HOLY THURSDAY IS THE day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover seder with His disciples. This final meal together has become known as the Last Supper.[fn1 ] The word “maundy” is often used in identifying Holy Thursday because of Jesus’ command to the disciples to love and serve one another in humility. The word comes from the Latin mandatum novum, meaning “new commandment.” Jesus spends several hours dining and fellowshipping with the disciples. He washes their feet as an example of humble service. Jesus makes three predictions during the evening: Judas will betray Him; the disciples will desert Him; and Peter will deny Him. Judas is noticeably blindsided by Jesus’ knowledge that he met with the religious leaders earlier to finalize the plans for arresting Jesus.
Jesus later goes to the garden of Gethsemane for prayer and contemplation regarding what He knows must happen next. Only Peter, James, and John go with Him. The other disciples disappear into the crowd and abandon Jesus. In the garden, Jesus asks the Father if it is possible to allow this cup of wrath to pass. He prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Luke 22:42). He remains determined to fulfill the will of the Father. Regardless, Jesus suffers such great agony that He falls to His knees and His sweat is like drops of blood falling to the ground (22:44). Sweating blood (hematohidrosis) is a rare medical condition that can occur under conditions of great emotional stress. Tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can rupture, thus mixing blood with perspiration.1
Jesus did not suddenly become afraid to die. I believe His stress came from knowing within hours He would willingly take on all of humanity’s sins and suffer the Father’s wrath. Jeremiah provides a description of God’s wrath: “Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land'” (Jer. 23:15). Isaiah 51:17 says, “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.”
As Jesus walks back to the disciples waiting with Him in the garden, there is a ruckus. Temple guards armed with clubs and swords enter the garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus. The high priest Caiaphas has ordered Jesus’ arrest, but he is not personally present. Instead, his personal assistant Malchus is there. Judas had earlier told the temple guards, ” The one I will kiss is the man; seize him” (Matt. 26:48). Now, Judas approaches Jesus, calls him “Rabbi,” and kisses Him on the cheek. A chilling use of an otherwise warm and tender greeting. Jesus stands tall, in complete control. When He makes the divine pronouncement “I Am he” (egō eimi) His enemies stumble backward and fall to the ground (John 18:6), aware of God’s proclamation to Moses, “I AM.”
As the guards attempt to seize Jesus, Peter leaps into action. He draws his weapon and cuts off one of Malchus’ ears. Peter does not use a Roman sword (a “gladius”), which is over 40 inches long and quite heavy. Such a powerful weapon would have caused far more damage than a severed ear.2 Instead, he uses a small sicarius knife. Immediately, Jesus heals Malchus’ ear without having to reattach it. I like the scene in the movie The Passion of the Christ3 regarding this incident. A look of comprehension comes over Malchus’ face and he remains kneeling as if paralyzed by fear and awe. In town, after Jesus is arrested, Peter three times denies knowing Jesus as people in the crowd recognize him. He is devastated when he hears the rooster crow three times, as Jesus prophesied.
Jesus is taken before the high priest and the assembled chief priests, elders, and scribes in several closed door hearings during the night (John 18:19-24; Matt. 26:57). These religious trials violate Jewish law and rules of procedure, revealing the hypocrisy of the leadership, as well as their fear and hatred of Jesus. No trial is to be held at night, but these proceedings are held before dawn. The accused is to be given legal representation, but Jesus has none. The accused is not to be asked self-incriminating questions, but Jesus is asked to acknowledge the claim that He is the Messiah. No trial is to be held during feast time. Each member of the court is to vote individually to convict or acquit, but Jesus is simply “declared” guilty. If the death penalty is given, a night must pass before the sentence was carried out; however, only a few hours pass before Jesus is crucified. The Jews have no authority to execute anyone, which is why Caiaphas seeks to push the execution onto Pontius Pilate. Initially, as people learn of this illegal secret proceeding, they protest. Eventually, the influence of Ciaphas and the Pharisees leads to a boisterous cry for Christt to be crucified.
After He is beaten and ridiculed by the Jews, the elders bring Jesus before Pilate. In order to level legal charges against Christ that fit Roman law, He is charged with inciting people to riot, forbidding the people to pay their taxes, and claiming to be King. Pilate is perplexed by the case. Pilate realizes Jesus is a Galilean and therefore under Herod’s authority, thankful for a way out of this controversial case (Luke 23:7). Jesus is brought before Herod, but Herod merely finds Jesus to be ridiculous and and remands Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:11-12). Unwilling to sentence Jesus to death, Pilate orders Him to be scourged. Jesus is beaten nearly to death and returned to the steps of the Praetorium. Pilate has become genuinely concerned over the fate of Jesus and tries one more time to spare His life. Pilate says to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”Jesus tells Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:10-11).
In keeping the Jewish tradition of pardoning a Jewish defendant on the eve of Passover (the “Paschal Pardon”), Pilate gives the crowd a choice of pardoning Jesus or a murderous insurgent named Barabbas. The crowd asks for Barabbas to be spared and begins to cry out for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate releases Barabbas and finds Jesus guilty. He symbolically washes his hands in a bowl of water, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves” (Matt 27. 24).
Jesus is led off to be crucified.
Steven Barto, B.S. Psy., M.A. Theo.
References
1 R. Lumpkin, “The Physical Suffering of Christ,” Journal of Medical Association of Alabama (1978) 47:8-10.
2 Warren F. O’Rourke, “Peter’s Sword: Getting the Imagery Right” (n.d. ). Accessed April 5, 2023, https://mistero.tripod.com/lukeswords.html.
3 The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson (2004; Icon Productions; Feb. 25, 2004), film.
[fn1] Calculating ancient dates gets complicated for a number of reasons: Jewish months all started at the new moon; they had two “new years” per year; they added in leap months as needed; days started at sunset, not sunrise; ancient people often used imprecise designations for years, and not everyone was using the same calendar system in the first century. Jesus celebrated a Passover dinner on Thursday night before his crucifixion, placing his crucifixion the next day, on Friday, Nisan 15. The most likely date of the crucifixion is Nisan 15 (= April 3), AD 33.
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