Passion Week Day 5: Maundy Thursday

     To some, the name given to Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday, is an odd name. It is odd… What does it have to do with Jesus? Well, turns out that maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, where we get the word “mandate”, a word that’s more familiar to us. Especially as is familiar to rules or laws. The mandate, or rule, actually, “command”, is Jesus’ command that His followers love one another,

John 12:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Meditate on that for a moment… “love one another, even as I have loved you.” That’s a lifetime of exploring, isn’t it? The love of Jesus! Jesus gives this command, and the next day He is quite aware that He will be in the throes of ultimate Evil’s assail upon Him, His body, heart, mind, and relationships. He will be nailed, literally, to the horrors of the cross, and He says to us all, “love one another”.

     Since we are in this Lenten period of reflection, what a wonderful thing to reflect on, and pray over, how can I better love like Jesus; my husband, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my extended family, my friends, my church, my neighbors, baristas, clerks at the supermarket, people at the gym, the Doctor’s, the waitress, all the people that annoy me!

Love one another, as Christ has loved you.

This is Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday

-Pastor Larry Enriquez