The reason we call this day Maundy Thursday is a bit of
church trivia. But it also
helps us focus on part of the meaning of this day.
“Maundy” is a shortened, Anglicized version of the Latin mandatum, command. It comes from Jesus’ words at the end
of today’s Gospel reading from John:
A new commandment I give to you.
Mandatum novum. A new commandment I give you: That you love one another as I have
loved you. It’s associated with
Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
Love. I’ve
talked about this before, but it bears repeating. When the Bible talks about love it doesn’t mean affection. It means a way of acting. Or, in a way I heard it described this
week. It’s a commitment. Love in the Bible is not a feeling,
it’s a commitment.
Bonhoffer describes that commitment: love… is the will to enter into and to keep community with others.
Jesus’ command and the focus of this day inspire us to
follow Jesus’ example. But I want
to focus on God’s commitment. When
we talk about God’s love for us, it is commitment we’re talking about. That commitment is what the whole
Triduum is about. God acting out
God’s commitment to us through Jesus.
So for at least a bit, let’s worry less about what we should be doing and focus on what God actually
does.
God goes to extraordinary efforts to be with us. To enter into
and keep community with us. To be
close to us. Think about the foot
washing! Knowing what he knows,
Jesus chooses to wash the feet of his disciples, including Judas. God knows what Jesus felt at that time, but it’s hard to
image that it was affection. But
he touched. Cleansed. Served. Because he was committed.
This is what commitment in action looks like.
And the Eucharist, of course, is God’s ongoing commitment to
be in community/communion with us.
On Maundy Thursday we also always hear about Jesus establishing the New
Covenant, setting in motion a way to keep God’s commitment to us after Jesus’
death. Jesus creates a holy,
mystical, eternal community shared with God, and invites us into it.
We give thanks for that community in the prayer we say after
the Eucharist;
Eternal God, heavenly Father,
you have graciously accepted us as living members
of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ…
you have graciously accepted us as living members
of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ…
Remember, God’s love for us isn’t a feeling. It isn’t affection that we must earn or
live up to. It is a
commitment. An unswerving
commitment. To us. To be with us. To do more for us than we can ask or
imagine. Nothing WE can do will
shake God’s commitment to us. God
has shown us that. Again. And again. And again…
