A WORD FOR TODAY, April 17, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 17, 2025
“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. Where I go, you know, and you know the way.” John 14:1-4, WEB
Today is Maundy Thursday. In many different Christian denominations, congregations will gather to share the final moments of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry.
Jerusalem was bustling with preparation for the Passover feast. Pilgrims were in town, and many were curious about the man Jesus about whom they had heard so much. His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem on Sunday gave them hope that He was the Messiah for whom they were waiting. Was the day of deliverance near? Passover was an ideal time for Jesus to grasp His Kingship. It would be significant to the Jews who would make the connection between Jesus and Moses. Just as Moses delivered the Hebrews from the Egyptians, Israel’s new King Jesus could deliver them from the Romans. As Passover drew near, the people expected something incredible to happen in fulfillment of God’s promises and the prophecies of the scriptures.
In the days that followed, Jesus did not fulfill their expectations. Rather than fighting the Romans, Jesus fought the religious establishment. Rather than take a throne, Jesus knocked over the tables in the Temple. Rather than build an army, Jesus made many people mad with the words He spoke and the message He preached. He took a day to rest and pray as the leaders schemed about how to end His ministry. Jesus and His disciples, the Twelve and many others, spent time together during that week sharing food, fellowship, worship, and more learning, but on Thursday the gathered to celebrate the Passover. This was an important meal because of the ritual and religious significance, but it was made even more special because it was His farewell dinner, though they really did not understand at the time.
The disciples asked Jesus where they were to celebrate the Passover feast. As usual, the preparation was in the hands of God, and Jesus gave them instructions where to go, who to see. As the evening drew close, the disciples gathered in the upper room, ready to celebrate this meaningful night with their Lord. It seems odd to us that Jesus would begin this meal with something so humble that it was shocking to those who watched. The first thing He did was serve them.
From the beginning of His ministry to the very end, Jesus always put others before Himself. Washing the feet of His disciples was a sacrificial action: it was a job meant only for the lowest of all the servants. Jesus showed them what it meant to be the Messiah; He loved them with a very active, humble, sacrificial love. At the supper, He removed His cloak and wrapped a towel around His waist and got on His knees to wash their feet. This menial task was one that only a servant would do. Peter was so incensed by the action he rejected Jesus with the words, “No, you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus persisted because He was showing them by example the way they were called to lead the continuation of His ministry. The disciples were specially chosen to serve the Lord. It was not to be a ministry of power, but of humble service.
Jesus finished the foot washing with a call for all those who love Him to do the same for others. We are to do what Jesus does, to serve rather than be served. We are to sacrifice for the sake of life and share everything which Jesus did for us with others. We are blessed if we too live, and die, as Jesus did. For it is in the serving we truly know and understand the attitude of Christ and live the blessed life He has called us to live.
The rest of the evening was no less shocking. Rather than speak about being a king, Jesus spoke of being a servant. He spoke of death, betrayal, and denial. Peter made great claims of his love for Jesus and his willingness to even die. Jesus told him that he would in fact, that very evening, deny Him three times. Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer and was clearly in control as He told Judas to do the task quickly. The disciples were confused and became agitated as the vision they had of a kingdom began to fall apart before their eyes.
During the supper, Jesus instituted a new covenant of faith. The Passover ritual meal was a remembrance of the deliverance of the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. The meal was highly symbolic, recalling the bitterness and affliction of life in Egypt, as well as the rebirth and joy of their new life of freedom as God’s chosen people. The people celebrated the Passover each year in expectation that the Messiah would soon return to deliver them again. They thought Jesus was the One.
Jesus made no such promises. Rather, He spoke through the elements of the Passover and made a new covenant with them. He took the bread, gave thanks to God and gave it for all to eat. He had told His followers that He is the bread of life. In this new covenant He told them to eat the bread regularly to remember that He is the true bread. After the supper He took the cup of redemption, gave thanks and gave it to all to drink. He told them that this cup is His blood, and that only His blood would redeem them from their sins. By His death we would be forgiven. Today, and every time we gather around the Eucharistic table, we recall those words and His promise. By His death, by His blood, we are forgiven.
Jesus spoke of humility and service, betrayal and denial, but several of the disciples got into an argument about who would be the greatest among them in the kingdom. Even at this late hour, after all Jesus had spoken to them about sacrificial love, they still sought the power of this world. It might seem like His plans were falling apart because the disciples were acting according to their flesh, but Jesus was always in control.
Jesus took the disciples to Gethsemane so that He could spend time in prayer. It is at this moment that Jesus Christ makes the final and most incredible act of submission to His Father’s will. He committed to the only path He could take: the path to the cross. The ministry of Jesus Christ was about to close in a most painful and horrible manner, but He stood and walked right into the hands of His betrayer, receiving his kiss. It was the will of God.
We think about the horror of Good Friday, but I think perhaps Maundy Thursday was the harder day for Jesus. Physical death, even horrific physical death, is nothing compared to things He had to experience that day. It was the day He said good-bye to those He loved. It was the day He saw that they still didn’t understand the reason for His life and ministry. It was the day He saw the betrayal and denial and abandonment of His disciples. It was the day when He agreed to follow the path His Father demanded. Even in the midst of betrayal and denial, Jesus comforted His disciples. He promised them the Holy Spirit, that they might continue His work after His death. He established a new covenant with His people, a covenant of life, hope and remembrance. It was the day that He willfully went to prepare a place for us, the day He set His feet on the path that would assure us eternal life in His true Kingdom.
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