Maundy Thursday
The Passion Week continues
Maundy Thursday
Christians celebrate Easter this time of year, which is a commemoration of the resurrection of Christ. I find that with the passage of time and my growing love for my Savior, I reflect more deeply upon this week, thinking about the things He experienced, the conversations He held, and the lives He touched.
Each day of Passion Week records significant events leading up to His Resurrection on Sunday, what we refer to as Easter Sunday. Today, Thursday is called Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday. The word maundy comes from the Latin word, mandatum, which is where our word mandate finds its etymological roots.
On this day, Jesus held the Last Supper and instituted the Lord’s Supper. It was during this humble and intimate setting that He also gave them a new mandate, a new commandment. John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” This new command was not new as in, never been taught before, but was an enhancement on Matthew 22:36-40. If you recall, in this passage Jesus was queried as to which was the greatest of the commandments. Jesus responded that the greatest commandment was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Interestingly, in this same response Jesus included the unsolicited amendment, “And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We are told that during the hallowed event, “…He rose from supper…” and took the lowly role of a servant in washing the feet of His disciples. We must understand that foot washing was reserved for the lowest of servants and Jesus humbly took on that role Himself. The new command followed this act of servitude, and it was given in that context. The mandate to love as He loves set the bar to the highest level, the pinnacle; the disciples were to love each other as Jesus loved them. What He just displayed to them in the foot washing was a sacrificial love, a love placing others above oneself. Unbeknownst to them, He was mere hours away from performing the highest form of sacrificial love.
Something else occurred as they shared this Last meal, that is often not understood. Jesus, presiding over this meal, served each of those present. We are told that as He was serving, He dipped a morsel of bread in the spices and held it out to Judas. This was a customary practice in which the host would offer a morsel to an honored guest and that being the case, the depth of Judas’ treachery becomes even greater. It was in this gesture that Jesus made a final offer of grace and friendship to his betrayer. (John 13:26)
We must always reflect upon the fact that we were once His enemies too, and we have all betrayed Him. With this reminder in our thoughts, let us each think about the mandate He gave us on this Maundy Thursday, specifically, that we are to humbly love and serve others to the level that He loved us.
C. Klingle