Maundy Thursday
Holy Week is filled with many
traditions commemorating events that occurred before and after Jesus
crucifixion and resurrection. The one day that is often overlooked is Maundy
Thursday. This is the day that relates
to the last supper attended by Jesus and His twelve disciples. After eating
together, Jesus washed their feet, prepared them for His going back to Heaven, and
then He gave a mandate. Maundy is a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means
"command."
This is the day memorializing what Jesus left as a mandate
with His disciples – and us. We read this command in John 13:34 (ESV):
"A new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one
another. “
It almost seems the same as Mark 12: 31 where the second
commandment to love others as much as you love yourself is given. But this
edict is an even greater challenge. Here the standard of love is Jesus
– not us. Wow! These words ring in our hearts and our minds struggle to
comprehend just what we must sacrifice to love everyone around us as He did. He loved those with unclean hearts – and
feet, the betrayers, the legalistic, the demon possessed, the diseased, the impoverished,
the abusers, the rich, and all classes and races of people.
And the reason for loving in this way? Jesus tells us in
verse 35:
“ By this all
people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
He could have added: just like I have, but He is too humble.
So we can ask ourselves: Do I want all people to know that I am Christ Jesus’s
disciple? If yes, then I will focus on His love and reenact it as I engage with
those around me. May your Maundy Thursday (and every day) be committed to
loving as Jesus does.
