Apr 11, 2022 5 min read Maundy Thursday

Easter Triduum - Three Days

May we follow our Christ through the events of his last earthly week with wonder and awe.

Easter Triduum refers to the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. These holy days mark the transition from Lent to Easter, and they commemorate major events in the life and death of Jesus.

May we follow our Christ through the events of his last earthly week with wonder and awe.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday commemorates Jesus's last supper with his disciples. The earliest mention of this event is actually in 1 Corinthians. The four canonical gospels include a version of the story also. Matthew, Mark, and Luke include details about the broken bread and the cup, words that lead to contemporary formulations of the Eucharist ritual. The Gospel of John adds details about Jesus's washing of the disciples' feet and the giving of a "new" commandment.

Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:33-35)

The Gospel of John frames Jesus's words about loving one another as a "new" commandment. But, of course, love is not new. Jesus has spoken of love before. All the great spiritual traditions admonish their followers to love.

The striking element is not that the commandment is NEW but that Jesus's final words to his followers are about LOVE.

Love one another.

Good Friday

Golden Golgotha by Jay Hulme from The Backwater Sermons

even when we
wreathe Him in gold
He is still dying

here is our God
on a cross awaiting
the birds

sometimes
He is beautiful, like
we wish we were

sometimes
He is more human
than we

either way
there is blood
and iron

spear shunts
and scratches
and screams

some say this
is a form of
agony

to see God
as broken as
we'll all be

but where else
in the ashes of
creation

will I ever
see a God
who weeps

like me

Good Friday: Not Blaming the Jews

Rev. Mary Luti reminds us clearly about the dangers of our Good Friday celebrations:

"As Christians, we live under the burden of a sad and violent history of anti-Semitism, in the sobering shadow of the Shoah (Holocaust). It is critical for us to be clear about what our sacred texts mean when they make reference to “the Jews,” especially during Holy Week, when we contemplate Jesus’ death. When the crucifixion narratives speak of “the chief priests and leaders of the people,” they are referring to officials who collaborated closely with the Roman systems of oppression, and were viewed with contempt by much of the Jewish community in their time. They should not be identified with the Jewish people of the past as a whole, and certainly not with Jews in the present. It may be helpful to recall the cultural context of our Christian scriptures, emerging as they did from a small, originally Jewish community of believers in Jesus as the Messiah. All of the Gospels originated from Jewish communities. Jesus himself, was born, lived, and was crucified, a Jew. Any criticism of Jews from Gospel writers should be understood as the expression of differences of opinion among or about their fellow Jews. The gospels’ use of the term “the Jews” therefore, should not be read as a criticism of the Jewish religion, and especially not as a condemnation of an entire people, either then, or now. It is one of the bitter ironies of history that our sacred texts have been used to justify the persecution of the covenant people, from whom our Savior came, and who are created, as we all are, in the precious image of God."