Holy Week:  Maundy Thursday

What we now call Holy Week was Passover Week during Jesus’ time. Thursday was when  the traditional Passover meal was served, and so Jesus and his disciples gathered together to share the meal. We now refer to this night as The Last Supper. What was shared in that upper room was the catalyst to what would bring us salvation and reconciliation with God, and ultimately, what would turn the world upside down.

Five major events on this night:

• Luke 22:14-20 Jesus tells the disciples that He will not eat again until “it” (referring to what is to come) is fulfilled in Heaven. He then instructs them to eat the broken pieces of bread to represent His body broken for them, and to drink the wine from the same cup, to represent His blood poured out for them and unifying them as one body. He tells them to do this in remembrance of Him. We now call it Communion. It represents the New Covenant.

• John 13:3-17 As the disciples were reclining after the meal, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, teaching us that to be great in God’s Kingdom, we must be a servant to all.

• John 13:34 Jesus gives them His final command before going to the Cross. “A new commandI give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This instruction is so important that this day was named for it. Maundy is from the Latin word mandatum, which means mandate. It is not a suggestion, but a command!

• Luke 22:41-44 Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to be alone with the Father. He prayed to ask that “this cup” – the horrifying-beyond-our-imagination whole crucifixion ordeal – to be taken from Him. As fully human, he did not want to endure it, so much so that his sweat drops were blood drops! But Jesus, being the obedient Son and perfect example, surrendered these words to the Father even while the great drops of blood flowed: “yet not my will, but yours be done.” 

• John 13:2; Mark 14:32-50 The ultimate betrayal. Jesus is arrested in the garden, but not before being betrayed by all the people closest to Him. The disciples couldn’t even stay awake in the garden to watch and pray. Judas was carrying out His betrayal to identify Jesus to the soldiers with a kiss.

Five events, each one with the power to change hearts and lives, and together they changed the world.

Let’s revisit the foot washing.

The disciples walked everywhere, mostly on dirt paths, so their feet would be very dirty. It was customary for a servant to wash the feet of guests. Only the lowest ranked servants tended to someone’s personal hygiene.

So imagine their shock when Jesus did this next (John 13:12-17):

Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,

“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.”

I love Peter’s response. He’s mortified that Jesus would wash his feet, knowing he was unworthy to receive that. But when Jesus explains that if Peter wants to be part of what He is doing, Peter must let Him wash the dirt of the world off him. Peter’s response was to want more of whatever Jesus wanted to give him or do for him. His whole desire was to have more of Jesus.

Jesus was teaching them about humility. Jesus was their Rabbi and Lord. Yet He humbled himself to become their servant by washing their feet, the job of the lowliest servant.

Then He told them that to be great in His kingdom, they had to be servants.

“… Whoever would be great among you, let him serve you, and whoever would be first among you, let him be your slave, even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:26-28 (MEV)

Jesus was the perfect example of humility.  He was God and Ruler of all creation, and dwelled in the majesty of heaven, but he humbled himself to become a dependent human infant born in the lowest of circumstances so that we could be spiritually restored to the Father. We’ll never be anything like Jesus if we can’t trade our pride for humility.

Humility is necessary to accurately hear Holy Spirit’s voice and discern God’s will.

I love Peter’s passion. It got him into trouble sometimes by acting before asking, but Jesus understood that Peter’s great passion stemmed from a heart overwhelmed by love and devotion. I want to live with passion like Peter. I want to have a heart always yearning for more of Jesus.

I pray that Holy Spirit is in these words to communicate with you the fullness of their message, because without Him, our simple minds -in comparison to the omnipotence of God- cannot comprehend that degree of love, obedience and sacrifice.

I encourage you to read the passages of each of these events. Each one is rich with  spiritual truths and lessons to be learned. Meditate on them to hear what God wants to reveal to you personally in this time.