Maundy Thursday is named after the command or mandatum that Jesus gives to his disciples. When you read John’s account of the last night that Jesus spent with his disciples, you witness him tie a towel around his waist and wash the feet of his friends and then you hear Jesus say,
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John 13:34 NRS)
There’s no foot washing or similar command in Mark’s gospel; instead, what we witness in Mark is the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.
It is the image we see in DaVinci’s painting of the Last Supper, where the twelve disciples are gathered around Jesus at a banquet table.
And it is the loving action that we live out, again and again, when we gather for Holy Communion.
Later in tonight’s service, for the first time since we began worshiping together online more than a year ago, we will hear the words of institution that we hear in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and eat and drink, fully participating in this meal together.
The words “this is my body” remind us of the sacrifice Jesus makes for our sake, but the words “new covenant” remind us that the story doesn’t end with his death. In Christ, we are brought to new life and new relationship with God and with one another.
The meal is a visible expression of God’s love for us, the same love that Jesus speaks of when he is with his disciples. Through our participation, we become a community, called to follow Jesus and to love one another.
One of the astonishing things about this divine love is its inclusivity. As night falls, Jesus is with all twelve of his disciples. Judas is there with him. Judas ate at the table and had his feet washed by Jesus. One of the people who is closest to Jesus and then later betrays him is part of the beloved community Jesus forms here.
What that tells me is that even when sin takes hold of me ̶ when I am turned inward on myself, my resentments fester, or I put other idols before God ̶ even then, God welcomes me to the table. Adopted at baptism as a child of God, now God feeds me and nourishes me, and restores me to this new covenant relationship.
Throughout its history, religious people have tried to define who is clean and unclean, who is pious enough to earn God’s love, and whose actions disqualify them, costing them their seat at the Table. But Lutheranism teaches us that there is nothing we can do by our own merit or our own understanding to earn God’s love. Participation at the table is never about my worthiness, or yours.
It is about being in relationship with our God whose love for each and every one of us is seen in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup, and heard in the words “given and shed for you.”
Let us pray…[i]
Good and gracious God,
Thank you for your Son Jesus of Nazareth, the living Christ whose love shocks, surprises, and far exceeds our understanding.
Forgive me when I am like Judas— the one who betrayed him, the one who failed to see the good right in front of him, the one who might have thought he wasn’t worthy of your love.
Create in me a new heart and mind, one that can see and hear you more clearly when you tell me you love me.
In your Holy Name we pray,
Amen.
[i] Adapted from a prayer by Sarah Are | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.
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