Holy Week: Maundy Thursday
Written by McKinley Harrington
In the last days of Jesus’ life, he shared a meal with his closest friends. There’s something about a meal that brings people together. Barriers come down as people are participating in a joined practice. Despite our differences, be they political, religious, serious, or silly, there is one thing we all have in common – we need food to be sustained.
Sitting down at a table, sharing a meal, brings us back to our humanity. It reminds us that we are not immortal. We rely on something more than ourselves to sustain life. And our bodies have a way of reminding us of that – it’s part of our design.
I can’t help but think about this fundamental truth when I read the story of Maundy Thursday. Jesus and his disciples are gathered, lounging at a table, sharing a Passover Meal. This wasn’t just any meal. The Jewish people observe this meal every year as a reminder to themselves of the Lord’s provision. Their lives are sustained by food; and also, their lives have always been sustained by the Lord.
As the disciples are gathered, Jesus turns the tables. He says this bread that we are eating, this is my body. This wine, this is my blood. Take these in remembrance of me.
I wish I was a fly on the wall in this room. Jesus is saying this bread is his body? This wine is his blood? Remember him? I can see the confusion on the disciples faces. “Jesus, this is the Passover meal.” I guess it wouldn’t have been that outlandish, Jesus said a lot of things during his ministry that didn’t make sense on the surface.
This food that Jesus is offering to his disciples is more than just physically sustaining. It is spiritual, it’s emotional. It’s more than the bare minimum. In John 6, Jesus declares that he is the bread of life. He tells a crowd, likely a vast range of people:
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty
I wonder if the disciples were remembering this statement from Jesus as he was sitting there, bread between them, calling it his body. “I am the bread of life … this is my body.”
On this Maundy Thursday, I am encouraged in remembering that Jesus knows what we need so much more than we do. We think we need bread, he gives us the bread of life. We think we need water, he gives us living water. We think we just need to get through this life, he gives us life to the full.
No matter who we are or what our life looks like, one thing is true. We cannot rely on ourselves. We cannot live without substance. We cannot live a full life without Christ. Instead of letting us fend for ourselves, Jesus went up on the cross, died the death we deserved, and rose from the grave three days later, defeating death and giving us access to eternal life through him.
We have a seat at the table. We are invited to participate in the meal. Through the bread and the cup, we remember.
