Maundy Thursday is when Jesus Christ our Lord celebrated the Passover, and revealed the New Covenant in what is now called The Last Supper. There in the Upper Room (I've been in it), Our God and Savior met with His disciples to break bread one last time before His arrest. For Catholics every mass is a mini-Maundy Thursday, because they celebrate the Last Supper in the Eucharist. For Evangelicals and more modern Protestants, this day is often eclipsed by Resurrection Sunday. The Last Supper is an important moment when Jesus explains the baffling statements He said much earlier in John's Gospel Account, "Anyone who drinks my blood and eats my body will have eternal life, my flesh is real food and my blood real drink." (John 6:54-55). The statement made many disciples desert Jesus, but finally at Last Supper our Savior reveals He is the Way to Heaven (John 14:6) and the New Covenant is in His blood and death,
"On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.
20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”
And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives." (Matthew 26:17-30) and,
"Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.[a] 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.[b]
21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man[c] must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” 23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. 27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29 And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
33 Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”34 But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?”
“No,” they replied.
36 “But now,” he said, “take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one! 37 For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the rebels.’[d] Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true.”
38 “Look, Lord,” they replied, “we have two swords among us.”
“That’s enough,” he said." (Luke 22:7-38.
Today is not a trivial day. It is a shame that in most Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Protestant circles, save for Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist, that Maundy Thursday is almost ignored. It was on Maundy Thursday that the Messiah revealed the salvic plan, the New Covenant the Prophet Jeremiah foretold, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and the foretelling of Christ's passion that the Prophet Isaiah saw, "Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels." (Isaiah 53:1-12). Maundy Thursday was pivotal moment, when Prince of Peace revealed to His disciples the Covenant that had been in part revealed to Abraham, and was told to David (2 Samuel 7:1-53). As Jesus said to unbelievers, "For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it," (Luke 10:24), and, "Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad." (John 8:56). Maundy Thursday is anticipation of Calvary and the Resurrection, it is God revealing to mankind the plan. The Apostle Paul instructs us to keep remembering this event and Jesus' Death, "For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again." (1 Corinthians 11:26).
After the they supped, Jesus then went to the Garden of Gethsemane, a garden of olive trees on Mount Olivet which Christ at His return will crack in two (Zachariah 14:3-4). I have been to this place, well to both sites, the Eastern Orthodox site at top of Mount of Olives where there is Golden Onion Domed Church called St. Mary Magdalene's (see pic below), and to the more traditional site at base of the mountain, I believe Orthodox is more likely, because it is shrouded in olive trees as we imagine it, and you can overlook all of Jerusalem (Old City) which is likely where Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!" (Matthew 23:37-39). Another reason the Orthodox site is right, is Jesus always went up into mountains to pray (Matt 14:23, Luke 6:12, Luke 9:28) and thus I find it highly unlikely He sat base of mountain as Catholics believe. It was at Gethsemane that Jesus did battle, "Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!" (Matthew 26:36-46). Our Lord was tested, the natural fear of death and the coming torture He was to undergo ate at him until He "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44). The writer of Hebrews actually tells us a hint that Jesus sweating blood is a sign of resisting sin to its zenith, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood," (Hebrews 12:4). Here we are affirmed that Jesus can help us with all temptation, because He was tempted, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 4:15). It was in this grove of Olive Trees that God was betrayed by Judas Iscariot with a kiss, "But Jesus said, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:46), where Jesus displayed His divine power, "As Jesus said "I Am he," they all drew back and fell to the ground!" (John 18:6, cross ref John 10:18), where Peter drew a sword and cut of Malchus' eat, "Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest's slave. But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And He touched the man's ear and healed him," (Luke 22:50-51, cross John 18:10), and where Jesus was lead away in bounds to the chief priests of religious law, "First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time. They took Jesus to the high priest's home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered." (John 18:13, Mark 14:53). I should add that Jesus also asked Temple guards to leave the disciples alone (John 18:8) which was probably obeyed because Jesus showed his power (John 18:6) and was leaving in bounds willingly. It is likely the Apostle Peter was very afraid because he had cut off Malchus' ear and thought the religious leaders would want to make a spectacle of him too, despite Malchus being healed, for the Pharisees did not let miracles stop their murderous plots, even Lazarus after being raised by dead was threatened (John 12:10). Peter waiting on trial of Jesus denied Him three times, "And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed." (John 18:15-18, 25-27). Jesus foretold that Peter would deny being a disciple of His (John 13:38), but thankfully, after Jesus' Ressurection, Peter was forgiven and reinstated (John 21:15-19).
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| Mount of Olives |
From the Olive Tempest to the Trial, the Alpha and Omega was then subjected to beatings (John 19:22) and was tried before the Sanhedrin in secret, "They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered. Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire. Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find evidence against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other. Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” But even then they didn’t get their stories straight! Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Revelation 1:7, 19:11-16)” Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away." (Mark 14:53-65). The Apostle John includes that Jesus was first taken to Ananias, the father in law to Caiaphas for an interview (John 18:12-14). According to Achko Volume, there was interview between Jesus (Yeshua) and Gamaliel, "
I asked him to describe this person to me, so that I might know him if I should meet him. He said: 'If you ever meet him [Yeshua] you will know him. While he is nothing but a man, there is something about him that distinguishes him from every other man. He is the picture of his mother, only he has not her smooth, round face. His hair is a little more golden than hers, though it is as much from sunburn as anything else. He is tall, and his shoulders are a little drooped; his visage is thin and of a swarthy complexion, though this is from exposure. His eyes are large and a soft blue, and rather dull and heavy....' This Jew [Nazarite] is convinced that he is the Messiah of the world. ...this was the same person that was born of the virgin in Bethlehem some twenty-six years before..." (The Archko Volume, translated by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman of the Antiquarian Lodge, Genoa, Italy, from manuscripts in Constantinople and the records of the Senatorial Docket taken from the Vatican of Rome (1896) 92-93). This is same Gamaliel who trained the Apostle Paul when he was known as Saul (Acts 22:3) and the same man who defended the Apostles when they were threatened with death (Acts 5:34-39, New Testament Holy Bible). Christ our Lord was given a sham of hearing, and condemned because He answered truthfully, that he is the I AM that I AM. After the Add to ecclesiastical courts condemned Jesus, they went to Pontius Pilate to get death sentence, but that takes place on Good Friday, so that will have to wait. Next to Good Friday, Maundy Thursday was an eventful day for our Lord Emmanuel and full of betrayal, tribulation, and anguish. Only the Flogging, Mocking, and Crucifixion on Good Friday would eclipse the night of Maundy Thursday.
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