Maundy Thursday – Karen Gamble Writes

What Is Maundy Thursday?

Maundy Thursday is an important, though often overlooked, part of Holy Week.

A lot of things happened on Maundy Thursday.

Among them:

Jesus celebrated the Passover in the Upper Room with His disciples.

We now call this meal the Last Supper because it was the last time He shared a meal with them before His crucifixion.

It was during this meal Jesus instituted Communion as a way of remembering Him.

At the end of the meal, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples as a show of humility and as an example of how He wanted them to humbly serve others.

Following the Last Supper meal, Jesus and the Disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, located at the Mount of Olives.

Here Jesus went off alone to pray.

He asked the Father to take this cup away if possible, meaning the Crucifixion He was about to experience, but immediately followed it up with, “Yet, not my will, Father, Yours be done.”

Jesus knew what was coming.

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Jesus Was Arrested

Jesus was arrested the day before He was crucified.

(This day is sometimes called Holy or Maundy Thursday.)

The Jewish elders and chief priests hated Jesus so they wanted to arrest and kill Him.

They were scheming together to think of a way to capture Him.

They were a little hesitant to do it openly because they knew how popular He was; they didn’t want to stir up an angry crowd, and they didn’t want the crowd to turn against them.*

A man named Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ disciples.

He knew that the Jewish elders and chief priests were very upset with Jesus and looking for a way to get rid of Him.

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What Is Holy Week?

When I was growing up Easter was a big event.

In the days leading up to the holiday, the adults would spend a lot of time preparing delicious food and dyeing eggs.

Sunday morning we would devour a lot of the chocolates in the basket the bunny had left us, get dressed up in our fancy new outfits, and go to my grandmother’s house where all my aunts, uncles, and cousins were waiting.

After what always seemed like the biggest meal I’d ever eaten, we would go out and hunt for the brightly colored eggs.

Oh how I loved to run through that grass looking for those treasures!

One day it dawned on me that Easter might be more than just bunnies and eggs.

I asked a relative about it and they explained to me what Easter is really about.

Easter is about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

It was also then that I learned there is an entire week that has to do with Easter.

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