Thursday of Holy Week:
-Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare for the First Day of Unleavened Bread and the Passover (Mark 14:12-15, Luke 22:1-2). The Passover was the celebration Israelites commemorated yearly as a reminder when God passed over the land in Egypt and executed judgements on all the gods of Egypt- leading to the exodus of the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt for nearly 400 years. (Read Exodus 11-15)
-Jesus washes the disciples feet (John 13:1-20), celebrates his last Passover on earth with the disciples, established the Lord’s Supper, also known as communion today, foretells Peter’s denial, prepares them for trouble ahead, and prays in agony to the Father in the garden at the Mount of Olives (Gethsemane) as he himself prepares for what he must do soon. (Mark 22:14-46)
In all of these accounts, we see Jesus, totally God and totally man, humbly love and serve and continue to prepare their hearts for what is to come, knowing full-well that when the Good Shepherd is stricken, all his sheep will scatter. He never stops serving and loving his 12 closest friends, the disciples, even when he knows in just a short while, they will abandon him and deny ever knowing him after 1 of the 12 betrays him for next to nothing, 30 pieces of silver. (Mark 22:14-62)
-After praying in the garden, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and taken away by the mob from the chief priests, scribes, and elders to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish authorities made up of 70 men who included the elders and high priest, where they would seek any way possible to convict him of a charge, put on a sham trial, and falsely convict him, before finally convicting him on the charge of blasphemy, which was belittling the name of God or treat him with contempt. (Mark 14:53-65)
-As Jesus is being falsely accused, spit on, blindfolded, beaten, and mocked, Peter is nearby in a courtyard outside, where he would be approached 3 times for knowing Jesus, and 3 times would deny His beloved friend and Savior, Jesus before the rooster crows. (Mark 14:65-72).
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Son of Man, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:41-45). He knew this. He understood this. He alone could fulfill this. And He would do so humbly and faithfully as He carried out the Father’s plan to save sinners.
We remember this today.
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