HOLY WEEK BLOG #5– Maundy Thursday

Thursday of Holy Week is often called Maundy Thursday.  This was the day when Jesus gathered his disciples together for what has been called “The Last Supper”.  This was a Passover meal that they shared that night and very possibly was a Seder meal, commemorating the night that God freed the Hebrews from their lives of slavery in Egypt.  There are certainly many symbolic elements in that Seder meal and if you would like to read more about them I would recommend going to a site such as http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/sederplatesymbols.htm where you can read about the elements of the Seder.  The actual presentation/use of these elements is another fascinating read as you see that it points to Christ over and over.  You can find some of this  http://www.differentspirit.org/articles/passover_meal.php to read more about it.  In this post, however, I’ve decided to focus our attention on some of the actions recorded in scripture that took place at the meal.  The symbolism in these actions is hard to miss and we’ll take a good look at how they might apply to our lives today.

If you are interested in reading a bit further and would like to read the account of the Last Supper in all four gospels you can find them in Matthew 26:20-30; Mark 14:17-31; Luke 22:14-38; and John 13:1-31.  Actually, you get a more complete picture by reading all four accounts and combining the details of what occurred that night.  It’s very much like listening to the testimony of many witnesses who were present at an event.  Each one adds to the narrative, giving a more complete picture of what actually took place.  It’s often the same when we read the various gospel accounts of the same event in the lives of Jesus and his disciples.

Before I get into specifics let’s take a minute to address the term Maundy Thursday.  Here’s a pretty complete definition I found some time ago.  “Many Christians throughout the world observe Maundy Thursday (sometimes called Holy Thursday) three days before Easter, which falls on a Sunday. The observance typically includes Holy Communion, sometimes called the Eucharist, in which worshipers partake of bread and wine (or, in some churches, grape juice) in commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus had with his closest followers before he was executed.”  Many scholars believe the word, Maundy, came from a Latin phrase for “new commandment” which was when Jesus said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34, 35)  Some churches have taken this quite literally and related it to foot washing (we’ll deal with that in a minute) and include that as part of every Last Supper remembrance.  Other scholars connect it to the "maundsor baskets" or "maundy purses" of alms which the King of England would hand out to the poor at this season.  This most likely comes under the head of “Who Cares” for many of you and that’s fine too.  Let’s get down to the symbolic gestures of Maudy Thursday…Holy Thursday…Lord’s Supper…Holy Eucharist…Last Supper….well, whatever you wanna call it!

I think one of the most poignant moments in this event happened early on.  According to John 13:2+ it took place during this meal with his disciples.  John records that while they were eating together Jesus “got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water in a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel wrapped around him.”  (John 13:4, 5)  Now picture this for a moment.  Jesus, who had been teaching these men for 3 years, who had let them know that he was the Messiah, who had told them on several occasions that he was going to go to Jerusalem, be arrested and eventually killed and then come to life again in a few days.  This man whom they called ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ got up from supper and stripped down to only the sparse clothing of a servant/slave and then proceeded to kneel at each man’s feet and wash them.  What a symbol and example of humility!  He had told them before that “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:26-28)  This ordinance is practiced in many churches even today.  I had the privilege of being the ‘foot-washer’ on more than one occasion and I can tell you it’s a humbling, yet meaningful gesture.  You are kneeling at the feel of others in a subservient role and then pouring water over their feet and drying them with a towel.  I can’t imagine how the disciples felt.  Well, at least with one disciple we did see a reaction.  Peter responded by saying “No!  You will never wash my feet!” (Matthew 13:8) but Jesus convinced him that it had to be.  The disciples were give a powerful lesson at that moment but there’s more.

Judas was still present at the table when this foot washing took place.  Can you see where I’m going with this?  Jesus, the Messiah, knelt at the feet of the man he knew was going to betray him that very night and washed his feet!  Who among us would have that kind of compassion?  Jesus was giving all believers a lesson when he did that.  He knew that this story would be repeated and repeated and every believer who read it would once again read of his loving, forgiving and compassionate gesture toward the man whom he knew was about to betray him.  Ponder that one for a while.  It’s humbling just to consider what our Lord did at that moment in time.  It takes his humble example to a whole new level doesn’t it?

Let’s turn our attention to the actually “breaking of the bread” as some like to say.  Let’s talk about the communion that was initiated that night.  Jesus shared an entire Seder meal with his disciples then but, as I was reminded by a Messianic Jew, we focus only on the very end of the meal when we celebrate Christian Communion and miss out on so much symbolism in the Seder meal itself.  Well, for today we’ll be focusing on communion as we know it in the contemporary Christian world.  When Jesus “took the bread” he wasn’t taking the bread of the Seder meal.  Here’s a passage from a great little book entitled ‘Christ in the Passover’ written by Ceil and Moishe Rosen (published by Moody Press).  This does a great job in explaining how Jesus, by his specific action, shifted the focus of Passover from a lamb to THE Lamb of God.

“The bread that Jesus broke for the bitter sop was not the bread of which He said, “This is my body”.  That came later.  We see this from the account that He took that bread after He first gave thanks at the end of the meal; then He broke it and gave it to the saying “This is my body which is given for you:  this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).  Not only the words were shocking.  It was a very unusual act, for after supper no other food was to be eaten.  Jesus here instituted the new memorial.  He was teaching the disciples in cryptic terms that after His death, the Paschal lamb would no longer have the same significance.  It was the memorial of physical, historical redemption, but only a shadow of the ultimate redemption soon to come.  He was about to become the better sacrifice, to die once, for all (Hebrews 9:14-15, 23-26).  Looking to the time when Israel would be left without an altar and without a sacrifice, He used the aphikomen (after dish) for the first time to represent not only the Paschal lamb, but His own body!”  

I’ve always maintained that Jesus was very intentional in using bread to represent his body.  Bread is a staple for survival in almost every culture I’m familiar with.  When there is a hurricane, earthquake or other major disaster one of the first things that relief personal try to get to survivors is some form of bread.  We often call it the ‘staff of life’ and it truly is one of the basic foods people live on.  Jesus knew that it would be a very common food used daily by people from many different cultures.  I believe that is why he used it to represent his own body.  I feel that Jesus wanted us to remember his sacrifice every day and that the bread would be something we would see daily.  I don’t mean that we should serve a formal communion daily, though some do and that’s fine, but that we should recall his sacrifice for us every day.  It helps us remember who he is and what he did for us and that he’s there for us always.

Now the wine is another object lesson which Jesus selected intentionally to represent his shed blood.  Its’ color was one characteristic which would help us make the connection and the fact that it was consumed daily is, as with the bread, a way of serving as a daily reminder of Jesus sacrifice.  Now in many protestant circles/denominations there’s an argument about whether or not the wine was fermented and had alcohol and I’m not interested in delving into that here today but let’s simply consider it a “fruit of the vine” shall we?  And then there’s the way it’s presented.  That’s another bone of contention between denominations.  Isn’t it sad that we focus on the differences we have rather than find commonalities that unite us?  It drives me nuts sometimes to see how much energy and effort we put into showing how “we are different” (probably suggesting “better”) than those people because of how we practice things like communion, etc..  We should spend more time in finding things we can agree on.  So here are some of the ways we serve communion that we argue about, sadly.

Do we use individual cups or one large challis?  Do we sit and receive the elements or do we walk to the front of the church to partake?  Maybe we kneel at the rail or maybe we sit on our butts in a pew?  Do we eat and drink in unison or individually as we receive?   Do we use grape juice or wine?  And then there’s the bread.  Do we use cubes of bread or a whole loaf?  Do we use little white wafers or chunks of bread?  Do we dip the bread to eat it dry?  Do we want paper or plastic!?!?!?!  See what I mean about how we cling to our individual traditions, criticizing those who do it differently while the world outside is watching us and scratching their heads.  Alright, so what can we agree on?  Let’s go back to what Jesus said, shall we?  Jesus said “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  Then he said “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  You know, even as I typed those words I could almost hear some of you saying, “No, that’s not right.”  To be followed immediately by the justification for the specific way you take communion as being the “right” way to do it.  And the battle continues.

Here’s my stance.  I believe that Jesus gave us this example, these symbols as a way to encourage us to better grasp that he was going to become our spiritual “Bread of Life” and that we should remember his sacrifice daily.  I believe that he chose table wine for the same reason.  If you want to believe it was grape juice then that’s fine.  Whatever you think you are eating and drinking try focusing on what Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  These elements and this “spiritual meal” was given to us as a way to remember what he did for us.  He gave this example just hours before he would be arrested and taken away to be tried, beaten, condemned and killed.  In many ways it was a final step in his teaching for his disciples and all who would follow after them.  Jesus body was broken (beaten) for us and he willingly shed his innocent, sinless blood as the perfect sacrifice for you and for me to pay the sin debt of our own sins.  By his sacrifice we can find redemption and through his coming resurrection he knew that we could find eternal life with him.  What more can we add to that amazing love?

For me the symbols of Maundy Thursday are Jesus humble example of servanthood and obedience to his Father.  Then there is his compassion for others, especially for the very man who would betray him.  At the end of the meal he gave two objects as lessons or reminders which would last for centuries as symbols of his physical nature and human suffering as well as his ultimate and perfect sacrifice.  I pray that your Maundy Thursday is and will continue to be a reminder of these things.  I hope the next time to pick up that slice of bread you stop for just an instant and remember the Bread of Life you have within you always.  God bless on this Thursday of Holy Week.