St. Matthew's Riverside Sermons

I heard about a little boy who sat down next to his friend in church one Easter Sunday morning and the friend did a double take when he noticed the boy had a really ugly looking black eye. His friend asked, “How’d you get the shiner?” The boy replied, “I ate some Easter candy.” His friend said, “Eating Easter candy doesn’t give you a black eye.” The boy responded, “It does if the candy belongs to your sister!” I heard another Easter story about two brothers who were getting ready to boil some eggs to color for Easter. “I’ll give you ten dollars if you let me break three of these on your head,” said the older one. “Promise?” asked the younger. “Promise!” Gleefully, the older boy broke a raw egg over his brother’s head, then another one. The younger brother braced himself for the last egg, but then nothing happened. Finally, the younger brother growing anxious asked: “Don’t you want to break that third egg?” His brother replied, “I’d love to, but I can’t afford it!”   To...

The “Maundy” of Maundy Thursday is actually derivative of our word mandate or command. At some point in my life, I came to the conclusion that Maundy Thursday is every bit as important as Palm Sunday, Good Friday or even Easter Sunday for that matter. Indeed, the lessons of each are essential to a life of faithful discipleship. We understand well the life changing significance of those other events; the triumphal entry and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but what then we ask is the essential provided by Maundy Thursday? That word “Maundy” or command specifically references a moment Jesus shared with the twelve on the eve of His crucifixion.   It was a special moment, a brief moment nestled between the crowds who sang “Hosanna!” just days before, and the masses of people who shouted “Crucify!” the day following. I. Indeed, this was a very different moment. Jesus takes this one last opportunity away from the crowds and the people and the noise to eat with hi...