Unvarnished Jesus: A Lenten JourneyEjemplo

Maundy Thursday, April 18

Luke 22:7–30

Jesus and the Last Supper

On Maundy (or mandate) Thursday Jesus gives His disciples a new and supreme mandate — that we love one another. And Jesus stresses that His kingdom is not to be characterized by power-grabbing, but by co-suffering love. In the upper room, Jesus also gives His church the sacrament of Communion — the means by which we participate in the body and blood of Jesus. The body of Christ is three things: The physical body of Jesus that was crucified and raised, the ecclesial body of Christ that is the church, and the Eucharistic body of Christ that is Communion — and they are all mysteriously connected. Through the sacrament of Communion we partake of the body and blood of Jesus that we, as the church, might be the flesh and blood presence of Jesus in the world.