Maundy Thursday

I learned the other day that Maundy means "command". So Maundy Thursday is derived from the command of Jesus at the Last Supper to love one another. Right before He gives this command, he "acts" it out...Jesus gets up and washes His disciples feet.

As He does this, He asks them, "Do you realize what I have done for you?" It is a poignant question, both to the disciples and to us today. (It is actually amazing to look at all the questions Jesus asks through the gospels).

Someone wrote: Well might Jesus ask us if we understand what he has done for us. In this passage, he is speaking of the washing of the disciples' feet, and how the disciples themselves must become servants of one another. But how can we realize that the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word made flesh, so humbled Himself, not just to provide a basic scrubbing, but to wash away every bit of human sin, degradation and death?....No we don't realize what He has done, at least not entirely. Each year the Church returns to the mysteries of our Redemption so that we can consider them again, perhaps more deeply this time, perhaps with greater faith than ever. Or perhaps in stunned, humble silence, we will just let the magnitude of these saving acts wash over us.

Lord, as I watch You - the Master and Teacher - wash the feet of Your disciples, I realize that You have laid down a pattern for us, Your people. Help me to not just understand what You did in that act, but to live it out. Enable me to live out the command of loving one another whether that other is friend, brother or enemy. For Your sake, King Jesus!