WATCHWORD:
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26:26-28
Jesus said, If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. John 13:14
Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
Meditation:
Maundy Thursday
Holy Thursday. Thursday of Holy Week. Jesus returns to the temple and continues His teaching. At sundown, He gathers His 12 disciples for the Last Supper, during which He reveals the one who would betray Him. He uses bread and wine as a sacrament of remembrance. He then gives them a “new commandment” to love one another as He loves them. On this day there were four significant happenings that move us to the center-piece of our faith and belief.
The Last Supper: this was the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his 12 disciples. What he did during this meal provided a radical new meaning for Passover: now it is He who becomes the sacrificial lamb. In this celebration the institution of the sacraments, Eucharist, bread and wine identified by Jesus as representing his body and blood.
Jesus sheds his formal robe and kneels before each disciple, washing their feet. We read this and in our modern mind have a certain understanding. But, in Jesus’ day what he was doing was a scandalous task. It was a job normally relegated to a slave. Here, Jesus was highlighting the fact that he came to serve, not to be served. The disciples react in various ways. Peter refuses and pushes back when Jesus draws close. He explains to his disciple unless He does this, He could not pour out the fullness of His love. He is still doing the cleansing with us. How do we react to this?
Jesus and the disciples leave the upper room, go first to the Mount of Olives, then, later, they cross the Brook of Kidron and into the Garden of Gethsemane, and in doing so He left the safety promised within the city. Jesus is able to do this because He knows the Father, and He knows that beauty, light, and darkness comes from the love of the Father. He knows that His light is stronger than the darkness and that his Father’s love will never fail Him. The disciples, on the other hand, are overwhelmed with fear and exhaustion, They feel trapped, perhaps even betrayed. Some start dreaming. They want to throw in the towel, act like nothing will happen. After all that happened in the past, they realized that the only escape from the fear and the storm is not to run from it, but to go through it. Thanks be to God His master does this for us through his cross and His resurrection.
Judas follows through on his betrayal. Jesus comes forth and confronts his arresters. Judas is a lost soul. In many ways he was a loyal follower and maybe he had good intentions, but, like all of us, he probably began to tire on his reliance on faith, and Jesus’ and what he sees as no action. He probably was thinking when was the Messiah going to start conquering, while we would like to have something solid, a little bit of visual proof to support are continuing faith and belief and what can’t be seen. Maybe we, like Judas, feel like we have earned even more than the pieces of silver. It is the thought that he is not going to see Jesus as conqueror, in his mind, and it is over. How sad for him.
The Thursday of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, redefines the ministry of Jesus. Through the sacrament of the Last Supper, the symbolism of the washing of the apostles feet, crushed agony and prayer in Gethsemane, and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Can we fit into any of those? Oh, we take communion maybe every Sunday, maybe less frequently. As we take in the bread broken that represents his body are we thinking that. As we drink the wine that represents his blood do we think it is the word of God that we are taking into ourselves. Good questions that we must answer for ourselves. The walk of a Christian requires strong faith.
So, we know that Sunday is coming, but we also look with dread at what is about to happen to our Lord and Savior. The process of forgiveness and redemption is just beginning. Amen.
Did You Know?
Maundy Thursday, a day when Jesus commanded His disciples to serve others and to Love one another, as I have loved you. The word ‘maundy’ comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning ‘command’.
Maundy Thursday Prayer:
O Lord, in the wonder of the Sacrament of Communion You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mysteries of Your body broken and Your blood poured out as the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You, Jesus, live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever Amen.
