Maundy Thursday – “A BETTER Community”
Verse: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)”
Read: John 13:1-17:26
DIY (Do It Yourself) is more than an acronym for videos on YouTube. It’s rooted in a sense that you’re weak if you don’t do it yourself. We champion the individual, always pushing our kids to stand out, always feeling that we have to be unique and stand above everyone else. We compare ourselves. We criticize others to make ourselves feel better. And we often find ourselves isolated and exhausted. But Jesus is clearly shows us that we can’t live in isolation. In fact, He likens His coming to our loving one another. A thread in most of Jesus’ teaching is “our relationship to God and each other is inseparable”. The moment we think it’s only us and God, we’re missing it. Likewise, the moment we think we can get what we need from others and not the father, we’re in treacherous relational territory.
Jesus comes to be the Savior of the world and He co-labors His plan with 12 young guys. Jesus shows them that their togetherness, their community, is part of the Father’s plan. In a simple yet profound move, Jesus redefines their eating habits. He shows them that every time they gather for a meal it is to be done in light of Him, bringing them into a new greater form of community that connected them with each other and drew them closer to Him.
After this they all depart dinner singing a psalm and Jesus enters the Garden of Gethsemane where He senses the weight of His mission. Luke 22:43 tells us that Jesus cries out to His Father to consider a different way this mission can be accomplished. In this moment of despair His Father sends Him an angel to comfort and strengthen in him. Jesus was alone in that moment so we wouldn’t ever have to be alone again. Jesus came to to give a new vision for a better community for us. A community with himself at the center.
I am not alone. You are not alone. Jesus is with us and we are together now in Him. Let us reach out in love to one another and be mindful of those who are on the left and right.