Good Friday, we know. And Easter most certainly. But what is Maundy Thursday? Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. Most notably, that Passover meal was when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an extraordinary display of humility. He then commanded them to do the same for each other.
What Was the New Commandment?
Well, for one thing, it raised the definition of love to a new and higher standard. Jesus sacrificially met His followers' deepest need---that of new spiritual life and the forgiveness of sins. He even loved His enemies, and He calls us to show love to those who don't appear to deserve it. Just as Jesus loved sinners "to the end" (or "to the max" John 13:1) when He had nothing to gain from them, so must we. The Bible says that there was nothing attractive about sinful mankind that drew Him to love us. God loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). Salvation is not only a wonderful gift that protects us from the penalty that we deserve Romans 6:23, the work of Christ also embues new life, grants spiritual strength, and motivates godly action in those who believe.
Yeah I totally copied all that off of a website. Don’t remember where. Sorry.
As Jesus prepared to be crucified, what did he do?
He observed the Passover with his disciples. He washed their feet. He shared a meal with the Judas who would later betray him. He shared a meal with friends who he knew would later flee in his time of greatest need and who would deny knowing him. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and spent time in prayer. He asked God to provide another way to deliver the human race.... and submitted to God’s perfect will.
I love the image of Jesus in the garden. Here he models how to submit to God’s will when it’s painful... “God, if there’s another way, let’s do that... but I want what you wasn’t above all else.”
I love the image of Jesus eating with the disciples. He showed us how to show love to those who do not love us. He shared a meal with Judas... even washed his feet. He knew Judas would betray him. In this moment, Jesus modeled how we are to”love our enemies.”
Jesus shows compassion for his disciples... for his friends. While he knew he needed them, he also seemed to accept their inability to understand the enormity of the moment or the magnitude of the situation. The disciples could not understand what would happen over the next few days. Like wise, we have to understand the we are not all at the same level of spiritual maturity. The more mature will see the spiritual implications of situations that others miss... and just like Jesus, we need to encourage those less mature to see the truth while accepting that they are indeeed less mature and possibly incapable of seeing the whole picture at the moment.
Jesus gives us so much on the night before his death. It’s like a crash course on “how to live and love like Jesus,” just in case we missed in before.
Just me thoughts-
K
Yeah I totally copied all that off of a website. Don’t remember where. Sorry.
As Jesus prepared to be crucified, what did he do?
He observed the Passover with his disciples. He washed their feet. He shared a meal with the Judas who would later betray him. He shared a meal with friends who he knew would later flee in his time of greatest need and who would deny knowing him. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and spent time in prayer. He asked God to provide another way to deliver the human race.... and submitted to God’s perfect will.
I love the image of Jesus in the garden. Here he models how to submit to God’s will when it’s painful... “God, if there’s another way, let’s do that... but I want what you wasn’t above all else.”
I love the image of Jesus eating with the disciples. He showed us how to show love to those who do not love us. He shared a meal with Judas... even washed his feet. He knew Judas would betray him. In this moment, Jesus modeled how we are to”love our enemies.”
Jesus shows compassion for his disciples... for his friends. While he knew he needed them, he also seemed to accept their inability to understand the enormity of the moment or the magnitude of the situation. The disciples could not understand what would happen over the next few days. Like wise, we have to understand the we are not all at the same level of spiritual maturity. The more mature will see the spiritual implications of situations that others miss... and just like Jesus, we need to encourage those less mature to see the truth while accepting that they are indeeed less mature and possibly incapable of seeing the whole picture at the moment.
Jesus gives us so much on the night before his death. It’s like a crash course on “how to live and love like Jesus,” just in case we missed in before.
Just me thoughts-
K
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