4 Lessons From Holy Thursday 

The sovereign Lord over all things came in obedience in the form of man to love His own even to death for the glory of the Father.

Easter is all about the glory of the Father revealed in the Son (Hebrews 1:3). In His death, the Son revealed multiple distinctive natures of the Father. He revealed His love, mercy, kindness, justice, and righteousness. Hence, we will do ourselves no good if we hijack Easter and make it a period of whiling away the time. It ought to be a sober reflection of our inability to save ourselves and the great love of God to save unworthy sinners like you and me.

During the Passover before His gruesome death on the cross sanctioned by God, Jesus had a Last Supper (also called Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday) with His beloved disciples we can learn four main lessons about our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

#1. SOVEREIGNTY: Jesus is sovereign over all things.

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God." (John 13:3 NKJV)

The foremost lesson we can glean from the historic Holy Thursday is that Christ has sovereignty over all things in heaven and on earth. All four gospels reveal that He knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. He knew of His betrayal, denial, and His death on the cross and perfectly predicted everything.

Colossians 1:16-17 tells us that He created all things, and He sustains all things. Matthew 28:18 makes us aware that He has all power and authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus said in John 10:17-18, “17Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” Even in this sorrowful moment, He was still the sovereign Lord over everything.

#2. LOVE: Jesus loved His own.

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." (John 13:1 NKJV)

The second important lesson we can take away from the biblical account of Holy Thursday is that Jesus loved His own to the end and He wants us to love one another to the end. His love for them caused Him to have the Last Supper and wash their feet.

A popular children’s song says that “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” The Bible says that the great love of God saved us by grace (Ephesians 2:4-7). His love moved Him to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins (Romans 5:8). Therefore, He commands us to love one another because He first loved us (John 15:12). Maundy Thursday ought to teach us to love one another.

#3. OBEDIENCE: Jesus was obedient to the Father.

"He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39 NKJV)

The last but one lesson we must hold on to is that Jesus demonstrated perfect obedience to the Father (John 6:38). At the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed and yielded His will to that of the Father as was written of Him. His death was predicted and perfectly played out in the gospels.

Paul said in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus was obedient to the point of death. He never missed the timing of the Father (John 5:30). If we love Him, we must obey His commandments (John 14:15). Holy Thursday teaches us that obedience to our Lord shows our heart for Him.

#4. GLORY: Jesus glorified the Father.

"So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately." (John 13:31-32 NKJV)

The last lesson we can talk about is that Jesus was consumed by the glory of the Father. He never did His own will but the will of the Father. Even His death revealed God’s nature of justice and mercy. The glory of the Son is the glory of the Father.

One of the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation was ‘soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone). We must be about the glory of God alone. Isaiah said that God will not share His glory with anyone (Isaiah 42:8). Revelation 5:12 says that the Lord is worthy to receive glory and honour because He took away the sin of the world. May everything we do be about the glory of the Most High God.

It is profound that on a day when the Son of Man felt sorrow and grief because of the weight of sin, we also boast about the fact that His actions were aimed at reconciling men to God. Therefore, if you come to God, He will not turn you away. He will save you. May the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord turn you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

The writer is passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ which has the power to save sinners and strengthen the saints.