On the picture: The stone on which Christ prayed before being betrayed and captured. Located in the Temple of the Nations
Maundy Thursday
Gospel of Mark 14: 12 - 17
Gospel of Matthew 26: 20
Gospel of John 13: 3 – 18
Gospel of Matthew 26: 21 – 23
Gospel of Mark 14: 21
Gospel of Matthew 26: 25 – 29
Gospel of John 17: 1 – 7; 10-11; 15; 17; 20; 26
Gospel of Mark 14: 26 – 31
THE LAST SUPPER
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they were slaughtering the Passover lamb*, the disciples approached Jesus and said to Him: where do you want us to prepare the Passover for You to eat? And He said: go into the city and you will be met by a man carrying a pitcher of water; go after him. And where he entered, say to the master: The Master said: where is the room in which I must eat the Passover with My disciples? And he will show you a great cloak, spread out, ready; there prepare. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them; and they prepared the passover. And when evening came, He sat down at the table with the twelve disciples.
Washing the feet:
Jesus, knowing that the Father has given everything into His hands and that He came from God and is going to God, got up from dinner, took off His outer garment and, taking a napkin*, girded Himself; then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. He approaches Simon Peter and he says to Him: Lord, will You wash my feet? Jesus answered him: what I am doing you do not know now, but later you will understand. Peter says to Him: you will not wash my feet forever. Jesus answered him: if I do not wash you, you have no share* with Me. Simon Peter said to Him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and head. Jesus tells him: he who is washed needs only to wash his feet, because he is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you. Because He knew who would betray Him, that is why He said: not all of you are clean.
And when he had washed their feet and put on his garment, he sat down again at the table and said to them: Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, because I am so. And so, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you too are obliged to wash one another's feet. Because I gave you an example to do the same as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, there is no servant above his master, nor a messenger above the one who sent him. If you know this, you are blessed when you perform it.
I am not talking about all of you: I know whom I have chosen. But for the Scripture to be fulfilled: "he that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me." And when they were eating, he said: I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me; they were greatly grieved and each of them began to ask Him: is it not I, Lord? And He answered them: he who melts with Me in the dish, he will betray Me. Therefore the Son of Man goes as it is written about Him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it would have been well for that man if he had not been born. And Judas, who betrayed Him, said: Is it not I, Ravi? Jesus answered him: you said.
The New Testament - Jesus Christ establishes the sacrament of the Eucharist, Holy Communion:
And when they were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: take, eat: this is my body. And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it all of you, because this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you the truth; henceforth I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.
Then, having said this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father! The hour has come: glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, so that through all that You have given Him, He may give them eternal life. And eternal life is that they know You, the One True God, and Jesus Christ sent by You; I have glorified You on earth, I have finished the work You had given Me to do. And now Thou, Father, glorify Me in Thyself with the glory which I had in Thee before the world was. I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me in the world; now they understood that everything you gave me was from you. And all that is Mine is Thine and Thine is Mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father! Preserve them in Thy name, whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are. I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from evil. Sanctify them through your truth; Your word is true. And I pray not only for them, but also for those who, after their word, believe in Me, that they may all be one: as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, so that they may be one in Us - so that they may believe the world, that You have sent Me. I have revealed Your name to them and I will reveal it, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them and I in them.
let me also be in them.
The Temptation of the Apostle Peter:
And having sung a song of praise, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus says to them: you will all be tempted because of Me during this night, because it is written: "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered." But after the Resurrection I will overtake you in Galilee. And Peter said to Him: even if all are deceived, I, however, will not. Jesus tells him: I tell you the truth, that today, on this night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times. But he insisted even more: even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You. Everyone else was saying the same thing.
The lamb is the main sacrificial animal in the holiday tradition of the Israelites, including the Passover meal. It must be first born, male and without any defects. Besides the specific meaning of the paschal lamb as sacrificial, it is also associated with the very person of Christ, since He Himself is the Lamb of God, led to the slaughter, as He is described in Ev. John the Theologian in Revelation. St. John the Baptist, before his meeting with Christ, also called Him the Lamb of God as a pure and unblemished sacrifice in the name of the salvation of each person individually and of the entire human race. In iconography, Christ is also depicted as the Lamb of God.
Ubrus is an old word meaning "cloth used in the household".
Washing the feet here has not so much a sense of custom as a symbolic meaning: through this action Christ calls his disciples to very important things: to humility and service with active love for the neighbor. This can be explained by recalling the opening biblical text that every person is the image and likeness of God, i.e. each is related to us because of the sameness of the image in which we are created. When the apostle Peter, being the most impatient and with the greatest enthusiasm, asks Him to wash him all over, the Lord refers to the custom of washing only the feet, since only they have contact with the mud and dust, and hence - with the chaos.
"you have no share with Me" is an expression that means: "you have nothing to do with Me, I do not recognize you as a relative."
Gospel of Matthew 26: 36
Gospel of Mark 14: 33 – 34
Gospel of Matthew: 26: 39
Gospel of Luke 22: 43 - 44
Gospel of Matthew: 26: 40 - 45
THE PRAYER FOR THE CUP
After that, Jesus goes with them to a place called Gethsemane* and says to His disciples: sit here while I go over there to pray. And taking with Himself Peter, James and John, and began to be terrified and sad. And he said to them: My soul is sorrowful unto death; stay here and be awake.
And going further, he fell on his face, prayed and said: My Father, if it is possible; let this cup pass from Me, but let it be not as I want, but as You! And an Angel appeared to Him from heaven and supported Him. And because He was in an inner struggle, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
And he comes to his disciples and finds them sleeping and says to Peter: could you not stay awake with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is quick, but the flesh is weak.
He went away again, prayed, saying: My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me without me drinking it, Thy will be done.
And when he came, he found them sleeping again, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he comes to his disciples and tells them: sleep and rest! Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
Gethsemane, from Heb. "press for pressing wood oil, olive oil, oil press". It is located on the side of the Mount of Olives and is a rather large garden with centuries-old olive trees. Seven of them are said to have already grown at the time of Christ. Between the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives is the Kidron Valley, through which a stream of the same name once flowed. Today the stream has dried up, but the valley is preserved and there is almost no construction in it. /BGNES
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Sonia Zafirova, philosopher. The text, which was specially provided to BGNES, is part of the book "Christ's light enlightens all", which is about to be published.
