Holy Thursday

Before you begin today, take time to pray, worship, and ask God to prepare your heart.  We are at the beginning of the end for Jesus. Remember throughout this weekend, everything Jesus did, He had you on His mind. 

It Is So – Elevation

 

Above All – Michael W. Smith

If scholars are correct and Jesus rested on Wednesday, it would take that and much more to make it through the rest of the week.  Thursday of Passion week takes a turn for the worst.  

This was the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread or Passover.  Jesus sent the disciples ahead to make preparations for the Passover Feast.  He told them to go to a certain man and tell him Jesus time was near and they would be celebrating Passover at his house.  

Later that day, as the disciples sat around the table with Jesus, He began to explain to them that one of them would soon betray Him.  One by one the disciples would deny that they would ever betray him, including Judas. Jesus told them the person who would betray Him would face a terrible fate, which later would happen.  

Jesus prayed thanks to God over the meal.  He then broke bread and explained how the bread was a symbol of His body, broken for them.  He shared the wine and explained how the wine was a symbol of His blood which would be spilled for them.  Judas would leave during the meal to take action on his plan to betray Jesus.

As the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus would soon go on to fulfill the meaning of the Passover by giving His body to be broken and his blood to be spilled in sacrifice.  This sacrifice would then free the world from sin and death. This night would also establish Communion, instructing His followers to continually remember His sacrifice by sharing in the elements of bread and wine.  

After the meal, Jesus would become a servant and wash the feet of the disciples.  By performing this humble act of service, Jesus demonstrated by example how believers should love and serve one another.  

Jesus and the disciples would then leave the Upper Room and go to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus would ask the disciples to pray while He prayed. Three times Jesus went to pray and three times He would return and have to wake His disciples.  While Jesus prayed He agonized over what was to come.  The pressure of what was to come weighed so heavy on Him that He began to sweat drops of blood.  He prayed for God to let this cup pass from Him, but nevertheless He would still drink from the cup.  He would follow God’s Will, no matter the cost.

Late that evening, Judas would come to meet Jesus there in the garden.  He would not be alone though. He would betray Jesus with a kiss, and the Sanhedrin would arrest Jesus.  He was taken to the home of the High Priest Caiaphas, where the whole council was present. They would work through the night to make their case against Jesus.  It was against the law for hearing and trials to take place at night. This would be hidden under darkness.

During the time Jesus was in the home of Caiaphas, Peter would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, just as Jesus said he would.  

Scripture Readings

Matthew 26

Mark 14

Luke 22

John 13

We want you to begin a conversation with your family or Sunday School group about what God is showing you throughout Holy Week.  It’s hard to watch Jesus travel down the road to the cross, knowing it was because of our sin.  Just know, that’s how much He loves you.