Maundy Thursday: A New Commandment

This was it. The final time Jesus and His disciples would be together before Calvary. They spent the evening in the Upper Room, observing the Passover meal together.

Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, is when we remember Jesus washing the disciples feet. It is in this act that Jesus gives us an example of how we are to serve one another. This account is found in John 13.

Later, in John 15, Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment- the commandment to love one another.

The strange word, Maundy, is related to the Latin word for “mandate,” or “command.”

To me, this day is when a sense of solemness begins to take hold of my soul. It’s when the Holy Spirit begins to impress upon me the importance of all the words that Jesus left His disciples with on this night.

This is the day I will sit with my Bible and read and meditate on these last instructions He left before Calvary.

I will think about the many times I have thrust my dirty feet at Him and flippantly asked Him to wash them. I will consider the many times that serving others is an inconvenience, a burden, an interruption- something I want to do on my schedule, in my own way.

And I will pray that He will change my heart- so that I can see these opportunities to serve others as an opportunity to reap the blessings of obeying this New Commandment- to love one another as He has loved me.

Take your Bible today, and read through these short chapters of John 13-17. Let the Word penetrate your spirit today. Let the words of Jesus find their home in your heart, and in your life.

There is a greater love that He wants to be present in our lives. This greater love only comes as we spend time alone with Jesus.

Do that today.