Maundy Thursday

 Maundy Thursday with Pastor Edith
April 17, 2025
John 13:1-17 “I have set you an example”, Matthew 26:36-46 “Watch and pray.”

The word Maundy comes from an ancient word that means “mandate”. It is a reminder that Jesus Christ gave a mandate, or command to his followers on the night when he would be betrayed. Jesus not only spoke his mandate, he demonstrated what he wanted his disciples to live out as they would soon continue to share in the kingdom work of sharing the Gospel after he departed.

In many churches, this is a very solemn day, and rightly so, because this is the day Christians are called to reflect upon the wondrous love of Christ, who took time to prepare his followers as well as himself for his crucifixion.

Our first reading for today reveals to us how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet in a humble act of service. He demonstrated what it means to be a servant Savior and if we are to follow Him, then we too, like the first disciples, are to humbly serve one another. This is not a mandate to hold a regular foot washing ceremony, though it is a beautiful service to remember, but a mandate to not think of ourselves as better than anyone else, but to care and serve as Jesus did.

Our second reading for today takes us to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus led his disciples to go and pray after they celebrated the Passover and had eaten with him at his last supper. Jesus is deeply troubled as he knows very well what he is about to endure. He tells Peter, James and John; “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). Jesus then prays alone, he falls to the ground in grief and asks; “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (vs. 39). When Jesus returns to his disciples, they are sleeping. That would be understandable as their stomachs are full and they are very weary from all the events they have shared, still, this is a very troubling evening and Jesus wanted them by his side, watching and praying. Perhaps they, like us, just didn’t understand the severity of what was about to happen. Maybe they thought they had a lot more time. I wonder if we think that too.

Gethsemane”; “Go to dark Gethsemane, Ye that feel the tempter’s power; Your Redeemer’s conflict see, Watch with Him one bitter hour; Turn not from His grief’s away – Learn from Jesus Christ to pray “.

Watch and Pray On!!