Maundy Thursday | 3.28.24
For those who struggle to believe they are beloved...
Thursday of Holy Week is referred to as Maundy Thursday - from the Latin mandatum, which in English simply means “mandate”. It’s a reference to the new commandment Jesus issues at that last Passover He shares with His disciples.
The four gospels collectively spend pages and pages on the final Passover meal Jesus shares with His disciples in the upper room procured for them by Peter and John. From the shocking display of humility when Jesus — the Teacher! — washed the feet of the men around the table; to the baffling and horrifying realization that one of their own was the betrayer.
Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
From the redefining of the bread and wine as Jesus’ body and blood, to the bickering over who will be the greatest among them, to the new commandment Jesus issues to “love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This terrible, Holy Thursday finds Jesus praying desperately in a garden, while his closest friends fall asleep.
And having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
On into the night it goes: His arrest, the sneaky midnight trials, beatings and mockery, and Peter — bold, impulsive Peter — claiming He has no idea who this Jesus is. Disciples scattering fearfully into the dark after years of proximity to this Miracle Man.
And having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Jesus, the Only Begotten, Beloved Son, loved the man who sold him out.
He loved the men who bickered at his table.
His loved the trio who slept through his most painful prayer night.
He loved the man who outright denied Him.
He loved the women who would stand at the foot of the cross.
Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
And He loves, loves, loves you.
You, who forgot to pray this morning and haven’t cracked your bible open in months.
You, who cynically keeps her hands in her pockets during worship.
You, the one who questions and wrestles and pushes back.
He loves you.
For you, who messed up so bad — He offers forgiveness.
To you, who thinks you will never, ever pull it together — He holds out grace.
For you, the one who just wants to skip the grief and heartache and jump right to the healing — He is carving out deeper wells in you, to fill with living water that will bless and nourish others.
Because this is the way of love. This is the way of Jesus. Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
TO READ:
Old Testament prophecy: Isaiah 53:7
The Last Supper + The Garden: John 13, Luke 22
From the psalms: Psalm 25:6
TO MEDITATE:
“For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is— limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.”
- Dorothy Sayers
We’ll see you tomorrow, friends. 🫶🏽
PS: Are you coming to our Grace family Easter celebration on Sunday? Get the scoop: