It’s Maundy Thursday, when we remember the occasion of Jesus’ celebration of Passover with his disciples. Passover is a celebration of liberation, the liberation of the Jewish people from the slavery of Egypt specifically (remember Moses). In the millennia since then it has been the celebration of liberation in general.

Maundy Thursday gets its name from the words of Jesus to his disciples, his commandment to love. Commandment is Mandatum in Latin. This is Commandment Thursday. Through the miracle of linguistic variation over the ages, Mandatum became shortened to Maundy.

Maundy Thursday also commemorates Jesus’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane. I reminds us that though there were dark days ahead, in celebrating Passover with his disciples, Jesus was celebrating this past liberation of Israel, but also looks forward to a future liberation. A liberation that included freedom from all that constrains us as people, a liberation for the breaking in of God’s dream for the world and ultimately freedom from death itself. It encourages us in realizing that liberation will come no matter what barriers it may encounter.

What liberation am I looking forward to?