Today we talk about feet washing, the last supper, and everything that happened on Maundy Thursday in Mt 26.17-30; Mk 14.12-26; Lk 22. 7-30; Jn 13.1-35.

Three of the four gospels give you a table, bread, a cup, and the words that have echoed through Christian worship for two thousand years. John gives you a basin and a towel. This week Alan and Mary sit with all four accounts of the night before the crucifixion and ask what it means that the gospel most saturated with Eucharistic imagery is the one that leaves the institution out entirely.

We talk about the foot washing as John's enacted interpretation of what the meal means, why Luke places a dispute about greatness immediately after Jesus says this is my body given for you, and what "and it was night" is actually telling you when Judas walks out the door.

But the conversation keeps coming back to what the Eucharist is actually for. Alan describes it as a fueling station. Mary talks about what it means to say someone's name when you place bread in their hands. And a story about two little girls at the communion rail, one of whom broke her wafer in half and gave it to her friend, turns out to say more about what Jesus intended than a lot of theology does.

We receive so we can share. We get fed so we can feed. The Maundy in Maundy Thursday is not the footwashing and it is not the supper. It is the commandment: love one another as I have loved you. Everything else is in service of that.

Readings for next week: Mt 26.17-30; Mk 14.12-26; Lk 22. 7-30; Jn 13.1-35

Links mentioned in this episode:

- Peter Williams Cassey and Anna Besant Cassey (https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/calendar/peter-williams-cassey)

- Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week (https://a.co/d/89u4GX8)

- Christ Chronological Bible (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/143364603X)

- Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)