Any child can tell you that 613 of anything is more than 10 and that 10 of anything is more than one.
But Maundy Thursday is an annual reminder that sometimes less is more.
Picture the scene. It is the Thursday night before Passover. Jesus is gathered with his best friends, his disciples, and they are eating the Passover meal. On that evening Jesus redefines the Passover bread and cup of wine showing his disciples that he is the fulfillment of the Passover. In other words, God using the blood of a spotless lamb to deliver His people from death, judgment and Egyptian oppression thousands of years earlier pointed ahead to Jesus. Jesus was using the passover meal as an object lesson. On that evening Jesus used bread and wine to tell his disciples that he is the real Passover Lamb who, by the shedding of his blood, delivers God’s people from wrath, judgment and the oppression of sin and the devil.
On that night Jesus instituted, and commanded his disciples to continue practicing, what we call The Lord’s Supper. It is a weekly reminder that Jesus’ death accomplished what the Passover foreshadowed – deliverance and freedom for God’s people.
After that all important supper, Jesus picked up a towel. He proceeded to wash his disciples’ feet. In this humbling act Jesus models what he is about to tell his friends. He is teeing up the ball, if you will, for what follows.
Jesus foretells Judas’ betrayal and then says,
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 ESV
And that’s it. That’s Maundy Thursday.
Our English name for this Holy Thursday comes from the Latin Mandatum Novum. Mandatum means ‘commandment’ (think of the English word mandate) and Novum means ‘new’.
Today we remember the new commandment Jesus gave, and gives, to his disciples; to you and me. Simple but profound: Love one another.
And this is where less is actually more.
Remember that God’s people had been given the 10 commandments. Those 10 commandments grew quickly into 613 commandments from the Law. Anyone can see that 10 and 613 are far more than 1. But what if the 1 commandment went deeper? What if one commandment was comprehensive, touching every disciple in a deeper way that effected every aspect of their lives? You see, then less is actually more. In that economy 1 is greater than 10 or 613.
And that is the case with Jesus’ new commandment.
Jesus’ new commandment goes deeper, touching our affections and changing us from the inside out. That’s another way in which less is more; although only 1 commandment it has far greater effect.
On this Maundy Thursday consider how Jesus’ 1 new commandment radically changes everything, accomplishing what 10 and 613 commandments could never do.
