Holy Week 2022: Maundy Thursday

Spend a few moments in silence before God preparing your heart to hear from Him.

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

- Isaiah 53:1-6

Isaiah 53 describes the suffering servant. What does Isaiah say this servant will do for us? How are we healed?

Pray using the words Jesus taught us to pray:

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

- Matthew 6:9-13

Read John 13:1-17, 34-35

We may never in this life be able to fully comprehend the tremendous act of love Jesus carries out in stooping to wash the disicples’ feet. To be honored and humbly served by the Maker of the universe who took on our flesh is astonishing. In this tender moment, Jesus paints a picture of how He wants the disciples to live their lives as they follow the way of love. In the new commandment He gives them, Jesus takes the Greatest Commandment and deepens it by radically redefining it. Loving our neighbor as ourselves becomes loving one another in the same way Jesus loves us. Don’t miss how challenging this commandment is! Jesus stoops to wash the feet of the disciples who would all fail Him by abandoning Him in His darkest hours. This action includes Judas, who betrays Him, and Peter, who denies Him. Following Jesus’ way of love means tenderly caring for others, even those who hurt us most.

Think about someone who has caused you pain. What would it look like to show them self-giving love?

Read John 14:15-31

When we obey the command to love one another, we, in turn, demonstrate that we truly love Jesus. Following the way of Jesus may not be easy, but He does not leave us to do it alone. We cannot obey Him without His help. For those who trust Jesus and give their lives in obedience to Him, He asks His Father to fill with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables us to do what we could never do in our own strength. As a result of our obedience to the way of love through the empowerment of the Spirit, Jesus gives us peace. He brings about His kingdom of shalom, one filled with abundant life. His kingdom is not like any other kingdom on earth. Earthly governments and empires promise a peace they cannot give.

There may be fleeting moments that appear peaceful, but they do not last. In the kingdoms of this world, there is division. There are those who have and those who have not. There are those who are in and those who are out. There are taskmasters and slaves, somebodies and nobodies. The type of kingdoms our sin produces are self-serving, pushing others down to elevate the self, creating categories to distinguish between those who are valuable and those who are not. In the kingdom Jesus brings, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

It is for our peace Jesus died. Through His death on the cross, He destroyed all divisions and brought all who were far from God, dead in sin and without hope, into one family of peace, forgiven, cleansed by His blood, and united in love.

Where have you been sensing a lack of peace in your own life?

Listen to the following video:

Read Ephesians 2:11-22

Through His sacrifice, Jesus preached peace to all. What does Ephesians say we gain access to through Jesus?

What needs to change in your life as a result of hearing this message about Jesus?

In light of Jesus’ act of loving service to His disciples, washing the feet of those who betrayed, abandoned, and denied Him, pray the following blessing over those in your life with whom you need to find a greater sense of peace. Who do you know who has hurt you, who is difficult for you to love? Pray for their peace today using the following blessing:

24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’

- Numbers 6:24-27