On the last night before he was crucified, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples, washed their feet, and commanded them to love each other. Maundy Thursday is the day during Holy Week that commemorates these events. Maundy is derived from the Latin mandatum which literally means “commandment” and points to Jesus’ commandment to “love one another.”
As you plan for Holy Week and Easter services consider adapting one of the following resources for your own context. Resources at ReformedWorship.org and in our print/digital edition are free to use in worship contexts with acknowledgment.
Can you think of a situation in which explaining what to do wasn’t effective, so you needed to show the person how to do it? Jesus reverses this pattern: He starts by showing, then spends some time explaining. In the gospel of John, much of his final time of teaching the disciples has to do with love—his love for them, his hope that they will continue to love him, and his command that they love each other. But he begins all his teaching with a vivid demonstration of love: He washes his disciples’ feet. This act is set in the middle of John’s account of Judas’s betrayal. Jesus’ love is not dependent on his disciples’ behavior. It is offered in advance of and with full knowledge of all their coming cowardice, denials, and betrayals. And this act ends with a clear application: Show this same humble, servant-like love to each other.
More Maundy Thursday Resources
Beyond Anything We Could Ask or Imagine
Walking with Jesus: A Reflection on a Maundy Thursday Service for Low Attendance
Reliving the Passion in the Gospel of Mark
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