight and here is the thing this sacrificial lamb you’ll know they didn’t go they
6:29	they didn’t head off to Hugo’s and buy it in the grocery store or at Walmart this this required some Hands-On killing
6:39	and I would note that we in our day and age are very unfamiliar with how this
6:44	goes down unless of course you’re living on a farm and then if you’re living on a farm you know you’re raising pigs you’re
6:51	raising cows and things like this and all of a sudden Bessie disappears and
6:56	Bessie is now dead and Bessie comes back in pieces and is put in the freezer right and kids who grow up on farms know
7:04	a thing or two about animals sacrificing their lives so that we can live
7:11	and so there the Assembly of Israel and you got to note that the kids were probably standing watch because you’ll
7:17	note they had to keep this this lamb for 10 days keep it for 10 days get get to
7:23	know it give it a name right and then at the end of 10 days well things went really bad for those Lambs right and
7:32	they were all killed at Twilight and if you know how to reckon
7:37	time according to the scripture Twilight is a very specific time it’s three in
7:42	the afternoon the same time that Christ gave up his life gave up his spirit and
7:48	he died then they shall take some of the blood put it on the two doorposts of the
7:54	lintel of the houses in which they eat it they shall eat the flesh that night roasted on fire with unleavened bread
8:00	and bitter herbs that they shall eat it and you’ll note that if you’ve ever been to a Seder and you’re familiar with how
8:07	the Jews to this day they celebrate the Passover it’s kind of a fascinating thing they have a liturgy that goes with
8:13	this and during the Passover meals the family comes together families can families will come together and someone
8:20	the head man in the household he’s the one who plays the role of dad in the
8:25	account and at different points in the meal when they take the bread and they dip it in the bitter herbs one of the
8:32	children at the table will ask the question what does this mean that sounds like a catechism lesson
8:39	right you know Luther says where did he get it from he got it from this right and so you’ll note that each and every
8:46	one of these elements has a meaning unleavened bread in the initial in the
8:51	initial understanding of this the unleavened bread really stands for the fact that they had to eat this meal in
8:58	haste I I one thing I can tell you is that it takes a little bit of time to
9:04	make leaven bread if you’re going to put yeast in it it’s got to have some time to rise and to rest and things like this
9:10	they didn’t have time for that but later we learn in the book in the New Testament that Levin has a different
9:18	significance one that we with a greater understanding because we have both the Old and the New Testament we recognize
9:25	that leaven yeast is often associated with sin right and the putting out of sin
9:32	so you’re to eat the unleavened bread with bitter herbs they shall eat it and do not eat any of it raw or boiled in
9:39	water but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts and you shall let none of it remain until the morning
9:45	anything that remains until the morning you shall burn and in this manner you
9:50	shall eat it with your belt fastened your sandals on
9:55	your feet your staff in your hand you shall eat it in haste it is yahweh’s
10:01	Passover and then God explains what this Passover is really all about for I will
10:07	pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man
10:14	and Beast and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments I am Yahweh
10:23	and so God here you a good way to think about it is these first born who die of
10:30	men and in Beast these are the first fruits of God’s Wrath it’s God acting in judgment against the
10:38	false gods of Egypt those who worship these false gods God is executing harsh
10:44	harsh wrathful judgment and how can one Escape when God is coming through your
10:51	town in order to well execute his wrath against those who have
10:58	sinned and here’s the thing when we hear words like this
11:03	create some anxiety in us because we all know that we have all Fallen greatly short of the glory of God
11:10	each and every one of us have sinned against God horrifically I I would note this that when we talk
11:17	about sins that people do not know about they always refer to it as having skeletons in your closet right and it’s
11:24	best of those skeletons stay in those closets but here’s the thing God knows all the bones of all the skeletons in
11:31	your closet and he has not chosen to act in judgment
11:36	and it was that sacrificial lamb it’s blood on the doorposts of those houses
11:41	that as God was passing through Christ was passing through he is the Angel of
11:47	the Lord after all as he was passing through to execute judgment he saw the
11:52	blood of the Lamb he passed over he saw no blood on the doorpost
12:01	he entered and the firstborn did die
12:07	I have an archeology book in my library and in that archeology book they have
12:13	photographs of the pits in which the bodies of these firstborn were thrown
12:20	into after Yahweh went through that town after went through Egypt and
12:27	killed all those firstborn they didn’t have time to bury him and no proper way to do it they were overwhelmed with
12:32	bodies and that’s like I said the first fruits of the wrath of God the blood
12:37	then shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are and when I see the blood God says I will pass over you no
12:45	plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt this day
12:50	shall be for you on Memorial Day you shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh throughout your Generations as a statute
12:57	forever you shall keep it as a feast well fast forward 1500 years there’s Jesus the rightful
13:06	heir to the throne of David and he is celebrating his final Passover on Earth
13:12	and already already he has been betrayed for 30 pieces of silver what a cheap price
13:21	for the God who gave us life and you’ll note there at this Passover feast is the
13:28	one who has betrayed him Judas and he talk about having no conscience
13:37	do you think Jesus cares about him yes he does scripture is very clear on this it is not God’s will that any should
13:43	perish not you not Judas not nobody not no one know how it is not his will that
13:48	any should perish but that all should reach repentance come to a knowledge of the truth and have faith in him for the
13:55	Forgiveness of our sins Christ’s death on the cross is the death of the Son of
14:00	God for the sins of the whole world God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all
14:06	and so here now Jesus has gathered with his disciples and they are going through
14:13	the little Jewish liturgy that goes with the Passover and it doesn’t give us the
14:19	details it just gives us how Jesus Takes these things and adds new meaning to it all together so it says on the first day
14:26	of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover
14:32	he said you go into the city to a certain man and you say to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will
14:38	keep the Passover at your house with my disciples and the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the
14:45	Passover and when it was evening Jesus reclined at table with the twelve and as
14:50	they were eating he said truly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were very sorrowful and began to say to
14:56	him one after another is it I Lord
15:01	note here Judas knows full well what he’s already done and what he intends to
15:08	do and Christ is giving him a legitimate
15:14	opportunity to confess his sin and to be forgiven
15:20	I mean do you think you can hide anything from Jesus I think I said it a week ago when Jesus was growing up he
15:26	would have been terrible to play hide and seek with right okay just this one of those games that never would have
15:32	worked in your favor because he knows where everybody is he knows where you
15:37	are he knows where I am he knows our secret thoughts he knows the sins that
15:42	we are most ashamed of and he desires that we repent and believe and so Jesus
15:50	here is doing this not so much to basically say I know that one of you has
15:55	betrayed me I’m I’m king of kings and Lord of lords I know everything he’s doing this
16:03	for judas’s own sake and you’ll note each of the disciples
16:09	they answer is it I Lord but when Judas asks the question
16:16	he asks is it I rabbi
16:22	that’s an interesting interesting response so Jesus identifies him
16:29	he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me the son of man goes as it is written of him but woe to
16:35	that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for that man if he had not been born
16:40	and Judas asks is that I rabbi he said to him
16:45	you’ve said so terrible absolutely terrible
16:52	and so now Christ is taking over the Passover liturgy he’s changing things
17:00	left and right because the Passover always was pointing to him that was the point so as they were eating Jesus Took
17:06	bread and after blessing it he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body
17:15	and one has to wonder because if you’re familiar with the Seder liturgy when he had broken the bread the question is
17:21	supposed to come up what does this mean right and so Jesus in answer to the
17:26	question what does this mean says take eat this is my body and he took a cup
17:31	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
17:36	which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of sins I tell you I will
17:42	not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my father’s Kingdom
17:48	and thus begins at this point the last bit of the normal
17:53	life of Jesus and the passion will shortly follow and you’ll note Judas
17:59	does go out and he does betray Christ he leads the crowd and the soldiers to
18:04	arrest Jesus betrays him with a kiss as we heard on passion Sunday and later
18:11	regretted what he did he had legitimate contrition
18:16	but you’ll note that Peter also betrayed Christ not once
18:22	not twice the three times and you’ll note that there’s a little mini drama a sub drama
18:29	in the midst of Christ’s passion and that has to do with the difference between the two between Judas and
18:37	between Peter and you’ll note when we understand properly what repentance is repentance
18:43	always contains two parts not one many people mistakenly think that repentance
18:49	is legitimately just feeling bad for your sin
18:56	that is not repentance in fact I would note that scripture kind of describes
19:01	that as worldly repentance or worldly sorrow you’ll note there are plenty of people who’ve felt terrible that they
19:09	were caught they felt awful that somebody found out just what a lousy person they are by the
19:15	way we’re all that we are all lousy in that sense but you’ll note that Judas when he
19:22	finally comes to his sentence senses he he realizes that he is betrayed innocent
19:28	blood but where does he go to get an absolution
19:35	the people he conspired with to murder Jesus in fact if you were to theologically put
19:42	it this way Judas went to the law in order to get the gospel the law will
19:48	never give you the gospel the law will only condemn you and so he stood condemned so that second part of
19:54	repentance is Faith confidence in Christ for the Forgiveness of not some of your
20:00	sins but all of them have you ever wondered how does one get rid of a guilty conscience because each and every
20:06	one of us ought to have one because when we look at God’s law we
20:12	recognize we are totally messed up there is nothing sound in each of us we
20:19	heard it in the address for Monday Thursday when we look inside of our hearts we look at our consciences and
20:25	what comes back legitimately should terrify us and it does
20:30	but where then do we go to get rid of this guilty conscience do we turn to the
20:36	law try harder do better this time I promise
20:41	Jesus I’m going to really get my act together this time I really am going to pull it off
20:47	no that’s never going to do anything and that’s not true repentance true
20:54	repentance is contrition over sin and confidence in Christ for the Forgiveness
21:00	of your sins so the difference between Judas and Peter is that Judas goes to the law to get his Absolution Peter goes
21:08	to Christ and only Christ is the one who can give us an Absolution I do find it
21:14	fascinating with the institution of the Lord’s Supper that the official reading for this is taken from Exodus 24 Monday
21:21	Thursday the the the the reading is from Exodus 24 and here you have these Elders
21:27	of Israel having had blood thrown on to them
21:34	thrown onto the book onto the altar on to the people all right there was blood
21:40	everywhere right I every time I say that sentence I cannot help but go back in my
21:46	mind to the Country Bear Jamboree in in Disneyland right there there was this
21:51	weird bear who had come out and he would sing this song Blood on the sidewalk
21:56	Blood on the ground right and it’s it there’s blood everywhere right well that’s what we’re reading in our Old
22:02	Testament text what uh what is going on here it says Moses took the book of the
22:09	Covenant he read it in the hearing of the people they said all that Yahweh has spoken we will do we will be obedient oh
22:16	no they won’t and then Moses took the blood he threw it on the people and he said behold the blood of the Covenant
22:21	that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all of these words blood on them Blood on the book Blood on the
22:29	tap blood everywhere and we hear in our epistle text from Hebrews without the shedding of blood
22:35	there is no forgiveness of sins that’s how we are made holy but not by
22:42	the blood of animals of sacrificial lambs and goats and oxen and sheep and
22:48	things like this no we are made holy we are Sanctified we are forgiven and well
22:55	have our sins forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and immediately after that
23:02	after they had all this Blood thrown on them and they were made Holy by it then
23:08	they were able to see God but you’re going to note here they don’t ever
23:13	describe in this text what God looks like okay so they go up to the top of Mount sign and there they are 70 elders
23:20	of Israel they went up and they saw the god of Israel and they don’t describe it his face looked like this no no no no no
23:26	no his feet under his feet under his feet were a pavement of as as if it were
23:33	a sapphire stone the very for for the very Heaven of clearness and God did not
23:38	lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel you’ll note Moses has to say that they are there in the
23:45	presence of God and God didn’t go yeah I kill you no instead what does God
23:51	do he doesn’t lay hands on them and they beheld God and they ate
23:57	and they drank in his presence and so here now at the Fulfillment of
24:03	the Passover Christ says these amazing words he says take eat this is my body
24:12	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
24:19	the Covenant which is poured out for many for what
24:24	for the Forgiveness of their sins
24:29	and this is what I need and this is what you need don’t look at the world out there going
24:36	crazy look at your own Crazy Heart look at your own Blackness and your own
24:41	sin you need Christ’s body you need his
24:46	blood and isn’t it amazing here that the type and Shadow gives way to
24:53	the reality the reality is found in Christ and that sacrificial lamb at the
24:59	original Exodus that was all pointing to the one that would come Jesus Christ and
25:05	you’ll know what did they do with their lambs they put the blood on their doors and
25:10	they consumed and ate them and we tonight will eat the body and blood of Christ
25:18	drink his blood as well all for the Forgiveness of our sins knowing this
25:23	that because God now sees on the door of our bodies on our lips on our tongue he
25:31	sees the blood of the true sacrifice the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world Jesus Who Bore your sin and
25:38	his body on the cross for you and for me God sees that blood on us on our lips
25:46	and our tongue and he passes over us and we do not experience his wrath no
25:54	plague befalls us when God acts in Wrath all because of the great mercy of Christ
26:00	you see it is not his will that any should perish not you or I and so take
26:06	eat this is my body Christ now takes the sacrificial Passover Lamb and points it
26:12	to himself and he says this is my body you consume me I tell you I will not
26:19	drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it Anew in my father’s Kingdom
26:25	and when they had sung of him they went out to the Mount of Olives and now
26:30	by the time you wake up tomorrow morning some of you wake up at the crack of dawn you know I think about my wife she has
26:38	her alarm going off really early in the wee hours of the morning I do my best to try to ignore it right
26:45	but by the time breakfast comes around tomorrow note this
26:50	that if we were keeping track of what Christ suffered tonight we remember his betrayal we
26:57	remember his establishing of the Lord’s Supper his final Passover but as you get home tonight
27:05	and you get ready to get into bed note that Jesus had a long night as you get ready to go into bed maybe
27:12	it’s a good idea to think that maybe this was the hour in which he was betrayed and arrested
27:18	if you’re up in the middle of the night getting a snack from the refrigerator don’t let your wife know but if you’re
27:24	doing that right then take a moment and pause and reflect on the fact that this
27:30	was probably the hour that Christ was on trial that kangaroo court in the middle of the night and when you wake up in the
27:36	morning if it’s past six o’clock the note that Christ has already met with Pilate
27:43	and he’s about ready to be paraded in front of everybody and they are going to choose between him and Barabbas
27:50	and once nine in the morning comes tomorrow listen
27:56	pause maybe he can still hear it you can hear the hammer blows as they take the spikes
28:02	and nail it into Christ’s hands and feet it is truly not his will that any should
28:09	perish yet we all deserve to but he bore in his body your sins God
28:18	has laid on him the iniquity of us all and he has established now a token of
28:24	his kindness and his love tonight as we consume Christ’s body and blood again be
28:30	comforted and be assured that your sins are forgiven because of Christ’s vicarious death for you on that cross
28:38	and tomorrow when three comes note that he’s already dead
28:44	by the time we get together tomorrow night for Good Friday Jesus
28:50	will have already assumed room temperature and his body is being prepared for burial
28:56	all things that we consider in real time it’s a great thing for us to do this but note then because we are forgiven as it
29:04	says in our Old Testament text there is a day coming when we too will eat in the very presence of God and because we are
29:11	forgiven God will never lay hands on us and we will behold god with our own eyes
29:18	and we will eat and drink in his presence in the great marriage Feast of the lamb in his kingdom which has no end
29:25	indeed it gives great meaning then to the words this is my body this is my blood given
29:33	in shed for the Forgiveness of your sins in the name of Jesus Amen

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