“Maundy” comes most probably from the word “mandatory”. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he made
it “mandatory” for his followers to celebrate his holy Supper when he instituted
it with the command: “Do this in remembrance of me!”
When we meet on Maundy Thursday, we follow the “Tenebrae
liturgy”.
During this liturgy you are asked to meditate on the fact
that it was on the Thursday evening before Good Friday that Jesus and his
disciples were together for the last time, when he and they stood in the shadow
of the cross, when he washed their feet and instituted the Holy Supper.
Tenebrae is the Latin word for darkness or shadows. The
gradual extinguishing of the lights while listening to readings from God's Word that tell the story of this dark night at the Tenebrae service, is
symbolic of the advancing darkness that
came over Jesus during the night of his arrest, with the flight of the
disciples, the bitter hate of his enemies and the looming shadow of the
cross. The moments of total darkness recalls
the time when he was in the tomb.
The relighting of the central candle at the end of this
service is a prophecy of Easter so soon to dawn. After the relighting of the central candle the congregation leaves
the church in silence and go home still meditating the experience of
Tenebrae.
For it is by the darkness of this night that we are
enabled to see the light of the gospel that Jesus Christ carried our eternal punishment
and conquered our night! It is in the context
of hatred, betrayal and injustice, that we clearly see the love of God in Christ
Jesus for us and a lost world trapped in darkness. It is in the context of his darkness, that the
followers of Jesus Christ find new inspiration to follow him faithfully, living
in the light.
May God grant you a blessed Maundy Thursday filled with
God’s love and mercy!
No comments:
Post a Comment