Maundy Thursday: Gethsemane

PAUSE

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)

I pray Psalm 86:1–4, repeating the words slowly, several times:

“Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.”

REFLECT

Bible: On Maundy Thursday, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples, as described in Mark 14:22–26:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Comment and book passage: These words must have haunted the disciples the following day as Jesus’ body was literally broken and His blood shed on the cross, and then again on the Saturday with His body barely cold in the tomb:

Lunch on that Sabbath, straight after synagogue, would have begun as it always did with a blessing spoken out—are you ready for this?—over the bread and wine that were to be served with the meal. If any of the eleven remaining disciples were capable of eating that day, the grace spoken before lunch on Holy Saturday would have stabbed their hearts with remembrance of that Last Supper shared with Jesus . . . When God is silent and our prayers are unanswered—when the Word of God is flavorless in our mouths—there can sometimes still be faint flickers of hope and meaning expressed to us and for us in Scripture, in fellowship, and in the bread and wine.

ASK

Ask myself: I take a little time now to examine my life. In what ways am I broken physically, emotionally, or mentally?

Ask the Lord: I acknowledge this brokenness before the Lord, thanking Him for the promise of wholeness that rises from His broken body, and the forgiveness that flows from the blood that He shed on the cross.

YIELD

A prayer of surrender from the Anglican Service of Communion:

Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.

Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice.

Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory.

Amen.