Maundy Thursday: The Sacrifice for All

Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.'

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Throughout scripture, Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus’ tie to Isaiah 53 is no exception. Isaiah 53 introduces the “Suffering Messiah,” a theme common throughout the Gospels. It paints a picture of a servant who would bear the weight of sin through unimaginable pain and torment (Isaiah 53:3). As we read through this chapter in Isaiah, we are reminded of the sacrificial love of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah foreshadows that Jesus would suffer and die for the same people who rejected him. It wasn’t a punishment for his own wrongdoings, but for ours. Our sins that have torn us apart from the light of the Father would be reconciled through the Lamb (Isaiah 53:5). In his willingness to take our spot on the cross, Jesus exemplifies his greatest act of love and humility. 

Though before Jesus was crucified, Jesus had work to do on Maundy Thursday. We see another act of humility and service when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Now, it’s important to note that hygiene back then was nowhere near the same as today. If people were lucky enough to have shoes (and many weren’t) they were thick pieces of leather strapped around the ankle. This means that mud and dirt were caked onto the skin. That’s why Simon Peter was so astonished his feet were being washed (John 13:8). The man he believed to be the Messiah was washing HIS dirty, disgusting feet. Jesus demonstrated that true greatness in God’s Kingdom is not about power or status, but about serving others. He doesn’t care how dirty you are. Everything is made clean and new in Him. Jesus shows us that serving others is the heart of His ministry. The washing of the disciples’ feet is also a foreshadowing of the final cleansing, Jesus washing away all sin and death on the cross. Just as He washed the feet of the disciples, He is willing to cleanse us from our dirtiness and give us new life. 

Isaiah 53 and John 13 show us what it means to love and serve others as Christ did. We are reminded that Salvation came at a great cost. 

Are you willing to follow Jesus’ example of humility and service? When you are tempted to seek power, reputation, and respect, you are called to remember the innocent prisoner, who washed feet and humiliatingly died on a cross. Examine your heart today and ask yourself if you are ready to lay down your pride for others.

Lord,
It is with hearts that are filled with awe that we come to You today. How easy it is for us to live with only ourselves in mind, rather than the sacrificial life that Christ has not only modeled for us but called us to live.
What greater sacrificial example He has shown us than to lay down His life for us? We ask that You transform our hearts, that we might lay down our lives and pick up our cross each day. Help us to follow Christ, and to put the desires of the flesh to death.
Please fill us with Your Spirit, and grant us the kind of love that is not based on circumstance or people, but that is found in Christ. Help us to deny ourselves, and to find our lives in Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen. 
- Prayer Pocket

POETRY

Gethsemane by Mary Oliver
The grass never sleeps.
 Or the roses.
 Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning. 
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.
 The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet, and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
 and heaven knows if it ever sleeps. 
Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn't move, maybe 
the lake far away, where once he walked as on a
 blue pavement, lay still and waited, wild awake. Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
 keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
 so utterly human, knowing this too
 must be a part of the story.

MUSIC









ART

Jesus Heals Malchus, the High Priest's Servant by James Jacques Tissot 

The Garden of Gethsemane is the last place Jesus walked before his arrest. During his arrest, his disciple Simon Peter cut off the ear of one of the High Priests' servants, and Jesus healed the servant's ear. This painting by James Jacques Tissot shows this moment, frozen in time. It portrays Jesus as the only person in white, making him stand out among the throng, who all seem to meld together. Tissot places Jesus and the servant in the forefront to emphasize the miracle he is performing, while surrounded by the sneering faces of the priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees who have aided in Jesus’s arrest.