So, what is Holy Thursday?
“Do this in remembrance of me?”
This is how Jesus himself described Holy Thursday, also known in the Presbyterian Church as Maundy Thursday.
So, what is this? This is the breaking of bread and the drinking of wine. This is communion.
You may have heard of the “Last Supper”, famously the last time Jesus sat with his disciples before he was betrayed and taken off to die. Maundy Thursday is a remembrance of that last supper.
From the Book of Luke:
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.[a] 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And this is what we do. We break the bread and drink the wine, in remembrance of Jesus. Catholics profess that in the Eucharist, the bread and wine on the altar really and truly become the body and blood of Christ. We Presbyterians however, see this very specifically as an act of remembrance. Yes, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive in heaven today, but we believe that the bread is bread that we eat in remembrance of his sacrifice and the wine (most presbyterian churches use unfermented grape juice) we drink is in remembrance of his love and his sacrifice.
For presbyterians, communion is very much an act of remembrance for the amazing gift of love that Jesus gave us all.
And, why “Maundy Thursday”?
The word maundy comes from the Old French mande, in turn from the Latin mandātum, which means “mandate or command.”
Jesus gave us two commands at that Last Supper.
After he broke the bread and served the wine, he said, “Do this in remembrance of me”.
And his final command was “I have given you an example. Love one another and serve one another” This is what it truly means to follow Christ.
First, you must remember him and accept him as Lord, as your savior, as the son of God.
And, no less important, you must follow his example. You must love one another and humbly serve one another. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Love is the greatest command and communion is a remembrance of the unimaginable love of Christ.