Maundy Thursday: A New Commandment + Reading in 2026
The disciples now have God in the flesh as an example of what love truly looks like.
On Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. It is traditionally known as “Maundy Thursday.” The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin “mandatum,” which refers to the “commandment” that our Lord gave to His disciples, to love one another.
“My children…A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
We see Jesus’ tenderness displayed as he addresses his disciples as his children. For Jesus, they belonged in his kingdom. Therefore, our Lord had to protect them from what was ahead, which only Jesus could undergo.
“Where I am going, you cannot come,” Jesus said.
The Lord gives them this new commandment to hold on to as they continue kingdom work. But why is this a new commandment? Didn’t Moses already give us this imperative in Leviticus 19:18 when he said, “To love your neighbor as yourself?” Indeed. However, this new commandment is unlike Leviticus. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The difference is that God became flesh and loved his disciples for three years.
The disciples now have God in the flesh as an example of what love truly looks like. Yes, it is a new commandment: Love one another. But when Jesus says, “Do this,” he has already demonstrated what it looks like.
Love is the center of Christian discipleship. How will the world know who we are? It should not be because of our intellectual expertise or professional accomplishments, but because of our love for one another at our tables, in our living rooms, workplaces, and places of worship.
Christian history triumphed because God has loved us in his Son, and Christians have reacted to that love by loving one another. Without love, there is no Christian faith; without love, we are noise-makers, clanging cymbals, and self-delusional religionists, but when we obey this new commandment, the world sees us, and they will know that we are disciples of the Crucified King, Jesus Christ.
Prayer: O Lord, of heaven and earth, we are undeserving of such love, yet you love us still without hesitation. We are your disciples and pray that your love would overflow in our hearts so that we might display this love to those around us by listening, cherishing, serving, and encouraging our neighbor in the Name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notations
Pastoral Model
My take on John 13 is that Jesus is setting a model for pastoral ministry. Ministry is full of betrayals and denials, but the only sustaining models are sacramental, Baptism and the Supper. Foot-washing is a mini-baptism rooted in the priestly language of Exodus 28-29 (garments, basins, water, feet) and grants access to the Table. Water precedes war against traitors.
Reading in 2026
It has been a fruitful reading season for me. The year began with Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which I have read for the second time. Eco developed a theology of sacrifice by the end that was hard to forget. If an institution is corrupt and murderous, it must all go down in flames, and so must all the memories fade.
Then I delved headlong into Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. Walking alongside the conscience of a murderer is not an easy spiritual task. But watching his sins melt and seeing redemption accomplished and applied was beautiful. Raskolnikov couldn’t outlast grace, and sometimes sins are easier to confess when the picture of the good walks with you.
I picked up Gashmu Saith by Doug Wilson and was reminded how grateful I am for his labors. Serving alongside him on the NSA board and receiving his wisdom as I represent the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches to the broader world has been nothing short of a gift. The Moscow mood, at its best, is simply this: to follow Nehemiah rather than Gashmu.
Oh, and Hemingway. Thanks to Dr. Hadley for the helpful overview of the book in our last book club. It was my first of Hemingway’s works. The Green Hills of Africa was a lot of what I am not. I don’t hunt. I don’t take pride in bull’s heads. But I do take joy in camaraderie and good drink, and godly ambition. The book was fun…funner than I envisioned.
Yes, since everyone is doing it, I might as well get on the Theo of Golden train. I suppose that after 2-3, or 10, witnesses tell me this is one of the most beautiful books they have ever read, I should get the hint. I have been listening to it, and hope to read it as well.
Speaking of, I have really embraced the model. The listening-and-writing model has allowed me to engage with characters and compare my interpretations through my own lens.