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INJ
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
'Jesus' Last Will and Testament'
Divine Service
Maundy Thursday | April 5th, 2007
Dear Saints,
A last will and testament hands over, to your posterity, all of your treasures and goods, all your stuff, your legacy, your inheritance.
I found the wills of a few famous people on the Internet, the last will and testament of Walt Disney, Elvis Presley, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Here's a few things that Benjamin Franklin said in his will and testament:
To my son, William Franklin, late Governor of the Jerseys, I give and devise all the lands I hold or have a right to, in the province of Nova Scotia, to hold to him, his heirs, and assigns forever...
...now I do give and devise my said dwelling-house, wherein I now live, my said three new houses, my printing- office and the lots of ground thereto belonging; also my small lot and house in Sixth Street, which I bought of the widow Henmarsh; also my pasture-ground which I have in Hickory Lane, with the buildings thereon; also my house and lot on the North side of Market Street, now occupied by Mary Jacobs, together with two houses and lots behind the same, and fronting on Pewter-Platter Alley; also my lot of ground in Arch Street, opposite the church-burying ground, with the buildings thereon erected; also all my silver plate, pictures, and household goods, of every kind, now in my said dwelling-place, to my daughter, Sarah Bache, and to her husband, Richard Bache...
...All the lands near the Ohio, and the lots near the centre of Philadelphia, which I lately purchased of the State, I give to my son-in-law, Richard Bache, his heirs and assigns forever...
...The king of France's picture, set with four hundred and eight diamonds, I give to my daughter, Sarah Bache, requesting, however, that she would not form any of those diamonds into ornaments either for herself or daughters, and thereby introduce or countenance the expensive, vain, and useless fashion of wearing jewels in this country...
..I give and devise to my dear sister, Jane Mecom, a house and lot I have in Unity Street, Boston...
...I give the right I have to take up to three thousand acres of land in the State of Georgia, granted to me by the government of that State, to my grandson, William Temple Franklin, his heirs and assigns forever...
Franklin goes on to give away his books, his printing press, the walking stick with a gold top to George Washington, money to the school where he grew up in Boston. And on and on, for pages. Benjamin Franklin was apparently a man of some means, and this takes a while, to give to very specif people very specific things.
Please contrast this, dear saints, with the humility and simplicity of the beautiful last will and testament of our Lord Jesus. St Paul teaches us, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” [1 Corinthians 11:23-25]
Here is the Last Will and Testament of your Lord Jesus. In it He names the beneficiaries, you and I!, and gives away all His treasure, not homes and acres and gold and silver, but His very body and blood for the forgiveness of all of our sin.
First, Jesus as declared you His beneficiary. Look at the words, “This is My body, given for you. This is the blood of the new Testament, shed for you.” For you.
How stunning it would be to read through Benjamin Franklin's will, and instead of it saying, “I give my gold watch to my son-in-law Richard Bache” it read, “I give my gold watch to _____.” “What!” you would say, “For me?” So is our surprise and delight when we find ourselves the beneficiaries of the Lord Jesus' Last Will and Testament. “For me?” with shock and awe and delight. “Yes, for you.” In our baptism Jesus made us His brothers and sisters, children of the heavenly Father. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” [Galatians 3:26-27] Now in His supper He distributes the inheritance to the children.
And what is it that Jesus gives? What do we inherit from Him? “Take and eat, this is My body broken for you.” “Take and drink, this is the blood of the New Testament, shed for you for the remission of your sins.” Again, not homes or diamond encrusted pictures of French Kings, and entirely different type of riches, the humble heavenly riches of the Lord's suffering and death, “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away.” Not gold or silver, but His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
In His Testament Jesus is giving us our inheritance, His riches, the riches of our Redemption in His blood; His death, our salvation. St Paul says it like this, “[We give] thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” [Colossians 1:12-14] Such riches the world has never known.
But let us ask, because it is Maundy Thursday, and because we want to rejoice even more at the gift that is here being given to us, What good is Jesus' blood? What kind of treasure is it?
1 John 1:7: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Revelation 7:14: The angel said to St John, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Ephesians 2:13: “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.”
Colossians 1:19,20: “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him (Jesus) to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
1 Peter 1:18,19: “You were not redeemed with corruptible things... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.”
So that, dear saints, is what Jesus is doing on Maundy Thursday, the night on which He was betrayed, He was making sure that His blood, His life, His treasure, His forgiveness would get to you. And this is the same thing that the same Lord Jesus is doing tonight for you. Here it is: His sin cleansing, robe washing, near bringing, peace making redeeming blood, for you.
Come. Come and take your inheritance.
Come and taste that the Lord is good.
Come and know that your sins are forgiven.
Come, children of the Heavenly Father, come to the riches the Lord Jesus has left for you in His Last Will and Testament. Amen.
“To My Church, I, the Lord Jesus, do bequeath Mine own Body broken and Blood shed, together with all the benefits therein, including the forgiveness of all of their sins, salvation, and eternal life.” Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO