Maundy Thursday
Mark 14:12–31
It is Holy Week, and this year we hear Mark’s version of events. On Sunday, Jesus comes triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, with people waiving palm branches and declaring him a new king in the line of King David. He takes a look around and then goes back to the place where he’s staying, just outside of town in Bethany. A little bed and breakfast, perhaps.
On Monday, Jesus comes to the temple again and disrupts the activity there. He throws out the moneychangers and the animal vendors. He does this just days before the Passover, when pilgrims from around the world are crowding into Jerusalem to make offerings at the temple. He brings instability to an already fraught time in the city.
On Tuesday, Jesus spends his day preaching and teaching, and creating more controversy. He tells the disciples about the power of faith, prayer, and forgiveness. He tangles with the religious authorities in the temple grounds. They want to know what authority he has for all of the things that he’s doing, but he won’t give them a straight answer. Instead he invokes the memory of the exectues John the Baptist, something that is sure to rile the people up even more. He continues to attack the authorities by telling the parable of the vineyard against them. They are like rebellious tenants who are about to be thrown out by the master. They want to arrest him on the spot, but the crowd is too dangerous. They continue to spar back and forth. They try to trap him with a question about taxes and with a silly story about a woman who married seven different brothers, each one dying in turn. Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? Jesus debates with a legal expert about what the greatest commandment is: to love God and to love one’s neighbor. After some more verbal skirmishes, Jesus points out the generosity of a poor woman making an offering. He publicly predicts the destruction of the temple. It’s no wonder people thought that might sound more like a threat than a prediction. Going back outside of town with the disciples, he tries to prepare them for the trials that are coming, a sermon that we refer to as “the little apocalypse.” A very busy day.
By Wednesday, the authorities are making plans for how to dispose of this rabble-rouser. Jesus spends the day in Bethany, having a meal at the house of Simon the leper. An unnamed woman comes in and anoints Jesus’s head with an expensive oil. Many people there try to tell her off, because that perfume was valuable. Think of how many poor people could have been helped if it were sold? But Jesus rebukes them. This woman has anointed him ahead of time for burial. It’s at this moment that Judas decides to betray him. He goes into town and makes arrangements with the chief priest.
And that brings us to today, Thursday. Maundy Thursday, we sometimes call it. From the Latin Mandatum novum, meaning “new covenant.” Jesus is about to transform the Passover meal, to create a new covenant that springs forth from the already existing covenant with Israel.
They’ve already been in town for several days, but it’s not until day of Passover that anyone asks Jesus about making any preparations for the meal. Jesus sends two of his disciples in to find a man carrying water. The house that he enters will host them for the meal. How exactly does this come about? Mark never says there’s a miracle. Maybe Jesus booked ahead of time without the disciples noticing. Maybe he just figured that no one would refuse hospitality to the teacher who had been making such big news in the city for the past few days. If they would greet him like a king in the streets, surely they would host him in their home for a meal.
They have the meal together. The Passover commemorates God freeing the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. It comes at a terrible price. The death of every firstborn in Egypt. The drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Forty years wandering in the wilderness. This liberation comes only with blood.
And as they’re eating, Jesus tells them that one of them is going to betray him. We don’t know who all was there. The Twelve for sure, but probably others. Jesus says that one of Twelve will betray him.
Now, we know that Judas has already made plans to betray Jesus. He’s already met with the chief priest. He’s already arranged for how he will identify Jesus with a kiss.
So Jesus’s prediction reveals a few interesting things. One is about the character of Jesus. He knows that his betrayer is there, but he allows everything to go on according to plan. He shares the meal with Judas.
Second, we learn something about Judas. He must really have thought something was going terribly wrong if he had the fortitude to continue going through the motions, playing the friend to Jesus when all the while he is working out his plan of betrayal.
It also reveals something about the other disciples. They don’t know which one of them is going to be betray Jesus. They don’t know that it’s Judas. But how do they respond when Jesus makes the accusation? We might expect them to point the finger at one of their rivals. Instead, each assume it could be themselves. “It’s not me, is it?” Maybe that’s a form of denial. Maybe it’s a sincere question. “Is it me, Lord? Am I the one who’s going to betray you?”
Jesus doesn’t point the finger at any one individual. He does speak a curse against the one who’s going to betray him, but then they all just continue on with the meal. Presumably, they continue along with the rituals and prayers of the Jewish Passover.
Until Jesus goes off script. From the signs and symbols of the existing covenant, Jesus institutes a new covenant. He institutes the great sacrament, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion. Taking the bread, Jesus blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, saying, “Take, this is my body.” Taking the cup, he gives thanks, gives it to them, and says, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.” This is my body. This is my blood. I give them up for you and for many.
This is one of the most powerful aspects of our faith. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we here, even 2000 years later, share in the sacrifice of Jesus’s body and blood. Just as the first disciples did, we commune with the Holy One. Jesus can be found in many places in the world. He could show up just about anywhere. But we are promised that he absolutely does show up in the sacrament of holy communion. Simple bread and ordinary juice become for us the body and blood of Christ. It’s not just a symbol. It’s not just a remembrance. Jesus’s body and blood are actually present in the elements. And by them, we, the church, become Christ’s body for the world, redeemed by his blood.
They finish the readings. They sing the songs. Then they leave, back out of town to the Mount of Olives. Jesus predicts that when he is taken, they will all scatter. Peter assures Jesus that he could never leave him. Other’s might leave, but he never will. Even if it means he has to die. Of course, we know that Peter will run away. He will deny Jesus three times.
The other disciples all promise the same thing with Peter. They will never abandon Jesus, even if it means they have to die. But they all flee, don’t they? They all run away. None of them go with him to Golgotha. None of them go with him to the cross. They all hide away.
At least the men do. Mark tells us that there is a small group of women who go the whole way with Jesus. They follow along as he is arrested. They hang around outside the trial. They go with him to the place of execution. They are there at the foot of the cross. Mary Magdalene. Another Mary, described as the mother of James the younger and Joses. Salome. These three are all named. And, Mark says, there were also “many other women.” Many other women who had supported Jesus’s ministry from the very beginning in Galilee, who had followed all of the way, every step. They never ran away in fear. They followed him to the cross. They looked to see where he was buried. They went together to the tomb on Sunday morning, while all of the male disciples were still hiding. They were faithful to the end. The story is right there, clear as day, in the Bible. It’s tucked in, hidden away as little more than a footnote by the Gospel writers. “Oh yes, and by the way, during this entire story I’ve been telling you, I didn’t mention them before, but this entire time there was a group of many women who followed Jesus wherever he went. They provided all the financial support for his mission. Oh, and they were there the whole time. I didn’t mention it before, but when all the male disciples abandoned Jesus, these women didn’t. They stayed with him. To the trial, to the cross, to the grave. I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to mention them before, but there you have it.” That’s basically what the gospel writers tell us. I’ll leave it up to you to decide why that might be.
I think that’s what I would like to leave us with. On this great night, when we remember Jesus’s last supper, when he instituted the sacrament and set the stage for his sacrifice, we usually remember only the men. They all promised to stay with Jesus. None of them did. But that doesn’t mean that no one did. Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, Salome, and “many other women” stayed by his side. They were witnesses to the whole thing. They were the apostles to the apostles—the first ones Jesus sent out to spread the good news of his resurrection. And they are models of faith, courage, and bravery.
Let us prepare to share in the feast of the Lord.