An Artist's Notebook: Mandatum

Today is Maundy Thursday. I have been asked a few times lately about Maundy Thursday, so I will give everybody a small succinct answer about what Maundy Thursday means. At least if you are a Methodist. It has slightly different meanings for other denominations.

Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday, is a service to commemorate Jesus' Last Supper and the beginning of our Sacrament, the Lord's Supper. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the disciples a new commandment to love one another as he had loved them.

John 13:34-35

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Perhaps you aren't down with NIV and prefer The Message:

Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how every one will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other.

Perhaps you don't dig The Message and like things Amplified:

I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you to should love one another. By this all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if keep on showing love among yourselves].

Perhaps you only like things New and American and Standardized:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for another.

Perhaps you like crusty old monarchs:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another.

Regardless of which version of the Bible you dig, that is what Maundy Thursday means to a Methodist.

The term Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum which means commandment. It comes from the Latin version of John 13:34: