Unlike the events of Wednesday, there is much recorded in the Gospels about what happened with Jesus on Thursday. The events of Thursday alone make up five chapters in John's Gospel (John 13-17). It begins with a traditional passover meal and leads into the late hours of the night in the garden where he is arrested. To be honest, it is hard to even begin to scratch the surface of the intensity and weightiness of the teaching and events here. There is too much to meditate on, but here we go...

You can trace many of the events of Thursday with the letter 'S':


Service: (John 13:1-20)

Jesus, the Son of God kneels before his disciples and washes their feet. He does this for a few reasons. One is that "the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God". Jesus has everything. He knows his death on the cross is coming, and now he is insistent on serving, not being served (Mark 10:45).

A second reason is to show that Jesus flips everything we think we know about status, authority, and position on its head. As he explains the foot washing, he tells the disciples that in him, "a servant is not greater than his master". This is more than just worldly ideas fairness, it is an invitation to participate in what God does for people like you and me. He makes this clear as he commands them to wash each others' feet too. 

Sacrifice (Matthew 26:17-29)

Jesus arranges for the disciples to join him for a Passover meal in the city. As they recline in memory of the Israelites deliverance from Egypt, Jesus is setting in motion a plan for the deliverance of all nations. It's at this meal that Judas is dismissed and the plot for Jesus is officially set in motion. 

This table would not primarily be a reminder of Judas's actions, though. If John had not recorded this scene in such vivid detail, we would be left to try and write the trauma of this moment out of our memories. Once again, Jesus flips the narrative. Instead, it is this table that Jesus commands his followers to remember often. It is this table that reminds us exactly what is about to unfold. It is not a senseless murder, it is a willing sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God who, in love delivers us from our sin through his own body (bread) and blood (cup).

Singing (Matthew 26:30)

This one has always been a bit strange, but it's worth mentioning. Before setting out to the Mount of Olives to pray, and eventually be handed over to be arrested, Matthew writes, "when they had sung a hymn, they went out". I don't have any deep insights on this, other than it just seems like there always a reason to sing praises to God. If Jesus can do it staring down the barrel of God's wrath for the sins of the world, maybe we ought to sing more. 

Sweat (Luke 22:44, Mark 14:38-39)

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus withdraws from his disciples to pray in peace one last time before being handed over. He asks his friends to pray too, but as he often does in the gospels, he gets alone with his Father. The moment is hardly peaceful. In the eternal relationship of the Trinity, Jesus had seen the glimpses of the Father's wrath throughout the events of the Old Testament in places like Sodom & Gomorra, Egypt, and Canaan. He had never begun to feel the intensity of wrath like this. It is so intense that his sweat became like blood.

It is in those drops of blood that his instruction to the disciples prove true: "the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". For Jesus, the Spirit is overcoming the flesh as he commits to obedience to the Father's plan of redemption. For the disciples, it is the flesh stands in the way of the Spirit's willingness.  

Sleep (Matthew 26:36-46)

Jesus's command to the disciples to pray came with a purpose, "that they would not fall into temptation". Their failure in this moment was not that that they prayed the wrong prayer, but that they weren't praying at all. They were sleeping. You can't pray through snoring lips! Jesus wanted them to acknowledge the severity of the events that were about to unfold, and pray that God would steady them as they do. We should always take seriously Jesus's command and example of prayer. When our strength is failing, we can be most vulnerable. In those moments, prayer strengthens us when we are weak. But the disciples didn't pray. They slept. 

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In each of these little details, it strikes me that Jesus leaves no question about the reason for the cross. It is not as if the rulers of the day finally got the best of him. It's not like he never saw Judas's betrayal coming. No, the cross was always intended to be the establishment of a new covenant. A promise sealed with his own blood. A sacrifice made in love for us. 

We are meant to see that love on display, and lay our own lives down for each other. The word "Maundy" in Maundy Thursday draws on the Latin word for "mandate". It is how we remember that Jesus invites us into the road of the cross, to "love one another as he has loved us" (John 15:12). Let's stay awake and be faithful to that command from our Savior. 

I love you Springs of Grace Family!

Grant Rose
Lead Pastor, Springs of Grace