Maundy Thursday

 Apologies for late posting - migraine last night meant I had neither the inspiration or the ability to sit in front of a screen.  All good now though - so it's just the inspiration I have to find 😁

Today is Maundy Thursday where the church calendar remembers the Last Supper, the washing of the disciples feet and the giving of a new commandment to ' love one another'.  For Jesus and the disciples  the meal was a Passover Seder where the people of Israel remembered their freedom from slavery in Egypt.  The meal took a set format with specific food and prayers and scripture readings - a seat was left empty for Elijah in case he returned and was hungry. Candles were lit and cups of wine drunk in specific order to remember particular parts of the story.  If you ever get the chance to eat a Passover meal I strongly suggest that you do it.  It will help you see the Last Supper in a whole new light. 

What we now call The Last Supper was, for Jesus and His disciples, a Passover meal, one which they would all have been used to eating with their families every year.  It was a ritual ceremony with set prayers and readings and things to do which involved the whole family.  The children were particularly involved. In Jeruslaem in the upper room that last week before he went to His death  Jesus was instituting a new tradition, a new meal and a new celebration of freedom from slavery.  He took certain parts of the Seder meal and added a new twist .The bread in the Seder is unleavened bread - a reminder that the people of Israel had to leave Egypt so quickly they didn't have time to let their bread rise. It is called the bread of affliction because it was bread made in slavery ( there is also salt water on the Passover table to represent the tears the people cried during their time in slavery)  When the bread is lifted from the table the door is opened so that anyone who is outside and who is not participating in the Passover meal can hear the invitation to enter and come to the table.  This is the bread Jesus lifts and says is His body.   His body is not only broken on the cross as atonement for our sins, but it is an invitation to all who are outside, not yet a part of the family, to come and participate in His sacrifice. 

''This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All those who are hungry, let them enter and eat. All who are in need, let them come celebrate the Passover. Now we are here. Next year in the land of Israel. This year we are enslaved. Next year we will be free.'' 

The matzah ( bread) is also called the bread of faith and healing. The Hebrew word is Emunah.  Here is how one commentator describes what Emunah means  ''Emunah is when you touch that place where your soul and the essence of the Infinite Light are one. It’s a point that nothing can describe. Where there are no words, no doubts, no uncertainty, no confusion—nothing else but a magnificent oneness before which all the challenges of life vanish like a puff of vapor.''   Sounds like Jesus to me 😀

 In the Seder four cups of wine are drunk to represent the four promises God made to the Israelites   1. "I will take you out…" · 2. "I will save you…" · 3. "I will redeem you…" · 4. "I will take you as a nation…".    Traditionally the cup of wine taken after the meal has been eaten is the third cup.  This is the one Jesus tells His disciples is the cup of a new covenant.  This is no longer to be a remembrance of God's salvation hundreds of years ago - this is God here and now saying that He is redeeming them here and now through His Son.  

I could write all night about the symbolism of the Last Supper and what Jesus was actually doing and saying as He celebrated this meal with His disciples. But maybe you could do the research yourself if you want to.  Here is a link to one of many Jewish sites which will give you a good overview of the Passover Seder.  Its fascinating stuff.

https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1980/jewish/Passover-Seder.htm