This morning on crosswalk.com, I was reading about the possible meaning of the word, “Maundy,” as it pertains to Maundy Thursday. It comes from the Latin “mandatum “ which means “command.”
On Thursday evening, when Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples, He gave them a new commandment.*
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
John 13:34 ESV
I used to look at Maundy Thursday as an intense and foreboding time, for if you see it from the disciples’ perspective, it must have felt that way.
For on that day into the next, after Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet,
- Judas left to betray Jesus.
- Later, Jesus, as He finished praying, was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- Peter cut off the ear of one of those who came to arrest Jesus;
- And during Jesus’ trial, Peter denied knowing Jesus.
- When Jesus was crucified, all of the remaining disciples, except John, scattered in fear.
As I read the verse of Jesus speaking that new commandment, it hit me that that verse wraps everything in God’s love. Even when, from our point of view, it doesn’t seem, feel, or look that way.
It is so easy to forget that God is in control.
That He is sovereign and that He, in loving us, uses ALL things to work together for our good, to those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)
Even that, which is hard to grapple with, to understand.
When the circumstances of our lives make us lose sight of His love, we need to look to Jesus on the cross. He poured out Himself in amazing love when He died to save us.
And so, He commands us to love one another in the same way.
To give our lives for each other.
To hold others above ourselves and our own interests.
To be the light and love of Jesus in whatever way He calls us.
Especially now.
Because He first loved us.
On Sunday, we celebrate His resurrection, His victory over death that He won for each of us. May we rest, reflect on, and lean into His great love each and every day.
In Him,
Kimberly
*Crosswalk.com. 2018. What Is Maundy Thursday? 5 Things Christians Need To Know. [online] Available at: <https://www.crosswalk.com/> [Accessed 9 April 2020].
