Maundy Thursday: washing the feet

Maundy Thursday: washing the feet

Maundy Thursday is the first of the three holy days leading up to Easter. Christians usually think of it as the day when the Eucharist was instituted. Jesus ate a meal with his disciples in Jerusalem the night before he died, thereby inaugurating the Christian practice of gathering together to eat a meal in his name. The setting of Jesus’ last meal was the Jewish feast of the Passover in about AD30. The annual Passover celebrates the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It commemorates the crossing of the Red Sea, the establishment of the covenant between God and his people, the giving of the law and the entry of the people into the promised land. Passover looks back to the events of the formation of the people of Israel but also forward to God’s continuing care for his people in the future…