(Theological commentary on the content and meaning of Holy Thursday)
"On Holy and Great Thursday, the divine Fathers, who were well-ordered in everything, successively handed down to us from the divine Apostles and the holy Gospels four things to celebrate: the holy Baptism, the Last Supper (that is, the celebration of what we consider to be horrible Mysteries), the supernatural Prayer, and this Betrayal.".
This is the synaxari of Holy Thursday. Our holy Church commemorates on this holy day what took place in the upper room of Jerusalem and what followed after the Last Supper.
The Divine Drama is heading towards its completion. The Lord, who voluntarily and unjustly suffered for our salvation, knows that the end of His earthly presence has come. The betrayal of the ungrateful disciple, the arrest, the humiliations, the mock trial, the condemnation and the death on the cross are a matter of hours. As a man, He felt the heavy burden of the redemption of the human race through His sacrifice and for this He was extremely anxious. He was not interested in His own martyrdom and death, but in the continuation of His salvific work.
That is why He dedicated the evening before the upcoming Jewish Passover and the eve of His own death on the cross to His beloved disciples. "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15) He told them. He wanted to eat with them for the last time. But most importantly, to leave them His last bequests and above all to celebrate the Last Supper, to deliver the supernatural Divine Eucharist, which will be celebrated in perpetuity, as His eternal real presence in the Church.
In the upper room of Jerusalem, in an atmosphere of intense emotion and in a sign of true and unfeigned love, the Lord bent down as a servant and washed the feet of His disciples. With this act, He wanted to teach in practice the primary duty of mutual service among people. "The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the deacon." (Luke 22:25), left as the highest commandment for subsequent human generations.
Then they sat down at the supper table. The Lord wanted first to clarify the case of the traitorous disciple. It was not possible for that lawless one to sit with them in the celebration of the terrible Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, much less to partake of it. So He says "He who eats with me will deliver me up to one of you." (Mark 14:18, John 13:22). These words
brought confusion to the disciples. They did not expect to hear such a terrible announcement and began to wonder: who is this? The beloved
The disciple John, falling on the Teacher's neck, asked on behalf of everyone: "Lord, where are they?" and the Lord answered: "He is the one who, oh, I, will give you the bread you have dyed." (John 13:26). And dipping a piece of bread in the meal, he gave it to Judas. He ate it and at the same time "Satan entered into him" (John 13:27). Jesus said to him: "Whatever you do, do it quickly" (John 13:27). The traitorous disciple left in a hurry, forever removed from the company of the disciples and from the fellowship of the Divine Teacher. "The night" John adds. "Nyx is real, emphasizes a contemporary writer, but also a spiritual night in the soul of Judas, in which the light of the divine Spirit was forever extinguished"!
After this, the Lord instituted the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist. He took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it into pieces and gave it to the
to his disciples saying: "Take, eat, this is my body," the true, the real, "given for you" (Luke 22:19). Then He took the cup of blessing, which was filled with wine, and after sending thanksgiving to God the Father, He gave it to His disciples, saying:: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins."» (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24).
After everyone had taken communion and eaten, the Lord spoke and addressed His last farewell speech to His disciples. The Evangelist John preserves in His Gospel this entire extensive speech in chapters 13-16. The manner of the speech betrays the Lord's dramatic expression. As a man before the
torment, which as God knows anguish and feels sorrow. It begins with the "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him" (John 13:31). The sufferings that will follow and the humiliation will be the glory of the Son and at the same time it will be the glory of the Father. The truths and moral ideas of the speech make it truly unique. The tenderness towards His disciples is evident, He calls them "child". The main feature of the speech is the call for unity and love among the students and, by extension, all people. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another" (John 13:3) and "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you" (John 14,27).
Then followed the famous high priestly prayer of the Lord. He prays to the Heavenly Father for the unity of His disciples. He does not pray that God the Father will remove them from the world, but that He will preserve them from the evil one and his works.
After the prayer was over, the night had advanced considerably. Jesus took His disciples and went to the Mount of Olives, a truly idyllic and peaceful place, just outside the big city. There was a garden there, which He entered with His disciples to pray (John 18:1). To be alone "face to face" with the Heavenly Father and to draw strength for the great trial that awaited Him. The manner of prayer was dramatic. As a man, He was anxious about the coming passion. "My soul is sorrowful even to death" (Matthew 26:38) He said to His disciples. "I will take this cup from me." (Matthew 26:39) he begged the Father and "and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:45) In vain He tried to overcome the lethargy of His disciples, who could not understand the criticality of those dramatic moments, and fell into a deep sleep.
At some point, there were loud shouts and a lot of noise. The soldiers arrived, led by Judas, to arrest Jesus. A characteristic slogan was the kiss.
of the Teacher by the Traitor (Luke 22:48). Peter uses violence, cuts off the ear of the soldier Malchus (John 18:11). Nevertheless, the arrest takes place. The Lord, a prisoner, is led to an all-night false trial to be condemned and crucified.
The events that took place on Holy Thursday have enormous soteriological significance for us. First of all, the Lord's voluntary journey to the Passion reveals the immeasurable divine mercy and love for fallen man. The complete victory over sin, corruption and death could only be achieved through the death on the cross of the sinless Christ. Only the honest blood of the Great Innocent could cleanse every stain of sin from all people of all times. Only this could bring reconciliation and balance, which evil and sin had seriously disturbed. The hymnological content of this holy day is truly wonderful. The Arctic troparion "When the glorious disciples...", through which the faithful are urged to avoid the passions of the traitor Judas. Also, the canon, a poem by Cosmas the monk, is a leading poem of our Church. In the kontakion "The traitor took the bread in his hands..." A poem by the famous Romanus, the deceit and wretchedness of Judas are accurately depicted. The House, a poem by Symeon the Hymnographer, calls on the faithful to imitate the disciples of Christ and to come to the spiritual table. "pure in soul", to live the mystery of redemption. The verses of the Aina are amazing tropes "So the council of the Jews is gathered together..." poem Cosmas the Monk, "Judas the lawless one who dipped his hand at the supper...", "Judas the traitor who was deceitful..." etc., poems by John the Monk, tell the story of the betrayal of the ungrateful disciple. Even the praise is wonderful "The Lamb that Isaiah preached comes willingly to the slaughter...". Also amazing are the apostrophe troparions, poems by Patriarch Methodius, "Today the wicked council against Christ has been convened...", "Today Judas hides the mask of poverty...", and "None, O faithful, are uninitiated from the divine supper...", present in a most poetic manner the arrest and false trial of the Lord. Even the doxology of the apostrophes is wonderful. "Your Mystique, Lord..." by which His disciples are called by Him to become ministers of men, like Him.
This Great Sacrifice can have practical results in the Church, through the Divine Eucharist, which the Lord delivered today to His disciples and through them to the Church. The redemptive Sacrifice of the Cross continues in perpetuity in the holy Tables of the churches, as the main sanctifying act of our Church. The Lord is present in His Church through the sacred Mystery of the Divine Eucharist. We become organically, truly, members of His mystical Body with the Communion of His holy Body. Thus our salvation is accomplished.
Photo By Theophanes the Cretan – Holy Monastery of Stavronikita, Mount Athos, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1288271, https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/
