Bible Passage: “They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, ‘Sit here while I go and pray.’ He took Peter, James, and John with him, and He became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” (Mark 14:32–34 NLT)
Scripture Reading: Mark 14:12-42; Matthew 26:17-46; Luke 22:7-46
The day before Jesus’s crucifixion is known as “Maundy Thursday.”
Maundy is short for the Latin word mandatum, meaning “command,” and alludes to the new commandment given to the disciples to “love one another” as Jesus had loved them (John 13:34).
The meal we know as “The Last Supper” was an intimate time of communing with His disciples. It would be the last time they would be together before His death, as they shared the bread and wine, heard final instructions, and concluded with a hymn.
Our various Christian traditions celebrate this significant moment as The Lord’s Supper, The Eucharist, The Blessed Sacrament, or Holy Communion. Through these celebrations, we, too, are invited to participate in communion with the Father and each other, and it is by this type of loving fellowship that the world will know we are His disciples (John 13:15).
The scene moves quickly from the table to a garden, where an epic collision of wills occurs in a time of prayer. The Son pleads with the Father to “let this cup pass from me” but surrenders with His declaration, “Not my will but Yours be done” (Mark 14:36).
The writer of Hebrews picks up this theme: “While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God” (Hebrews 5:7 NLT).
In the final hours before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus turned to God in prayer.
This speaks volumes about His priorities. When things were about to go downhill fast, He turned upward to His heavenly Father.
The disciples were invited to stay and pray with Him, but we know their watching turned to snoozing. Again, Jesus invites them to keep watch and pray, “for the spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Mark 14:38).
Maundy Thursday is an invitation to watchful prayer and deep communion. Prayer can get pushed to the fringes of our full schedules and fast-paced lives. But Mark is quick to point out that when things were accelerating for Jesus, He slowed things down to spend time with the Father as He got ready to intercede through the Cross for the world.
This Maundy Thursday, hear again the invitation to commune with our Father and intercede on behalf of a broken world.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the invitation and privilege of communing with You in prayer. Please help me to be a man who embraces Your sufferings as I intercede for a world in pain. Amen.
Reflection: In what ways have you taken for granted the sacrifice Christ paid that you might be able to commune with Him? How can you become a more faithful intercessor for the needs of those around you and the world?
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