Today I will give you some ideas about ways to celebrate Maundy Thursday. In a former blog about Easter traditions, I shared that Maundy Thursday is when we remember Jesus’ last supper with His disciples. Many families will have a traditional Passover or Seder dinner to remember this. Passover is when the Jewish people remember what happened right before the Pharaoh let the Children of Israel leave Egypt. You can read about this in Exodus 12. It was after celebrating the Passover meal that Jesus was arrested.
A Seder dinner is an interesting experience. There are special foods that are eaten, each remembering something from the Children of Israel’s plight in Egypt. There is a special reading that is done, special songs that are sung…It is really neat. I have attended two Christian Seders and I learned a lot from them. I have to confess that we will not be doing a Seder Dinner at my house. I have four children, the oldest is seven and the youngest is one. I’m afraid the traditions would be lost with the little ones screaming for their dinner. We will wait until everyone is a bit older. Here is a link to a website that has recipes, the readings and a more thorough explanation of the Christian Seder. http://www.crivoice.org/seder.html
The night of the Last Supper is when Jesus washed the feet of His Disciples. This was a very humble thing. It is also one of my favorite Bible stories. I think of Jesus, God’s son, kneeling down to wash dirty feet. “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” John 13:9 (NIV)
To commemorate this, many families and churches will have feet washing ceremonies. Jesus told the Disciples that they should follow His example and wash each other’s feet. In other words. “Love one another as I have loved you.”
My family is taking the simple approach to Maundy Thursday. We will have an easy dinner. If I have time to run into the city, I may pick up dinner from my favorite Mediterranean restaurant. The food there is quite similar to what Jesus would have eaten at the Last Supper. (And it’s delicious!) We will read out of the Bible about the Last Supper and about when Jesus was arrested and crucified. We will use this night to prepare our children for the joyful celebration on Easter morning.
We have something fun planned for Saturday night! I’ll tell you about that next time.