What would you do if you knew you only had one day?
Your last day.
No doubt you would spend it with the people you love.
Doing things that you love.
You would also make sure your final affairs are in order.
That's a given.
How would you spend the last hours?
Think about it.
Me?
A good meal surrounded by the people I love most. Probably fried chicken legs, hash brown casserole, and mashed potatoes. (That's right, I would go double potatoes.) No desert. I'm not a big desert person. No, give me more meat and potatoes. Also, a good cup of french press coffee would be in order. The night wouldn't be cheapen with television or social media. However, music would be playing. (We don't realize how powerful music is.)
I would want the people around me to know how much I love them.
How much they meant to me.
How I want them to move forward and be happy.
I would want some time alone with my girls. Then, I would want time alone with Lacey.
How about you? How would you spend your last hours?
Jesus spent his last day of freedom before our sin took hold of him on a Thursday. I wish I could make it sound happy. I know Easter is supposed to be joyous (and it is). I know that Jesus resurrected in three days. But on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday there is always a certain somberness present in my soul. It's a weight that most Christians feel as they sit in services or contemplate throughout the day. The horridness of our sin is brought out, but so is the graciousness of his grace.
Jesus spent that Thursday knowing what was ahead.
And what did he do?
He did what most of us would do.
He had a meal with the people he loved. I'm not sure what they ate, but there was bread and wine. He did what you would have done. He let them know how much he cared for them. He also gave them some direction.
Only he did something more.
Something that doesn't make much sense to us. It loses some effect in our culture.
He washed his disciples' feet.
He even included the man who was about to betray him.
Why?
Because he was displaying how much he loved them. And he was about to give them a new commandment. A commandment that should drive our very existence as Christians today. A commandment that needed an example.
That's why today is called Maundy Thursday. Maundy is derived from the Latin word mandatum which means "commandment".
Jesus' new commandment is found in the scripture readings today.
"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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35).Jesus spent his last few hours washing the feet of people he loved. This was an unbelievable act of humbleness and love. He called his followers there to do the same. He calls us to do the same.
He calls us to love each other like he loves us.
Thursday's readings:
- Exodus 12:1-14
- Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- John 13:1-17, 31-35
Do you find Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to be somber?
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