Thaindian News

Apr 01 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Holy Thursday, which is also known as “Maundy Thursday“, “Covenant Thursday“, and “Thursday of Mysteries” is the traditional day of the Catholic calendar which commemorates The Last Supper of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus shared this last meal before his Crucifixion with his 12 disciples. It was during this supper that Jesus predicted one of His disciples would betray Him, and that Peter would deny knowing Him. Just as He said, Judas sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. After Jesus’s arrest, Peter denied knowing Him three different times.

Catholics honor Holy Thursday to remember the passion which Jesus had for what He was about to do. The sin and evil of man in the world had grown to be so great that an ultimate sacrifice was needed. A pure sacrifice that was free of sin. Jesus came to earth from heaven so that He could be that ultimate sacrifice. He knew ahead of time what He was going to experience, that the very ones whom He came to save were going to torture Him beyond imagination and then nail him by the hands and feet to a wooden cross and leave Him there until He was dead. His sacrifice of love by allowing this to happen to Himself is beyond anything which was fathomable.

While Holy Thursday is a Catholic holiday, Christians of every denomination celebrate and honor the days before Easter as well as the holiday itself. The story did not end when Jesus died. He was resurrected on the first Easter Sunday, and after visiting with many of his followers, He ascended into heaven to be with His Father once again. He waits there for everyone who has accepted His gift of Salvation. His ultimate sacrifice was for everyone who has had breath since His was extinguished. The blood He shed was to cover the sin of man. If anyone wants to be forgiven for their sins and have the blood of Jesus cover their lives, He died to make that possible. The only requirements are to believe that He died on the cross for you. Pray to Him and ask Him to come into your heart and forgive you for your wrongdoings.

The gift of Salvation is so often misrepresented, but it is not about rules, regulations, and judgment. It is about the love that one Man had to lay down His life for everyone, even the ones who had Him killed. As He was dying, and looking down at those who had spat on Him, tortured Him, beaten Him, stabbed him in the side, shoved a crown made of thorns into His head, and nailed his arms and feet to a cross, which they then suspended Him from to die….as He hung between life and death watching His torturers, He offered no curses, no ill will, no hate. He only offered love with the words He prayed to God, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Holy Thursday is a day set aside to remember that Love, and to honor it by repenting from sins, not because the sin was “against the rules” but because Jesus gave the sacrifice He did because of our sin…Holy Thursday is to remember His love, and reflect on how we can show that love to other people.