scenes from Holy Week: Thursday

The seven days after Palm Sunday leading to Easter are sometimes called “Holy Week,” and each day presents scene or episodes that I think over and contemplate and I would like to invite readers to do that with me. 

---

Yesterday was Wednesday.

Holy Thursday is often called “Maundy Thursday.” The term maundyis handed down by way of the French mandé and originally from the Latin mandatum. Compare, for instance, the English word “mandate,” and “commandment,” which points to its actual derivation. To wit, in the essential thirteenth chapter of the Gospel According to John, Jesus sayeth, “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”¹ In Latin, the phrase begins with the word Mandatum, and continues “novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos.” We will presently be compelled to return to this chapter and statement but first I would like to note that Thursday is under the sign of Thor-Jupiter, which is meant to indicate kingship, beatitude, and magnanimity. Hence on Thursday we encounter Christus Rex.

Today at sundown, Jesus and his disciples celebrate the “Last Supper.” This marks the final time that Jesus shares a table with the disciples before his earthly ministry comes to an end with his arrest at midnight in the Garden of Gethsemane. At the Last Supper, Jesus performs the iconic “washing of the feet”: 

1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

The higher cares for the lower in love—in its aspect of care and responsibility—and the lower submits to the higher in love—in its aspect of respect and obedience. In Paul’s analogy, Christ is like the “head” of which his disciples are his “body.” Jesus himself also lends expression to both of these aspects, in turn:

8Jesus answered, I have told you that I am: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 9That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

and, after the Supper, in the iconic moment in which Jesus enters the Garden of Gethsemane to pray:

42Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 

“A man’s heart is right when he wills what God wills,” as Aquinas says. The purpose of the prayer is not to coerce, change, or even petition God, but to change our hearts, and calibrate them to God’s pleasure. From the beginning, it was God’s will that Man should be, in Heidegger’s poetic phrase, “the shepherd of being.”² When God sayeth,

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth

he did not mean that we should breed out their vital instincts through domestication and then round them up into concentration camps for our consumption like sheep to the slaughter. Man was meant to serve as the priest of Creation and not its blight. Dominion is “lordship,” and Christ came to show us what lordship really means. This entails submission to God above and care for the creatures below, in this manner to become a link in the so called scala naturae or “Great Chain of Being”—the Tenth Hierarchy after the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, etc. and before the animals.³

Duccio di Buoninsegna, “Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper,” painting of Altar of Siena Cathedral in 14th century

Christ also institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper: 

19And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Our bodies are sustained and nourished by the sacrifice of life. People don’t think about the Eucharist literally enough so it seems like superstition to them.

After the Supper, Jesus and his disciples convey themselves to the Garden of Gethsemane for the night. Jesus removes himself to pray and

36 saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

Sleeping and waking are both symbols and manifestations of different states of consciousness. Jesus enjoins his disciples to stand guard and preserve their wakefulness, and three times we betray him.

The above was from the Gospel According to Matthew but I would like to emphasize an important aspect to this scene conveyed by the John the Evangelist so I am going to interpose his telling of the scene here before providing the remnant of Matthew’s account:

1When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 2And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. 3Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? 5They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 6As soon then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 7Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 8Jesus answered, I have told you that I am: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 9That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

This may be common knowledge but the italicized phrasing is employed to indicate not emphasis, but interpolation on behalf of later editors. In Greek, Christ’s answer is “Ἐγώ εἰμι,” which is, by interpretation, “I am,” and not “I am he,” as it is almost invariably rendered. The translators’ choice is understandable: after all “I am” is hardly an acceptable answer to the query of the Pharisees. But why should we expect Christ to give an “acceptable” answer? By evidence, Christ’s words were three times “I am”⁴ and if we are scandalized because it threatens our preconceived ideas about what it being conveyed in this scene, then the fault lies in us.

47And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. 50And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

51And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. 52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

55In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. 56But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

The Gospel of Matthew offers the following account, conveying different aspects of the scene:

47And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

12Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, 13And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. 14Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

Caiaphas is the paradigmatic politician and his utilitarian calculus is impeccable. Yet, as the Apostle sayeth: “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” In the Sanhedrin, Jesus is interrogated in a show trial by Caiaphas and the other Pharisees who ultimately deliver him up to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in the wee hours of Good Friday.

---

Thursday

• planet: Jupiter

• quality: magnanimity, authority, regality

• color: orange

• vowel: o

• organ: liver

• metal: tin

• tree: maple

Orthodox icon of Christ washing the feet of the Apostles (16th century, Pskov school of iconography)

1. John 13:34

2. “Hirt des Seins,” from Martin Heidegger’s Basic Writings.

3. The Angelic Hierarchy, according the the blessed Dionysius the Areopagite:

• Angels of presence, praising God

  • Seraphim – spirits of love

  • Cherubim – spirits of harmony

  • Thrones – record keepers of universal laws

• Angels of government, spreading light

  • Dominions – spirits of wisdom and knowledge

  • Virtues – angels of movement and free will

  • Powers – angels of form and space

• Angels of revelation, able to communicate with humans

  • Principalities – angels of time and personality

  • Archangels – powerful angels superior to ordinary angels

  • Angels – governors of spirits of nature

4. coupled with the seven well-known “I am” statements from earlier in the Gospel According to John, this makes ten sayings in total