Maundy Thursday

Thought for the day – Thursday 9th April 2020

Judas was starting to get frustrated, Palm Sunday had been everything he’d been waiting for, a lifelong Jew, he’d waited for the Messiah to come so that he might overthrow all that was evil in the world and that all men might worship God in the way Judas thought they ought to.  As they travelled into Jerusalem on Sunday, he’d believed this was it, his heart had nearly burst out of his chest on Monday as Jesus went mad in the temple, but it was as thou their was no rush, any time would do, that wasn’t good enough for Judas, he needed action and needed it now, he wanted to gee things along a bit.  Some Jews had approached him and offered him money to turn Jesus in, he could do with the extra cash and maybe this would be the kick Jesus needed to get a move on with what needed to be done, what harm could there be in giving a gentle shove?

Judas gets bad press in the Easter story, he is seen as the betrayer, the one who instigated the downfall of Jesus and the world has condemned him for two thousand years.  Did the Jews really need Judas to betray Jesus? They knew who he was, he’d ridden into Jerusalem only a few days earlier quite publicly, he’d turned the tables in the temple, he was hardly inconspicuous.  Judas is somehow the trigger though for the events of Good Friday, his actions appear to have set the wheels in motion and having done what he did, he couldn’t live with himself.

Reflection

• There is a song “in your way and in your time, that’s how it’s got to be in my life” I’d love to believe that sentiment, yet I often want God to work in my way and my time.  Think about occasions when you have been impatient with God.
• Do you see God as the divine fixer, or the God of wisdom and knowledge beyond our understanding?

Short worship

We have marked Maundy Thursday with communion in the past, we can’t do that today.  Remember that Christ took the things that were on the table at the end of their meal, ordinary food, nothing fancy.  If you would like, get a slice of bread, a biscuit or some cake and get a drink, whatever you like, take the bread or whatever you are using, thank God for the gift of Jesus, break it, think about the body of Christ broken for you and eat it.  Look at your drink, give thanks to God, remember the blood of Christ shed for you and drink it.  Remember that we are sharing as generations before us have.  Say a prayer thank God for the life of Christ and for his sacrifice for you.

God of love, I thank you that you loved the world so much that you sent your only son.
I thank you for his life and ministry.
I thank you, that even in my own home, I can mark the events of this special day.
I thank you for the body of Christ broken for me and the blood of Christ shed for me.

Amen.