Holy Thursday
March 20, 2008
Today is known as Maundy Thursday, a special day of Holy Week. There is an increasing interest among Baptists toward observing these special days, as do many other churches of other religious denominations. So let us take a look at this day.
“Maundy Thursday” is also called, “Holy Thursday.” The word, “Maundy,” is derived from the Latin word, “mandatum,” through Middle English. It means “commandment” and is from the words Jesus spoke that night as He met with his disciples for the Last Supper. He said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also 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 Holman Christian Standard Bible).
On that last Thursday evening, Jesus observed the Passover meal with them, and, during the meal, washed the feet of the disciples, teaching them humility and servanthood. He then instituted the Lord’s Supper, using the bread and wine already on the table. The bread, he said, was his body, and the wine was his blood. We believe he was using the bread and wine as symbols. He told them to remember that his body was given as a sacrifice for them and that his blood sealed a new covenant with them and with all who eventually would follow him.
Jesus taught them many wonderful things in that upper room, and on the way to Gethsemane, where he agonized in prayer before his betrayal with a kiss from Judas and his arrest by Temple guards sent by the Sanhedrin. In a matter of hours, he would be crucified.