A Maundy Thursday reflection
Yesterday was filled with headline news, including:
- Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court as the justices considered the question of birthright citizenship.
- NASA’s Artemis II mission to circle the moon launched last night at 6:35 p.m. ET. Watching the rocket lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida was awe-inspiring.
- President Trump addressed the nation last night, stating that the United States’ “core strategic objectives” in Iran are “nearing completion” a month after Operation Epic Fury began.
However, I want to focus on this Maundy Thursday on news that isn’t making headlines in our culture but is being celebrated in heaven.
Recent studies show that eighty million Americans believe a spiritual revival is coming to our nation. Of those participating in the survey, young adults (statistically the most unchurched generation in history) are surprisingly the most likely to agree.
A story I read this week shows why.
“I never knew God loved me”
Jennie Allen is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of IF:Gathering and Gather25, part of what Christian Post describes as a “vision to mobilize the global Church.” According to the article, she has been visiting college campuses with the Unite ministry and was invited to speak at Southeastern University in Florida last month.
The Dallas-based Bible teacher said, “We have been blessed to be on the road on about twenty campuses. And we have seen over and over again a huge response to repentance, to the gospel, to baptism, and it’s just been beautiful and amazing.”
This was especially true at Southeastern. After her message, she said, “The room did confession, which I’ve done in many rooms before. But a girl yelled out ‘abortion’ as loud as she could.” The student then collapsed to the floor. “I think after that, it got real,” Allen said. “Everyone began saying things that were harder to say.”
The gathering continued for hours and eventually days, with students staying for worship and prayer late into the night.
Allen, a mother of four, said she’s personally baptized hundreds of students over the past two and a half years. According to her, the desperation many young people feel is fueling their spiritual openness. She recalled, “A seven-foot athlete stood in front of me with tears falling down his face and said, ‘I never knew God loved me.’”
Gen Z’s faith gives her hope for the future of the church. “They’re so compelled by the love of God that they want to make a difference,” she said. “Jesus changed their life, and they want other people to experience that too.”
“As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride”
Maundy Thursday was one of the most pivotal days in history. On this night, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, surrendered to the soldiers, and was illegally tried and condemned by the Sanhedrin. The next day, he would be crucified.
But one part of what transpired then has riveted my attention today. As you know, Jesus shared what we call the “Last Supper” with his disciples on this day (Matthew 26:26–29). This is the phrase that caught my eye: “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant . . .” (vv. 27–28, my emphasis).
Remember who was at the table with Jesus that night: Judas, who would betray him, Peter, who would deny him, and nine other “disciples” who would abandon him. Only John would be present with him at the cross. The rest would fail him in his hour of greatest need.
Yet, astonishingly, he included them all in the Supper that symbolized his body and blood given for them. And, just as astonishingly, he includes us as well. All of us. Any of us who know him as Lord will be with him at his table in paradise.
Isaiah saw a day when “the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food,” a day when “he will swallow up death forever” and “wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:6, 8). On that day, Jesus said, “many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). He compared this event to “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” (Matthew 22:2; cf. Luke 14:16).
Now comes the most amazing part: at “the marriage supper of the Lamb,” the bride is us (Revelation 19:7, 9).
Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Now, as “a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2), we are “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (v. 9; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2). And “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5).
“The core truth of our existence”
Here’s my point: Your Savior loves you as passionately and unconditionally as a perfect husband would love his wife.
When you said “I do” to him as your Savior and Lord, you became his “bride.” Nothing can change your status as his beloved. Nothing can make him love you any more or any less than he did when he died for you. You are loved as you are, no matter what you do or do not do today.
Unfortunately, everything in our culture conditions us to believe the opposite about ourselves. If you are a student, your progress depends on your grades. If you have a job, your income depends on how well you do it. If you’re an athlete, a musician, a painter, an actor, or a writer (in my case), your success depends on your performance. Even your family is not exempt from transactionalism: your spouse can divorce you, your children can disown you, and your parents can disinherit you.
By contrast, as Henri Nouwen wrote in his marvelous book Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World:
The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: “These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity.”
Nouwen assured us that “being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.” And he added:
“That is the spiritual life: the chance to say ‘Yes’ to our inner truth. The spiritual life, thus understood, radically changes everything.”
Will you say yes to your “inner truth” today?
Quote for the day:
“When we keep claiming the light, we will find ourselves becoming more and more radiant.” —Henri Nouwen
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