Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, is the Thursday before Easter and commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with his Apostles and his foot washing of them before his crucifixion. Commemorate this special Christian holiday with these inspirational and reflective Bible verses that held lead up to the celebration that is Easter.
This year, Maundy Thursday falls on March 29 and Easter on April 1. Especially interesting for 2018 is that Passover and Easter fall at the same time. Most scholars agree that Jesus was presiding over a Passover Seder in what would eventually become known as the Last Supper, according to Biblical Archaeology. This line up isn't always the case for these religions because Jewish people use a lunar calendar to determine the date of Passover, which is always the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan, a fixed date, while, for Western Christians, Easter is always the first Sunday following the first full moon of Spring. This year, the spring equinox occurred on March 20.
Maundy Thursday is called lots of things throughout the Christian world. Besides Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, it is also called Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries depending on where in the world you live. "Maundy" itself has mysterious etymology, but the most popular theory is that it is a bastardization of the Latin text of John 13:34:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
The verse reads in Latin, “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos.” “Maundy” most likely derives from “mandatum,” the first word of the verse, and also the derivation of the English language word “mandate.”
Commemorate Maundy Thursday with these Bible Quotes:
1. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." — John 13:34
2. "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6
3. "So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." — John 6:53
4. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."— John 3:16-17
5. "Saying, 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.'" — Luke 22:42
6. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." — Galatians 5:22-23
7. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 6:23
8. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." — John 15:13
9. "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." — Matthew 16:18
10. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." — Jeremiah 29:11
