Holy Thursday.
The hands
that Mary held,
the tiny hands
she kissed in wonder,
the hands that reached for her
before they reached for the world
those hands
grew strong in Nazareth.
They held wood.
They held tools.
They learned splinters,
sawdust,
and the quiet holiness of ordinary days.
Those same hands had made the trees
Those same hands had shaped the hills.
Those same hands had drawn the depths of the sea and stitched the stars into the night.
Those same hands had formed each disciple in the secret place of the womb.
And on Holy Thursday,those hands took a towel.
This is the divine symmetry:
the Lord who is Holy
Knelt.
The One who made them
washed them.
The One high above all things
went lower than them all.
The cleanest hands in the world
touched the dustiest feet.
Jesus knelt.
He washed Peter’s feet.
He washed John’s feet.
He washed Thomas’s feet.
He even washed Judas’s feet.
He knew them fully.
He knew who would lean close.
He knew who would run.
He knew who would deny Him.
He knew who would betray Him with a kiss.
And still. He loved them.
He loved them with water.
He loved them with tenderness.
He loved them to the end.
Then He took bread into the hands
He broke it. This is My body.
And here again
is the divine symmetry:
the Bread of Life broke bread.
The Giver of every harvest gave Himself as food.
The One who had fed the multitudes now placed into their hands
the mystery of His own offering.
He was not only giving them bread.
He was telling them what love was about to look like.
Broken.
so others could be made whole.
Then He lifted the cup.
This is My blood.
The One who turned water into wine now offered wine as the sign of His own poured-out life.
The cup poured over with mercy.
For in Egypt, blood marked the doors so death would pass by.
And now, at the table, the true Lamb spoke.
The blood on the doorposts had been whispering His name all along.
And still deeper, there was another symmetry, from the beginning:
From the side of the first Adam came Eve and soon the human heart turned from God.
From the side of Christ came blood and water, and through that holy wound came redemption inviting us back to the embrace of God.
From the garden of Eden came the turning away.
From the garden of Gethsemane came the yielding of the Son.
From the tree of knowledge came the curse.
From the tree of Calvary came mercy flowering in the dark.
This is the divine symmetry:
what was broken in Adam
is being redeemed through Christ.
What was lost through reaching is restored through surrender.
What was opened in the first man pointed, all along, to the opened side of the true Man.
And so on Holy Thursday, before the Cross, before the nails, before the soldiers,
Jesus gave them bread and gave them the cup
as if to say:
Before My body is broken, receive the meaning.
Before My blood is poured, receive the promise.
Before My side is opened, know that love was always the plan.
Then He spoke softly to their troubled hearts:
Love one another.
Abide in Me.
Do not be afraid.
And later, in the garden, those same hands that had washed their feet were lifted in prayer.
The night grew darker. The sorrow grew heavier. His friends grew sleepy.
But Jesus stayed awake.
He stayed loving.
He stayed faithful.
He stayed surrendered.
Holy Thursday
is the night heaven bent low.
The Holy One knelt.
The Bread was broken.
The Cup was lifted.
Love gave itself away
before the world could take it.
And when the hour would come,
when His side would open,
blood and water would flow
like a new river from Eden,
washing, healing, birthing, calling.
For from Adam’s side
came a bride,
and from Christ’s side comes a people:
Loved
Redeemed
Cared for
Welcomed
Made alive.
And so much more.
This is the beauty of the Son of God:
He is not ashamed to come low.
He is not afraid of our dust, our sin.
He does not love from far away.
He comes near.
He kneels.
He breaks.
He pours.
He opens wide.
He loves.
