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By Campus Pastor John Cordova, Lake Minnetonka Shores
The week of March 24 is Holy Week. During this week, we get an opportunity to observe the final footsteps of Jesus before his death at Calvary. Have you walked through each day with Jesus during Holy Week?
If you have not taken time to study each day, I strongly encourage you to do this. Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday. On the day that we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a back of a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (NKJV).
Then, each of the following days, the gospel writers spend almost half their written material on this one week in the life of Christ.
Now, we come to Thursday, the night that we normally call the Last Supper. Christians have offered many different names to describe this day. It is mostly referred to as Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday. If your tradition calls it Maundy Thursday, then you know that it received that name from the French word, “Mande,” derived from the Latin word “a command.”
We know that on that night, several key Christian practices were inspired and commanded — one of which is Communion. Jesus commanded his followers to remember him through the observance of taking bread and the cup. After this, Jesus surprised all his disciples by washing their feet.
After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:5 NKJV).
Hence, the rite of washing feet of others commences. Many churches practice this rite on Maundy Thursday. What catches my heart from this act of love by Jesus is His servanthood. He knelt before his disciples to clean their feet. He did not have to do this, but he demonstrated servanthood for his disciples and future followers.
This action reminds me that feet washing can be and should be a practice that we do often for others. In our case at Presbyterian Homes & Services, we can wash the feet of our residents and staff members by meeting their needs: emotional, physical, mental and spiritual. If we follow the example of Jesus, then, every day can be Maundy Thursday at the campuses where we serve and be like Jesus.
About Campus Pastor John Cordova: I began serving at Lake Minnetonka Shores on February 3, 2020, two months before Covid arrived. I fill the role of director of pastoral care, the greatest job ever. I live in Maple Grove with my wife. We have raised three daughters, and they have given us three wonderful grandsons. If we are not with our grandkids, we spend our time socializing with our neighbors.
