Maundy Thursday
It is the night before Jesus’ death. A time for one final meal, one last celebration of the Passover with his closest friends. As he serves the meal, Jesus gives it new meaning that has been central to Christian worship ever since:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”—Matthew 26:26-28 (NIV)
Jesus has already given his disciples a powerful image of his servant nature when he washed their feet, including the feet of his betrayer. Now he gives them an image of his sacrifice, the breaking of his body and the pouring out his blood for the sins of the world. Jesus the Passover Lamb teaches them how his death will bring forgiveness and life, and then he makes a sobering declaration:
“I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”—Matthew 26:29 (NIV)
Jesus knows this is the last time he will sit at this table with his disciples, and even though there is a promise of a new table in a new kingdom one day, it does not diminish the sadness of this moment, a sadness that will reach further depths in what happens next.
After the meal, Jesus and his disciples make their way to Gethsemane, a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. He takes Peter, James, and John with him to a secluded place in the garden and makes clear what is on his heart in this moment:
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”—Matthew 26:38 (NIV)
It is a difficult thing to imagine, the Son of God being sorrowful “to the point of death.” But Jesus is fully human, and as much as he knows the importance of what is about to happen, as much as he knows that it will not end with his death…the enormity of it all seems too much to bear. And what is it that he asks in this heartrending moment?
He asks his friends to stay with him and keep watch with him while he prays.
Much has been made through the centuries of the failure of Peter, James, and John to stay awake and do what Jesus has asked. It is incredibly sad that Jesus has to face that night alone, and I can only assume that the disciples (as usual) simply don’t understand the significance of what is taking place.
But we do.
And on this night when we remember Jesus in the garden, we are invited to stay with him and keep watch with him. Perhaps the best way to mark this Holy Thursday is to simply sit with Jesus and pray. Author and speaker Kathy Howard shares this beautiful insight about our invitation on this night:
“As I think about His solitude in that garden, I am reminded to pray for all of those who are sitting up in their own Garden of Gethsemane tonight. I think of anxious hearts that feel all alone while the rest of the world is sleeping away…Tonight, as I reread the final earthly prayer of Jesus, my soul needs to keep watch, as if to give to Him this small gesture of love.”—Kathy Howard
We may not have the opportunity to sit with Jesus in his sorrow, but as we remember the meaning of his death, we can sit with him in the sorrow of the world he came to save. In a small gesture of love we can keep watch with him as he watches over all those who know their own agony tonight, and we can know with certainty what John describes with heartbreaking detail:
Jesus knows our pain, for he has felt it fully.
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
To the point of death
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
Stay with Me here
Stay with Me here
Stay with Me
And keep watch with Me
Stay with Me here
And keep watch with Me
Stay and Keep Watch With Jesus
Today you are invited to sit in prayer as we prepare for the remembrance of Good Friday. Use this time to pray for yourself, for your friends and loved ones, for your church and the larger church, and for the needs of the world. Sit in silence, sit with Scripture, sit with favorite music or hymns…however you can best “keep watch” with Jesus on this final day before his death. Here is a beautiful prayer from the Transforming Center to use as you begin:
Lord Jesus Christ, prepare our hearts to walk with you the rest of the way this Holy Week.
Help us to find ourselves in this part of your story and not run from the pain and the unanswerable questions contained within it.
Draw us to sit with you at the Last Supper where you shared your heart so tenderly with your friends and also faced your betrayer honestly and without malice.
Help us to stay awake in the Garden of that Dark Night, wrestling with the death and dying that must take place in order for your will to come forth.
Give us the wisdom to know, as you did, when it is time to lay down our life so that some day we can take it up again.
Give us the grace to endure the pain of witnessing your humiliation and rejection so that we can more gracefully endure our own.
Help us to be as gut-wrenchingly honest as you were when you cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Grant us the courage to let go when it is time. Grant us the patience to wait with you in the silence of death until you call forth the resurrection.
Amen.