Holy Thursday

The church has many traditions and practices for this day.  I am not so much interested in these traditions and practices - important as they may be.  My primary interest and purpose is in the tracing the footsteps of Jesus on this day. Incidentally Lent ends on Holy Thursday at sunset, not on Easter Sunday.

A word on the name Maundy Thursday: Traditionally in the Church, this day is known as Maundy Thursday. The term Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum (from which we get our English word mandate), from a verb that means "to give," "to entrust," or "to order." The term is usually translated "commandment," from John's account of this Thursday night.  The reference is to John 13:34 “Mandátum novum do vobis dicit Dóminus, ut diligátis ínvicem, sicut diléxi vos”:  "I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you."      

It is a very complex task of putting a sequence to the many interwoven events and discourses and yet remaining true to what is recorded in the Gospels. As a result, the chronology here will be rough in certain places.  I will make no attempts to smooth out these wrinkles.  This is expected when we are attempting to put together the accounts of four different authors who wrote with different purposes and from different perspectives.  Harmonization of the Gospels has always had its challenges. The things that I cannot harmonize, I always put in the category of “not fully understanding it yet.”  I am amazed at how many of these things appear to come together when I spend time in the Scriptures.

The approach: Presenting a Chronology of the Events and Citing the References of the Discourses. This is possibly the best way of getting a flow for the events.

The events include:

Setting the Stage: Matt 26:1-16 - Possibly events of the night before

1. The Preparation for the Passover Meal (Lu 22:7-13) – Earlier on in the day
2. The Eating of the Passover Meal with His Disciples (Lu 22:14-16, 24-30)
3. The Washing of the Disciple's Feet; (Jn 13:1-20)
4. The Prediction of Judas' Betrayal (Matt 26:21-25)
5. The Prediction of Peter's Denials (Lu 22:31-38)
6. The Institution of the Lord’s Supper (Mark 14:22-26)

q       The Farewell Discourse (Jn 14:1-16:33)

q       The Priestly Prayer of Jesus (Jn 17:1-26)

7. The Prayer and Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lu 22:39-46)
8. The Arrest of Jesus and Forsaken (Mark 14:43-52)
9. The Trial of Jesus – the Ecclesiastical Trials

1. First Trial (Jn 18:13-14)

                            i.      Peter’s Denials (Jn 18:15-27)

2. Second Trial (Matt 26:59-68)
3. Third Trial (Lu 22:66-23:1)

10. The Suicide of Judas (Matt 27:3-10) cf. Acts 1:18-19

The Roman Trials: (Lu 23:1-25) cf. Jn 18:28-19:16 –It is now morning therefore, these took place on Good Friday Morning

 This is a work in progress and might change in the future.  I am posting this just in case some of you might want to use it immediately.

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 Last modified: Tuesday February 03, 2009 .