Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, is one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar. Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, which means “command.” It refers to Jesus’ new commandment given on this day to love one another as he has loved us, not superficially, but selflessly.
On Holy Thursday—the day before the crucifixion and three days before the resurrection of Christ—Jesus spent his final evening with his disciples in the upper room. He washed their feet in an extreme act of servanthood and humility, foreshadowing the ultimate humility and love he would soon show on the cross. Jesus and his disciples shared the Last Supper, during which Jesus offered himself as the Passover sacrifice. In what became the first offering of communion, he presented the bread as his body, the wine as his blood. During this holy meal, Jesus also said goodbye to his followers and prophesized that one of them would betray him.
This Holy Week, more than a year into a global pandemic, I am struck by the magnitude of the Last Supper. I am reminded of our own last supper—the final time we invited friends into our home for a meal before everything closed down. I fondly remember many of our lasts—our last vacation, our last meal eaten in our favorite restaurant (which closed permanently due to the financial constraints of COVID), the last time we hosted a party in our home, our last time seeing extended family in person (including one who did not survive COVID).
Unlike Jesus, we did not know this was our last time before such a huge hiatus. How would our lasts have been different if we had known we were about to enter a period of social isolation that would stretch well over a year? Would we have stayed out later? Would we have held our loved ones longer, washed their feet, offered them a piece of ourselves, said goodbye?
And as many of us are getting vaccinated and the world is slowly reemerging, how can we welcome new firsts responsibly, but with open arms? How can we honor Jesus’ commandment to love one another as he has loved us? And how does that commandment impact how we open the world again?
—Andi Lewis, Prairiewoods marketing coordinator