Maundy Thursday
12This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I love you. 13There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends… 17This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12-13, 17)
Good Morning Family! We have reached the second half of Holy Week. Today mark’s “Maundy Thursday”, a huge day in the Christian Faith. A lot happened in this highly significant day. It was, of course, the final day before Jesus went to the cross. Jesus knew what was soon to happen to Him, and despite He continually telling His Disciples that He was to die for the sins of the world, they still failed to grasp the truth of what was about to occur. All four Gospels capture the events of Maundy Thursday in highly accurate detail. John’s Gospel goes into greater detail, and we will get to that at the end of this post. But let’s start at Matthew.
Matthew’s account of “The Last Supper” begins in Chapter 26 with verse 17 as Jesus instructs the Disciples where they can find a location to eat the Passover meal in the Upper room. In verses 26-29, Matthew is the first to record how Jesus instructed the 12 to observe Communion, breaking bread and sharing wine. Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him three times and warns that “Tonight all of you will desert me (26:31).” From the upper room, Jesus and His Disciples move to the Garden in Gethsemane, where Jesus prays into the early morning of Friday.
Mark’s testimony of Jesus’ last night before facing death begins in Chapter 14, verse 12. Mark writes almost the exact witness as Matthew, capturing Jesus instructing the Disciples on where they are to gather, revealing that one of the 12 will betray Jesus, taking the first Communion, and giving poor Peter his warning of impending denials. Mark also captures Jesus’ prayers in the Garden, as He prays: “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine (Mark 14:36).” Jesus fully understood the suffering He was soon to endure. He asked God to take that cup away from Him, but prefaced that with the promise that He was willing to do exactly what God demanded of Him, no matter the cost.
In most criminal cases, if you have one witness corroborate a testimony, it is usually enough to convince a jury. Well, in the Gospels, all three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke begin their collection of the events on Thursday in the exact same fashion. Luke follows what Matthew and Mark have already testified to, beginning in Chapter 22, verse 7. Luke writes how Jesus instructs the Disciples to find the location for the Last Supper, Communion, Peter’s denials, and Jesus’ agony in the Garden. Luke’s Gospel only differs in verses 26-38, when Jesus tells the Disciples to go and buy a sword, for the time has come when they will be “counted as rebels”.
And finally, there is John’s beautiful Gospel. John, the Son of Thunder, one of Jesus’ most beloved Disciples, goes into the deepest detail to record to the world as much as he could from what Jesus said to the Disciples on that very special night. Beginning in Chapter 13, verse 1, John is the only writer to share that Jesus washed the Disciples feet (13:1-17), teaching them that even He, the Master, had come to serve. Five full chapters later, John concludes the events of Maundy Thursday at the end of Chapter 17. And in the middle of John’s writings come the verses at the top of this post: Jesus’ commandment to His Disciples to love each other. This is where the name “Maundy Thursday” comes from. Maundy is derived from the Latin word “mandatum”, which means “commandment”.
Jesus command for the Disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you” is not reserved for just those original 12. That is the same command Jesus left with you and me. It is the greatest commandment. So as you observe Maundy Thursday, find a way to show your brothers and sisters of the world what the love of Christ truly, truly looks like.
Common Sense Reborn 