MAUNDY THURSDAY

Today is Maundy Thursday. The word Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “command.” This comes to us from John 13:34, where Jesus says to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

On Maundy Thursday, we commemorate one of Jesus’ central acts of love, his sacrificial death on Calvary’s cross for all humankind. At the Last Supper, Jesus broke bread and gave the cup to his disciples which initiated the sacrament of the Holy Communion. A sacrament is a means whereby the grace of God in Jesus Christ is channeled to persons in a most special way.

I have heard it said that we can look at the sacrament of Holy Communion by considering the three basic tenses of the English language: past, present, and future. When we look at communion in the past tense, we are remembering what God in Jesus Christ has done for us. In the present tense, the spirit of Jesus Christ is meeting our spirit in a most profound way. In the future tense, we are anticipating that time when we will sit at the heavenly banquet with God.

During Holy Communion, we are reminded that whether it is past, present, or future, God is always with us. We are reminded of this as we read in the eighth verse of the 13th chapter of the Book of Hebrews, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

— Steve Proctor

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist