Maundy Thursday Reflections

1. Every Maundy Thursday comes many things come to mind. For ten years of pastoring in Iloilo City UCCP Maundy Thursday is the day when the communion table is moved from the elevated chancel to the nave of the same level of the pews in front of the pews or put in the center and the pews are arranged in a semi-circle. In my mind it signifies God’s accessibility to the world and Christ incarnation and humility. There were regular attendees to Maundy Thursday service every year. With a congregation with less than 200 members and only 40 percent regularly comes to church, the less people attending the Maundy Thursday service the more the ambience becomes dreary and Jesus’ experience of betrayal and desertion becomes real as the service tapers in the dimming of lights. Immediately after the service, the sorrowful music from the band accompanying the Maundy Thursday procession of the nearby parish of the Philippine Independent Church grew louder as it passed by the church along Delgado Street.

2. All of these episodes were in the backdrop of the Feast of the Passover a Jewish celebration commemorating Israel’s freedom from the bondage of slavery in the hands of the Egyptians. It was such a great celebration during the time of Jesus because the Roman officers would release some prisoners especially those who were sentenced to die by crucifixion, the equivalent of capital punishment in contemporary times. It was also the same occasion when Jesus gathered his disciples for dinner. John disclosed that Jesus already knew that God has determined that he has to depart and go to the Father and that Judas has as well determined to betray him. That very night Jesus made the Passover meal very dramatic such as the washing of the disciples’ feet and the last supper.

3. The drama in the life of Jesus that occupies the celebration of Maundy Thursday is filled with contemporary issues and concerns. First is the washing of feet of the disciples in the Gospel of John tells of the necessity to practice humility and not just think about it. Interestingly Peter wish not to be washed and later wanted to be washed on the head and feet and Jesus told him that humility is about servanthood and not about cleaning somebody else’s dirt. The washing of the disciple’s feet excluding their heads and their arms shows that servanthood that Jesus represents is one that enables the disciples to walk in the grace of God, rather than thinking and feeling superior to those whom they serve.

4. The Last Supper is another dramatic episode of Maundy Thursday wherein Jesus supped with the disciples in an upper room and where the conversation of betrayal took place. The episode shows that Jesus was telling them that he is sent by God, meaning the Savior. However he knows that all of the disciples have their doubts and some have really doubts and that doubts would lead one to betray him. The last supper was the moment of truth for Jesus and the disciples. It was the moment when Jesus has to face the fiercest human predicament, treachery, violence, greed and death. He was shaken, but his fears was allayed by his connection with God and a firm faith that even in this direst moments, freedom, peace and love will be birthed.