On Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper, which was the precursor to the Lord’s last stand. If you were preparing for battle with your enemies, wouldn’t you be padding the upper room, lower rooms and surrounding premises with sandbags while stockpiling ammunition? Jesus was no David Koresh. He wasn’t Clint Eastwood either, if we have in mind the movie, High Plains Drifter (not Gran Torino). Jesus prepares for his last stand with a supper and a foot washing (See John 13).
How do you and I engage in battles with our culture war enemies? Do we sit down for a meal with our friends, wash their feet, and then allow ourselves to be put on crosses outside the city gates? As with crucifixions generally, Jesus’ arms were spread out wide; mine would likely be brought in close for protection in a state of frenzied paranoia. The same open and humble state of being that Jesus modeled in washing his followers’ feet that holy Thursday evening was on display as he hung on the cross the next day for a world full of enemies.
The Last Supper was Jesus’ last stand. And yet, given Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead, his last stand becomes our only stand. Jesus’ way of being in the world in death is the very means through which we find life. You have no doubt heard of Sunday Christians—those who act like Christians only on Sundays. Given that Jesus rose on Sunday, his last stand is the lasting stand. As a result, we Christians need to learn to become Maundy Thursday Christians seven days a week.
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