Today, we will be discussing events that take place on the Thursday before Easter. I apologize in advance as this may be a long entry. There is a lot of scripture on this day. So, to save time and space, I will just give you the scripture and you can if you like look it up. Have a blessed day.

On Holy Thursday(some call it Maundy. I will give the meaning to this later in this entry), in an upper room, Jesus and his disciples shared the Last Supper. Possibly after dinner, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and broke bread with them. Today, we call this communion. The bread represented Jesus body, and the wine represented Jesus blood. The only place that the washing of the feet was told in the bible, was in John 13:1-20.

During the meal, Jesus predicted His betrayal by one the disciples, and Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus. It is interesting that all four books of the Gospel talks about the rooster crowing. In Matthew 26:30-36, it does not get specific as to the rooster crowing, in Mark 14:26-31, it states that the rooster will crow two times, in Luke 22:31-34, it just says that rooster will crow today, and finally in John 13:36-38 it says before the rooster crows.

After the meal. the disciples went with Jesus to the Garden at Gethsemane. Here there is a lot that is going on. Jesus goes and prays, His betrayal takes place here, Peter cuts off Malchus’ ear, and finally the disciples leave. I will discuss each one thing that take place. Again, there is a lot of scripture, so take a look for yourself.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus goes off to pray, His first prayer is for His disciples. Some call this an intercessory prayer. The only gospel that mentions this is in John 17:1-26. In verse 11, He asked God (His Father) to protect his disciples. John 17:11-12: ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by^[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. I wanted to include verse 12, because you see that Jesus even prayed for the betrayed Him. he is saying that he has not lost one disciple, except for the one that doomed him, so that scripture would be fulfilled. Jesus then takes the time to pray for Himself. All four books of the Gospel, talk about this time of prayer. Jesus knew that he was going to be crucified. He went off and prayed, then returned and found the disciples sleeping. In Mark, he came back once and spoke with Simon Peter, He asked him why he could not stay awake for an hour, then he tells him to stand watch, and pray, so that he will not fall into temptation. He tells him that the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. So, after saying this Jesus again leaves to go pray. He again, returns and finds them sleeping, because the eyes are heavy.

Jesus then is betrayed by Judas and arrested. Judas had arranged a signal to the soldiers of whom to arrest. The signal was Judas walking up to Jesus and kiss him. The four gospels differ again on what occurred when Jesus was arrested. In John 18:2-9, the kiss is not even mentioned. Jesus just tells the soldiers that He is the one that they are looking for. In Luke 22:47-48, after the kiss Jesus asked Judas “Are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?. In Mark 14:43-46, Jesus did not say anything after the greeting and the kiss, He was just arrested, and finally in Matthew 26:47-50, after the kiss he just said to Judas, “do what you came for friend.”.

Peter then cuts the ear off of Malchus. Here again, there are differences between the Gospels, but all agree the servants ear was cut off. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke the disciple who cut the ear off was not mention at all. In John 18:10-12, not only was Simon Peter was mentioned as the one who cut off the ear, but the servant was named. In Luke, the disciple even asked Jesus, “Lord, should we strike out with our swords?”.

After Jesus was arrested, the disciples fled. The only two gospels that mention this is Matthew 26:56, and Mark 14:50. The statement was simple: they fled.

Lastly, as I mentioned above, the meaning of Maundy. It comes from the Latin root, madam, meaning “commandment” or “mandate”. On this Thursday, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment. The commandment is very simply put: “A new commandment I give to you. that you love one another. just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.” John 13:34.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this, as much as I have enjoyed doing. Please feel free to pass this on. Please leave a comment or like. Have a blessed day.