Maundy Thursday
It does not begin with words, but with a gesture. They are seated at the table. Passover is being celebrated, the Passover meal – the Seder meal, the Last Supper. The remembrance of what was, of the liberation from Egypt, of what God did.
And in the midst of what already exists… He does something new. He rises, takes water and kneels. He washes the feet of His apostles.
✨ Why does Jesus do this?
In the ancient Near East, it was a custom of hospitality that upon entering, the lowest servant would wash the feet. As a sign of welcome, a gesture of care.
And here something great happens. Jesus turns the world upside down:
He shows: “Whoever wants to be great must serve.” And deeper:
Not because it is expected, not because it is required, but because He shows how His Kingdom works. Not from above downward… but from above into kneeling. He says: this is how you serve – this is how you live.
In other words, the core is this: do not place yourself above another. See where the other carries “dust” and serve precisely there.
Not to rule, but to serve. Not to wait, but to kneel yourself.
Then He takes the bread. Breaks it.
“This is My body.”
He takes the cup.
“This is My blood.”
Even the order is not without meaning. Bread is the foundation, the daily life. Wine is the covenant, the sacrifice, the fulfillment. 👉 First He gives Himself as food… then as sacrifice.
Not a new feast, but a new fulfillment. The liberation is not only something of the past… but what happens here — is through Me.
In other words: He shifts the center — from liberation out of Egypt to liberation through Himself.
After the meal, Psalms are sung, the Hallel. Psalm 113–118. In this way, they conclude the meal, with song, with praise and trust in God.
It is not simply eating and then finished, but consciously completing it in God.
And then the night.
He goes outside, up the Mount of Olives, toward Gethsemane. See the loneliness of Jesus. They sing Psalms of trust, liberation, God’s faithfulness. And Jesus knows what is coming: the betrayal, the suffering, the cross……… and yet He sings along. Singing in praise, just before everything turns dark.
“Stay here,” He says. “Watch with Me.”
He goes on further. Alone. And there — in the darkness — He bows down. No longer before them… but before God. He prays fervently: “Let this cup pass from Me… yet not My will — but Yours.”
And there… it becomes visible what He had shown earlier. From servant… He becomes bearer. Not only giving…
but surrendering.
He returns. They are asleep. Not out of unwillingness, not out of unfaithfulness, but because the night overtakes them… as life sometimes does. He says to Peter, John and James: “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” And yet He asks:
“Stay with Me.”
Here there is sorrow, loneliness, disappointment… human pain. This happens three times, and the loneliness becomes ever more tangible. Deeper into the night. Further alone. He does not ask for great deeds, only “Stay with Me a while”… and even that fails. He is not carried by His apostles. After the third time He says: Rise, let us go… see, he who betrays Me is near…”
And then Judas Iscariot enters the garden, with soldiers and temple guards, with torches and weapons against an unarmed man. 👉 He gives Jesus a kiss as a sign: this is Him. Jesus is taken away, the disciples fall into confusion and eventually flee.
What begins with the washing of feet: kneeling and serving. It is not only about beautiful moments. It is precisely about 👉 how you remain standing (or kneeling) when it becomes difficult… to the very end.
What begins with water moves through bread and wine into the night. From old… to fulfillment. From remembrance… to the here and now — the reality. From God who liberates… to God who gives Himself.
Here it begins.
Not visible to the world. But here everything changes.
From the washing of feet in humility
to the meal of new liberation
from song in trust
to the night of surrender
