Holy Week: Thursday

After Singing a Hymn

(Matthew 26:30)

That’s a good way to end a meal—singing a hymn. I wonder what it would be like to hear Jesus’ voice singing melody along with the voices of the disciples. To this day, followers of Jesus gather at Table and sing hymns of praise, wonder and adoration. What would life be without hymns?

This day is all about the Meal. It starts with preparations for the Passover Meal. When the Supper is ready, Jesus welcomes the disciples by washing their feet. Then, at Table, Jesus breaks some bread, gives thanks (eucharisteō), and gives it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body given for you…” To this day, whenever we break bread, we can’t help but think of that day—of that Table.

It was at this Table that Jesus gave “a new commandment” that we are to love one another just as Jesus has loved us. The Latin word for “commandment” is mandatum from which we get our word “mandate.” That’s how this day gets its Christian Calendar name “Maundy Thursday”—the day when the church celebrates that first Supper when Jesus broke bread and gave a new mandate for all who follow him: “By this commandment (mandatum) everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love (agapē) for one another” (Jn 13). The first generation to gather around the Table to eat and drink and remember, referred to the Meal simply as “the agape” (Jude 1:12).

It was during this Meal, when Peter boasted about how he will “lay down his life for Jesus,” that Jesus predicted that this very night Peter will deny Jesus three times. There can be no boasting of one’s piety at this Table. When Jesus speaks of denial or even betrayal, it is best we reply, like all true disciples, and say, “Lord, is it I?” (Mt 26:25)

Maundy Thursday became one of my favorite church celebrations—a somber gathering. There is something simple and real about it. We stripped the sanctuary of all decorations making it as sparse as possible. Candles took the place of electric lights. Music is unplugged like that night Jesus sang hymns with his disciples. The Table alone is placed on the dais. We take our time singing and reading again the new commandment of our Lord and eating the bread of life and drinking the cup of our salvation. It has a way of cleansing our hearts and freeing us to love one another. Just as Jesus commands.