Walking With Jesus: An 8-Day Exploration Through Holy WeekSample

Day 5 | Faithful Son

The Thursday of Passover has arrived, and with it, Jesus institutes the Last Supper. The timeline towards the cross is speeding up now. Events have been set in motion that are destined to end in one conclusion: the death of the Savior of the world, for the world.

In some faith traditions, this fifth day of Holy Week is called “Maundy Thursday,” maundy meaning “commandment.” It is a reference to Jesus’s commandment to the disciples on that day to love one another. Today, it is a day of remembering all that Jesus did for us leading up to the terrible yet essential events of His death. We remember Jesus breaking the bread, washing the disciples’ feet, and crying out to His Father in the garden as He anguished over what would soon unfold.

The night begins with Jesus sharing the traditional Jewish Passover meal with His disciples. But unlike the Passover meals of years past, this one would be different. On this night, Jesus begins a tradition that will be remembered and passed down by Christians for centuries to come.

“As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take this and eat it, for this is my body.’

“And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, ‘Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29).

After sharing this last meal, Jesus and the disciples (sans Judas, who snuck out to set his dark deeds in motion) head to the Mount of Olives once again. This time it is to pray as Jesus prepares for what He knows will be the hardest day of His life – the day for which He had come.

“He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’

“He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine’” (Matthew 26:38-39).

The events in the Garden are a familiar story to many. Those who grew up in church read them learned them in Sunday school and heard them preached from the pulpit. But so consequential are these few hours, that people from all walks of life, in all cultures through centuries have some awareness of this scene in the Garden and what follows.

The greater question is have you stopped to consider the impact the Last Supper and Jesus crying out to His Father in the Garden in the middle of the night have on your life?

While each had meaning in the moment, they also have meaning for us today. This last meal Jesus shared with His closest friends serves as a symbolic illustration of all that Jesus would endure in His death when it would be His body broken, rather than bread, and his blood poured out.

In our practice of breaking the bread and sharing the wine in Communion together at church, we remember what Jesus has done in giving His body and blood in our place – God sacrificing Himself for us.

You may have grown up with different ways of practicing Communion, but no matter what that has looked like for you (or if you’ve never done Communion at all), Jesus's sharing the bread and wine at the Last Supper tells us all the same thing: Remember me. Remember what I do for you.

This act of remembrance doesn’t require special words or even a special place. Every time you share a meal with other believers you can remember using the symbols of bread and wine (or juice). It is not a magical sacrament. Participating doesn’t earn you more favor with God. It is simply honoring Jesus’ command to remember His sacrifice that undoubtedly will lead us to worship.

Easter week gives us a unique opportunity to connect to these events and remember what Jesus has done for you on the cross. Remember all He willingly gave up so that you could live a life of freedom and forgiveness. He was willing, but that did not mean it was easy.

Jesus’s vulnerable prayer to His Father in the garden after the Last Supper gives us a glimpse into the unvarnished agony Jesus faced for us. Through His words, we get an inside look at what Jesus was experiencing in this moment. He was anguished in the face of what He must do. He knew He was facing both physical and spiritual horror. But like the perfect Son He is, Jesus told His Father: not my will, but Your will be done. This was a sacrifice only Jesus could make. He was fully man to qualify as our substitute and fully God to qualify in perfection. Without His submission in the Garden, we would be without hope.

Reflection Question: Reflecting on communion, what significance does it hold for you? Have the symbols of bread and wine gained deeper meaning since you first embraced Christianity? Looking ahead, how will the events of Maundy Thursday resonate with you and influence your heart? How does it affect your faith to understand that Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself for you, rather than being a mere victim?