Holy Week—Maundy Thursday, well sort of.

Many, if not most, Christians recognize today as Maundy Thursday. That was the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover Seder with his disciples.

It was a memorable day for Jesus and his followers. First, there was the joyous celebration of the Passover meal. The ritual reminded the Jews of God’s delivering of his people from captivity in Egypt. Each part of the ritual represents a part of that story.

Second, it was the last time that Jesus would eat with his disciples. They would remember that meal as long as they lived.

Third, it was the night where Jesus and his followers went into the garden to pray.

Fourth it was the night that Jesus was betrayed.

Evergreen has a tradition of celebrating the Passover Seder meal on Maundy Thursday. It is a wonderful time for reminding us of God’s past actions—he was with his people in the past. It is a wonderful time to remind us that God is with us today.

There’s only one problem… this year’s calendar does not match up with the Jewish calendar. This year we added a “day” to our calendar for Leap Year. This year the Jewish calendar added a whole month! According to my messianic pastor friend, the Jews have used the same formula for adding the “month” for several thousand years. This keeps the spring festivals in the spring and the fall festivals in the fall. Evergreen has been invited (and we accepted) to join with our messianic friends for the Passover Seder. Therefore, we will celebrate “Maundy Thursday” in April!

Don’t panic! We will not forget the betrayal of Judas this Easter. I talked about Judas last Saturday/Sunday. We looked at his kiss of betrayal.

So what does all of this mean? Today we can remember the “traditional” Maundy Thursday. Next month we will get the privilege of remembering the Exodus event and be reminded that God is still with us.