Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this evening comes from our Second Gospel lesson (Matthew 26: 17-31). Human beings like rituals. Rituals are about sameness, about tradition, and something on which you can count. Even children like rituals ("Dad can we do it again?") and traditions. "Can we put up the tree the same way at Christmas?" "Mom, can we have the same meal at Easter?"

Passover was a ritual, one that God had given. The disciples knew it well, and in all likelihood they had celebrated it with their master before. Now it is the first Day of Unleavened Bread, and it's time to prepare for the old, unchanging tradition. But there will be something new about this Passover meal. Something new that Jesus will reveal to the disciples, something new that Jesus will give to his disciples, and to us. The gift will be new for a time� until all things are made new. This was not just another Passover! Something else, something new is happening THIS TIME. It's not just the same ritual one more time! The disciples were thinking only in terms of the same old thing, one more Passover rite. Jesus says, "MY TIME is near." (26: 18). His time, his plan, his time for a new gift.

During the meal he gives his disciples a new and disturbing reminder. Passover was all about deliverance from their enemies � out there. Passover was about deliverance from Pharaoh and Egypt, from the enemies of God's people hundreds of years before. But Jesus reveals that now the enemy is right here, during the meal. "One of you will betray me (v. 21)" "Woe to that man!" (v.24). But it could have been any of them! (v. 31) Jesus said: "This night you will all fall away." The enemy is not just out there. The enemy is among us, AND within us. A NEW covenant relationship and a new Passover is needed � God will have to do it. ��

We can't. Jesus will create a new Israel, a new people for God.

During the meal, an astonishing gift � something absolutely new! Do not ask how. Do not ask how this can be. I can't answer the questions any more than you can. This bread, this wine, are Jesus' body and his blood. He will create a new Israel, a new people for God by being physically present among them and within them, not just that night, but from that time on and around the world wherever his story, wherever his Word is told.

This bread, this wine are no longer just the remembrance of what God had done so long ago. For us the Lord's Supper is a ritual; there is a comfortable "sameness" when we receive it here. But always know when you receive it that it is more than a ritual. Jesus' body and blood are being poured out, it is happening, that very night! It continues to happen � until he drinks from the cup with us anew in the reign of His Father. This is something new also for us. In a remarkable way, the story is coming true again, right now, this evening. This is not just remembering. What Jesus gave to his disciples that night He gave to his churches that began spreading around the Mediterranean (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11). What Jesus gave to his disciples that night he is also giving to us tonight. Don't ask how � simply trust His Word. We think: "Surely I won't betray you Lord?" (v. 22). No, it was Judas � evil, tragic Judas. But it could have been me, it could have been you. Oh yes, it surely could have been us. We could betray, we could fall away because of our weakness, our misunderstanding and our cowardice. On our own we are no stronger, no more deserving to be here than they were. We could never believe in, never trust, never sustain our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ except for the gifts of Word and Sacrament that the Holy Spirit gives (Small Catechism, 3rd Article of the Apostles' Creed).

But these gifts are given anew this night, and every time Christians gather to believe and to receive them. ��

Here at Immanuel we receive His Word together more than 80 times per year, His Sacrament more than 40 times per year. Christ's own body and blood. Poured out� bringing forgiveness, bringing the opened door, the repaired relationship, the strength to believe and to hope and to serve. Let the wonder be new again this night!

We receive this new gift, until all things are made new again! That's why we come often, and why we come tonight � all things are not yet new! Still He must sustain us and protect us � from Satan the enemy, and from ourselves. Still we await the final fullness of His Father's royal reign and rule. So even as we are satisfied, still we hunger.

We hunger that all our sin � that even the desire to sin � would be taken away. That all things would be just and right and good and whole. We hunger that Jesus would come and invite us to the great banquet, the GREAT FEAST that will be ever new and forever new. The enemy is not only out there � the enemy is within, in me, and in you. But fear not! Christ Jesus has given his body, poured out his blood to conquer the enemy and to forgive our sins. This old gift is ever new � receive it! Receive him, again and again and again, until he comes to make all things new. Amen.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)

(This sermon series was suggested by Rev. Dr. Jeff Gibbs of Concordia Seminary to pastors in the Kansas District at our convocation in January 2003. This particular sermon is modified from, but heavily dependent upon suggestions by Dr. Gibbs.)