I wanted to give a shorter mediation than what I have been doing on Sundays.
So let us begin with the Lectionary Readings …
(By the way, if you would like to see a page with the Sunday reflections you can follow this link.)
The Lectionary Readings for today
Scripture Lessons for Maundy Thursday:
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-31.
Meditation on Maundy Thursday
Eating with Those You Don’t Know?
One of the things I want to draw our attention to in the Gospel Lesson is how these disciples, who have been following Jesus for three years, don’t know each other enough to know who is going to betray them. Don’t you find that interesting?
What might that mean for us? What prevents us from getting to know one another?
Servant Ministry is What It’s About
Books have been written about Servant Ministry. My point is that this is what Jesus is doing.
Two things about washing someone’s feet. First, in a land where sandals are worn (without socks) and the roads are dusty, this is what a servant is expected to do for the guests. But here, we find the leader doing caring for the disciples.
Secondly, there is a sense of intimacy here. Perhaps we recognize it when we slightly “blanch” at having our feet washed by someone on Maundy Thursday.
Yet, this intimacy directly juxtaposes (cures?) with the eating with strangers scene.
A Poem
My friend Bobbi shared this poem today. I thought it was fitting enough to share with you, too.
The Last Supper
By Rainer Maria Rilke
They are assembled, astonished and disturbed
round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,
and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,
leaving and passing by them like a stranger.
The loneliness of old comes over him
which helped mature him for his deepest acts;
now will he once again walk through the olive grove,
and those who love him still will flee before his sight.To this last supper he has summoned them,
and (like a shot that scatters birds from trees)
their hands draw back from reaching for the loaves
upon his word: they fly across to him;
they flutter, frightened, round the supper table
searching for an escape. But he is present
everywhere like an all-pervading twilight-hour.
A Maundy Thursday Service
We’ve included a Maundy Thursday Service that you are free to use.
Our original idea was that it would work for those who are out sailing and therefore unable to join a community. This year (due to the virus) it might become handy for you to use in your home.
Blessed be
Currently I’m re-reading John Dominic Crossan’s The Birth of Christianity
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