On Maundy Thursday, we are invited to contemplate the Last Supper, the event in which Jesus instructed his disciples (and later, through tradition, the Church) to take communion, a sacrament that reflects on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Maundy Thursday can look different across traditions. Some churches celebrate in sorrow, reflecting on Jesus’ death, while others celebrate loudly with a community meal, honoring Christ’s commitment to fellowship even in His last days.
One of the great myths surrounding the doctrine of sin in the Church today is a supposed emphasis on condemnation instead of willful love. After one of, if not the, most famous verse in the Bible, John reveals the Trinity’s heart for salvation:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 NRSVue
Did you catch that, friend? The motivation of redemption isn’t condemnation or punishment or even correction. The motivation of redemption is love. How often do we operate as though God is angry with us or waiting to catch us in sin? Instead, God is the embodiment of love, chasing us down and pursuing us, hoping that we can be reconciled.
Some of Jesus’ last moments on earth were spent in community. This is Jesus’ heart for His people. We are not simply children of God seeking to be punished. We are indeed children of God designed for community with God and God’s people.
As Paul writes:
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death… it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. ‘
Romans 8:1-2; 16-17 NRSVue
There is no deep, dark, terrible condemnation for those who are in Christ, even though we are tempted to feel it sometimes as we fail to wrestle against our selfish desires. Instead, God has made us heirs, children that God loves and lavishes and invests in for the future of all in God’s kingdom. While we do not experience condemnation in Christ, we do experience, and should expect, suffering. God’s heart suffered watching the Son beaten and bleeding on the cross. Jesus suffered as He slowly suffocated on the cross. Because we are co-heirs, no better and no worse than Christ, we are expected to share in His sufferings. What this suffering looks like might depend on our larger context. For some of us, we will know Christ’s suffering in prison cells, imprisoned or beheaded for our beliefs. For others of us, we will be asked to forgo our righteous anger at someone who has wronged us. For still others, God will expect us to surrender our dreams, the things we want most in this life – a relationship, a child, a job, a healthy body.
Yet, we know this suffering with Christ ends in sharing glory with Christ.
As we walk around in fellowship today in whatever form that looks like, we might be tempted to envy the things or circumstances others have that we do not. Instead, let’s work to focus on sharing the Good News with those around us who do not know God. Like Jesus, we do not need to share the Good News with violence and condemnation. Rather, we can follow Jesus’ example and share the Good News invitingly, as an option to take up or put away. We can be motivated by love rather than righteousness to bring people into the Kingdom of God.
For those friends of ours who know Jesus, we can commemorate our siblinghood with them, thanking God for the people put in our lives to challenge and comfort us. We can drop off bread with a loved one or a stranger and trust that no matter what suffering we will endure in the coming days, God’s purpose will be done on the earth as it is in heaven. God’s goodness will ultimately bring us victory. As Paul writes (Romans 8:18): “’I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”
NOTES:
Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Bryce Van Vleet is the #1 selling author of Tired Pages and Before We All Die Let’s Have One Last Chat by the Fireside. He also hosts the podcast Death in Dakota, sells poetry art here, and masquerades as the spoken word artist Liihey. You can support him by clicking through blog posts or donating (scroll to the bottom of the page).
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