Day 32 - What is Maundy Thursday?

Author:  Brad Swope (adjunct faculty)

Scripture:

Matthew 26:17-20, 26-28 (NIV) - “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover … While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Reflection:

Many of us from the evangelical tradition were not raised observing Maundy Thursday.  This is the night the church has historically commemorated Jesus’ last night with his disciples in the upper room. Largely, we have been separated from the fact that the Lord’s Supper occurred on the first night of Passover.  But in some ways the true meaning of communion is more deeply revealed from this perspective.

Traditionally, on the first night of Passover, the Jews would tell the story of how God had rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. They would eat food that represented the story to them.  The bitter herbs represented the suffering of the Jews. The unleavened bread had reminded them how quickly they had to leave Egypt to begin the Exodus. The lamb reminded them of the Passover lamb that was slaughtered—its blood applied to the doorposts so that their firstborn children would not suffer the tenth plague.

Now imagine after going through this very process, Jesus taking some of these tangible elements from the traditional Passover meal and saying to his disciples, “This is my body broken for you… my blood shed for you.”

Only later would the disciples and the early church understand that the events of Easter weekend were a reenactment of the Exodus story, in that Christ rescues us and leads us out from our slavery to sin.  From this same story in Exodus, Jesus is also seen as our Passover lamb, whose sacrifice atoned for us, just as the lamb’s blood had spared the lives of the threatened first born children of Israel.

Pause today and read parts of the Exodus story (Exodus 12:1-14) and marry them to the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:17-28) and everything that happened afterward on Easter weekend.

Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, thank you for leading me on my own an exodus from slavery to sin…thank you for being my Passover lamb who atoned for my sin.”