HIGHLIGHT 

John 13:1–5; Luke 22:39–44 

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. — John 13:1” 

EXPLAIN 

Maundy Thursday is arguably the richest evening in all of Scripture. Jesus gathered His disciples for a final meal, and before He took the bread and the cup, He did something no one expected: He knelt and washed their feet. Then came the institution of the Lord’s Supper. The bread broken, wine poured, and a new covenant sealed. After supper, they walked to Gethsemane. And there, the One who upholds all things fell to His knees and prayed: ‘Not my will, but yours.’ The glory of the table and the agony of the garden belong together. Maundy comes from the Latin ‘mandatum’ which mean commandment. ‘A new command I give you: love one another as I have loved you.’ The cross begins here, on His knees first washing feet, then sweating blood. 

APPLY 

Servanthood, surrender, and sacrifice are not last resorts for Jesus…they are His first instincts. The basin and towel were not beneath Him; they were His glory. The cup He asked to be removed was the cup He ultimately embraced. Holy Week calls us to the same posture: kneeling before others in service and kneeling before God in surrender. 

RESPOND 

• Jesus washed Judas’s feet knowing what he was about to do. What does that tell you about the nature of the love you are called to? 

• Peter initially refused the foot washing. Where do you resist Jesus serving you, receiving grace, being known, being helped? 

• In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed ‘not my will but yours.’ What is the ‘cup’ in your life you are currently asking God to remove? Can you pray those same words honestly? 

• The disciples fell asleep while Jesus agonized. Where has spiritual drowsiness caused you to miss what Jesus was doing? 

REFLECTION & PRAYER 
Begin this time by sitting quietly for two minutes. After sitting quietly, do the following: 

• Pray the words of Jesus in Gethsemane: ‘Not my will, but yours.’ Apply them to one specific area of your life. 

• Ask God to show you one person you are called to serve specifically, practically, humbly this week. 

• Take the Lord’s Supper during this time. Come to His table with an honest heart. Receive what Jesus offered. Don’t rush through it. 

• Finish by praying the following, “Lord, teach me to kneel. To serve without resentment. To surrender without demanding my preferred outcome. Like You in the garden, let me mean it when I say, ‘not my will, but Yours.’ Amen.”