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Maundy Thursday |
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, did
institute the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may
thankfully receive the same in remembrance of him who in these holy
mysteries giveth us a pledge of life eternal, the same thy Son Jesus Christ
our Lord; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever,
one God, world without end. Amen.
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Lesson -
Exodus 12:1-14a |
The First Passover Instituted
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be
for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for
you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month
they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb
for a household; and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man
and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of
persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the
lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take
it from the sheep or from the goats; and you shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of
Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. Then they shall take some of
the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in
which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it
raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner
parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that
remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it:
your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand;
and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's passover. For I will pass
through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in
the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will
execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, upon
the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,
and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of
Egypt. "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a
feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an
ordinance for ever.
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Epistle - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26(27-32) |
The Institution of the Lord's Supper
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord
Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given
thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in
remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink
it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the
cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Partaking of the Supper Unworthily
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.
Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For
any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks
judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some
have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But
when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be
condemned along with the world.
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Gospel - John 13:1-15 or Luke
22:14-30 |
Jesus Washes the Apostles Feet
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come
to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in
the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had
already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that
he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his
garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a
basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the
towel with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to
him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you
do not know now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You
shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you
have no part in me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but
also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not
need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are
clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that
was why he said, "You are not all clean." When he had washed their feet, and
taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know
what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right,
for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you
also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that
you also should do as I have done to you.
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The Institution of the Lord's Supper
And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he
said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before
I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the
kingdom of God." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said,
"Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on
I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
And he took 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 likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup
which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold the
hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of man goes
as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!" And
they began to question one another, which of them it was that would do this.
A dispute also arose among them, which of them was to be regarded as the
greatest. And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship
over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not
so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and
the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at
table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am
among you as one who serves. "You are those who have continued with me in my
trials; and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that
you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.
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