Weekly News for the week of March 28 - April 3, 2024

Hi everyone!  And happy Maundy Thursday. 

Many in our church have enough background in liturgical worship to recognize this day and understand its meaning. For those who don’t, Maundy Thursday is the day we remember Jesus’ last supper with the disciples, leading to His betrayal, trial, and crucifixion.

If you want a refresher on the events of this day, you’ll find the account in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and especially John 13-17. These passages describe several things that have become important for the church. Jesus’ supper with the disciples was the beginning and basis for what we continue to celebrate as the Lord’s Supper. During this evening, Jesus made it clear that one of the 12 would betray Him, and then Judas left the house to do exactly that. Jesus predicted Peter’s three-fold denial, which would take place later during the night. And the evening began with one of Jesus’ most powerful symbolic acts: humbly washing the feet of the disciples—a striking statement, especially given that during the same event, they would argue over who was the greatest.

Perhaps against that background, Jesus spoke at length about the proper attitude of a good disciple, as well as the reasons they should be encouraged and hopeful in spite of what was coming. We sometimes call this His “farewell discourse,” recounted in John 13-16.

In this context, Jesus pronounced what He called “a new commandment.”

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34)

Once upon a time, when everyone read the Bible in Latin, we would see the word mandatum where our English versions now read “commandment.” Jesus gave a new mandatum—a new mandate. So, we had “Mandatum Thursday,” which for easier pronunciation was shortened to “Maundy Thursday.” The Thursday of the last supper and the new command.

So today we come to the climax of Holy Week, which builds from Thursday’s supper into Good Friday and ultimately to Easter Sunday morning. In these next few days, we remember the most terrible, dark, difficult, discouraging, uncertain, inconceivable, amazing, indescribable, wonderful, joyful, triumphant, transformational events in all of history. That’s a mouthful! But there are many things to think about, to ponder, and to celebrate.

As you know from our church calendar, we’ll make an effort to share some helpful reminders and to walk through these things together in the next few days. We’ll consider the difficult parts of Easter tomorrow evening in a Tenebrae “service of darkness.” We’ll rejoice in the triumphant parts on Easter Sunday morning. We won’t do justice to all the depths of these events, which deserve our ceaseless wonder and worship for eternity. But we’ll make an effort to appreciate them together. 

Whether you’re able to join the events or not, I pray that all of us will be struck with fresh awe at the amazing things that are memorialized at Easter. May this be a time of true wonder and worship for each of us.

Please also be in prayer for our community event on Saturday. Though hunting for eggs and engaging in other light-hearted activities may not feel as in-sync with the full drama of the Easter season, it is one of many ways that we hope to build bridges of friendship with our neighbors, ultimately creating more opportunities to share the wonderful story of Easter with others who haven’t considered it yet.

Thanks for your prayers for all our events, and for those who will participate. Have a blessed Easter weekend. May all our lives be marked by the amazing truth:  Our Lord is risen indeed!