By Lois Hewitt

Maundy Thursday.  This day marks the beginning of the end of Jesus’ time on earth as a man.  Things got real, to coin a modern phrase.

Jesus sent Peter and John ahead of the group to prepare the Upper Room for the Passover Feast.  Little did the guests (the Disciples) know that very soon their Rabbi, teacher and their friend would be gone from their lives in physical form.

After sunset, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.  This was a very poignant sign of His service to others and a shining example of how we are all to act in regard to others.

Jesus did not come to this world to have statues made of Him or to make grand gestures as a way to look more pious as many religious leaders did and some still do.

His ministry was about loving one another.  About being in service to each other.  He cared not about things, awards or accolades.  He came to show us all a different way to live. 

It was at this feast that Communion became an integral part of our remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus gave to all people…the opportunity of forgiveness and redemption for those who believe in Him as well as the gift of eternal life.

He broke bread (representative of His body) with His cherished friends. He drank wine (representative of His blood) with His disciples.  He washed their feet (representative of His service to other).  So much happened that evening.

But the night was not over.  Judas had yet to kiss his Teacher.  A kiss that would seal a horrendous deal that would cause the One True Light in the world to be tortured and left for dead on an old wooden tree shaped like a cross.

Judas delivered that kiss and Jesus accepted it as this was His Father’s will.  Once the kiss happened Jesus was arrested and stood trial early the next morning.

During the night, those who swore their alliances forever to Jesus, denied knowing Him.  Oh, how His heart must have broken. Oh, how their hearts broke also with anguish and regret.

The light of the next day would bring with it sorrow unimaginable.  A loss that would ripple through time for each generation to come.  Why did this have to happen?

Simply, to save us from the sins in our lives. Those things we are too weak to fight alone.  To save us from the bad choices we have made.  To purify us so that we may spend an eternity in Heaven with God, the Father and His Son, who humbly came to earth to change the way people lived.

This was a most horrific event in human history. There have been many horrific events in history, humans are the cruelest and most ruthless of species.

But the events of Jesus did not end after that dinner or after His human death.  He was triumphant over the darkness. Over evil.  Over death.  He rose again and His life did change the world!  Never will we be the same because He walked this earth.

These things we do, do in remembrance of the One who came to save the world through love, peace and servitude to others.

I fall short of His example every single day, sometimes I even forget about the sacrifice, and once or twice I denied Him.  Oh, how my soul mourns those transgressions. Peace could never be mine, except for Him.

Today, I remember what Jesus gave to this world.  No longer afraid to proclaim Him.  He is my Savior and I am blessed beyond comprehension because of His sacrifice on that old tree shaped like a cross.

“Thursday’s events are recorded in Matthew 26:17–75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-62, and John 13:1-38.”