Maundy Thursday (17 April 2025)

Maundy Thursday is an important day in our Christian Church calendar. We remember Jesus Christ making a new covenant with us about 2000 years ago. Today’s meditation is based on our second reading, the Gospel according to St. Luke 23 and the previous chapter.  

After Jesus entered into Jerusalem, He asked His disciples to prepare to celebrate the Passover feast. Jesus gave them instructions about preparing the upper room. He knew that it would be His last supper with His disciples. At the appointed hour, Jesus and His disciples sat down to celebrate the Passover meal in the upper room. When they had gathered, He had supper with them. “He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”  

This evening, let us remind ourselves of the New Covenant of Jesus and Jesus’s Prayer before going to Calvary. Let us also learn from two of Jesus’s disciples Judas and Peter.

New Covenant of Jesus 

According to the Old Testament Law, the Passover sacrifice must be offered on the day of unleavened bread. On Passover day, Jesus offered Himself as the Passover lamb for sacrifice. Hebrews 10:10 says, that “we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. Jesus sacrificed Himself to save us from eternal death and sin. We remember this sacrifice when we gather for Holy Communion. In addition to Jesus’s sacrifice, we remember the last supper and the covenant that He made with us by sacrificing Himself on the cross. We are reminded to keep our part of the covenant to make our Lord’s sacrifice meaningful.

Jesus’s Prayer

In Luke 22:42, we read about Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. We can understand He also had struggles and difficulties like us when He prays “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me”. He also continues to pray saying “not my will, but thine, be done.” The path to Calvary was a difficult path for Jesus to walk in, so He prayed to His Father. His prayer was answered when an angel appeared to Him from heaven to strengthen Him.  

Today, we are all Jesus’s disciples. It would be helpful to compare and meditate on two of Jesus’s prominent disciples. We read about Judas and Peter frequently during Jesus’s last hours.

JUDAS: In Luke 22:3, we read that Satan entered into Judas. Judas was Jesus’s disciple but when he gave into temptation, “he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them”. Judas knew what Jesus had warned about the person who would betray Him saying, “woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed”. In spite of knowing about the warning, Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. However, the silver was not a blessing to Judas.  

PETER: During the last supper, Jesus told Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”. Jesus knew that Peter would betray Jesus thrice that night. He looked at Peter when he betrayed Jesus for the third time. When Peter remembered what Jesus said, he went out and wept bitterly. 

Let us compare Judas and Peter.  

·        Both Judas and Peter were warned about what they were going to do that night against Jesus.  

·        Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied Jesus.  

·        When Judas realised he had sinned in betraying innocent blood, he did not seek forgiveness from Jesus. He turned to the chief priests instead of turning to Jesus. When Peter remembered what Jesus had said, he wept bitterly and turned to God.  

·        As a result, of their different approaches, Judas went and hung himself. Peter became one of the first leaders of the early church. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised Peter “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. This promise was fulfilled in Peter’s life.  

This evening, as we prepare to partake in the Lord’s Table, let us recollect the covenant Jesus made at the Last Supper and His sacrifice on the cross for our redemption. Galatians 1:4 says, Jesus “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father”. A covenant involves at least two parties. In Jesus’s covenant with us, He has done His part of the covenant. Are we willing to do our part to keep the covenant?

When He lived in this world, Jesus faced struggles, temptations and challenges like us. We see His human form when He prayed to the Almighty Father to remove the cup if it was His will. As He understood this, in Luke 22:40 and 46, Jesus told His disciples, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” and “rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation”. Jesus practised what He preached. He knew what would be happening in the following hours, so He spent time praying. He also cautioned His disciples so they would remain strong. Jesus also warned Judas and Peter specifically. Psalm 14: 3 says, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” We have all fallen short of God’s expectation. Today, we too may receive warning from Jesus. What is our response? We can either give heed to the warning or ignore it. Judas made a covenant with the chief priests to betray Jesus. We must be very careful who we are covenanting with. Judas ignored the warning – the thirty silver coins and his life were not a blessing. Peter remembered Jesus’s warning and cried unto the Lord. He was the foundation in which the early church was built. If we only regret like Judas, we will lose our soul. If we repent like Peter, we can strengthen our brethren.

When we walk through difficult situations, if we are able to say, “not my will, but thine, be done”, God is able to strengthen us to do His will and calling in our lives. But to fulfil the will of God and call, we are encouraged to rise and pray to overcome temptation because “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”.  

Let us renew our part of the covenant with our Lord Jesus today. Let us continue to rise and pray that we enter not into temptation. Let us strengthen our relationship with our Saviour and completely surrender ourselves to His will by saying “not my will, but thine, be done”.

Let us Pray! 

Heavenly Father, we come into Your presence today to renew Your covenant with us. We thank you because You enabled us and counted us faithful to do Your ministry. Help us to follow Your example and commit our lives to Your will even when it is difficult. Strengthen us to watch and pray and surrender ourselves to Your will. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen!