Maundy Thursday Devotion

This Maundy Thursday Devotion is part of a series of devotions for the week before Easter.

I want to preface today’s devotion by letting you know that today was not a good day. I have a horrible migraine and I never do my best thinking when my head hurts. That said, here’s where my heart and mind have been on this Maundy Thursday:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

“Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples’” (Matthew 26:18). That’s what Jesus told His disciples, and (get this) they did what He said.

For the second time that week, they walked into Jerusalem with what I would have considered questionable orders. The first time they stole a donkey. But when they were caught, they just said: “Jesus told us to,” so it was okay. This time, they went to this guy and were like, “Hey, Jesus said we could use your house.” …and he was totally okay with it.

We don’t know if Jesus had given these guys a heads up or if they were so honored that the famed teacher had singled them out that they willingly shared what they had. Maybe God had revealed to them that this would happen some other way. We don’t know the details, and that’s not really where I want to get hung up. What’s really been sitting on me is that Jesus told them, “go do this,” and they went.

They did what He said, no questions asked.

That’s the faith and confidence I want to have.

But I have to remember that confidence wasn’t the disciple’s issue. That evening, when Jesus told them they would all abandon Him, they were confident it would never happen. Peter was so confident, he told Jesus he would die before he denied Him (and we all know how that turned out).
In Mark 9 there’s a story about a man who brought his son to be healed. The disciples couldn’t do it, so the dad asked Jesus to heal his son if He could. Jesus told the guy that all things are possible for those who believe. The dad cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

The distinct difference between the boy’s dad and the disciples was that the disciples derived their confidence from their experience. Or, that’s the way it appears to me. They trusted the track record of Jesus. They had seen Him walk on water and feed thousands of people with just a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread. A confidence that quickly crumbled when things went sideways.

And that’s where faith gets us. If we are relying on ourselves, our faith and understanding, to give us confidence, we will stumble when confronted with the unexpected. Whether it’s someone questioning something the Bible teaches or things not turning out the way we hoped, we can’t have faith that is solely based on the past if we want it to carry us into the future.

First John tells us we love because God first loved us (4:19). Likewise, Paul wrote to the Ephesians that our faith is a gift from God, not something we can take credit for (2:8). He even reminded the Galatians that if we come to God by faith, we can’t walk it out on our own (3:3).

Our confidence has to be in Christ and Christ alone. Not our understanding. Not our experiences. Just Jesus.

As we walk into the coming days, there will be people who doubt our beliefs. They will question our faith. We may even be mocked. But if our faith ever stumbles, we turn to God and ask Him to help our unbelief. We can seek Jesus even in our darkest days. Because in the darkest days for Jesus, He endured, He was motivated by, His love for us.

Find all the devotions in the Holy Week series here.