Thursday of Passion Week #
Great Thursday of Passion Week holds a special significance that sets it apart from all other days of the year and justifies its popular name — Pure Thursday. This purity is not to be understood in a physical sense, but rather as a spiritual cleansing, brought about by the Sacrament of Communion, instituted on this day by the Lord Himself. This Sacrament stands at the very heart of Christian worship, of the spiritual life of every Christian, and indeed of Christianity as a whole.
The Divine Liturgy and the Communion of the Holy Mysteries — the Body and Blood of Christ — are the visible sign of the very purpose of the Lord’s incarnation. For many generations, the teachers of the Church, beginning with Irenaeus of Lyons, the second-century bishop, theologian, and martyr, when asked about the purpose of the Incarnation, unanimously replied: “The Son of God became man so that men might become sons of God.” Already in the Old Testament, addressing the fallen descendants of Adam, God repeatedly revealed through the prophets the original calling of mankind. “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” He says to the prophet Moses (Leviticus 11:44); “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High” (Psalm 81:6), He proclaims through the prophet David, yet immediately points to man’s fallen state and his inability to attain such dignity: “But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes” (Psalm 81:7).
Before shedding His blood on Golgotha for the fallen human race, the Son of God gave to those who believed in Him the Mystery of the remembrance of His Crucifixion and death.
Three days after the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem came the Jewish feast of Passover (also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread), on which the Jews, in remembrance of their exodus from Egypt, would slay a Passover lamb. And Christ, as the Gospel tells us, “sent Peter and John, saying: […] Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover” (Luke 22:10–13).
During the festive meal, held according to custom, the Lord performed before His disciples an act that did not belong to the traditional ritual of the Passover supper, but was something entirely new. “…And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying: This is My body, which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying: This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:19–20). In this way, the Old Testament Passover — though divinely instituted — which was limited in significance to the Jewish people alone, was replaced by a far greater Mystery. Christ came not to save only the Jews, but the whole world; not to deliver from bondage to Pharaoh, but from bondage to sin and death; not to give an earthly promised land, but the Kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven.” Thus, He replaced the old Passover with the infinitely higher Mystery of the Eucharist. The Lord showed that the old, Mosaic Passover had meaning only as a foreshadowing and a type of the true Passover — His saving Sacrifice. “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7), writes the Apostle Paul.
At that same time, in His final discourse with the disciples before the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Lord explained the essence and purpose of this Mystery: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4–5).
The Communion of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ — given, according to His example and commandment, under the appearance of bread and wine — is an essential union with the God-man Christ. By receiving them, the faithful invisibly but truly receive Christ into themselves, that they may, in the words of the holy Apostle Paul, “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), and so that they may declare with him: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:19–20). That same Spirit of God, by whose coming and power the Incarnation of the Son of God was wrought in the womb of the Most Pure Virgin, likewise brings about His indwelling in the souls and bodies of the faithful, fulfilling what the Lord said at the Last Supper: “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16–18). Thus, always and everywhere Christ abides with those who are truly faithful to Him, in response to their faith, through the eating of His Body and Blood and through the communion of the Holy Spirit.
So the Church prays: “And unite all of us, who partake of the one Bread and Cup, to one another in the communion of the one Holy Spirit… that we may find mercy and grace together with all the saints who from all ages have been well-pleasing unto Thee — forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, teachers, and every righteous spirit…” (Liturgy of St. Basil the Great). Thus, by her faith, the Church preserves her unity with her Great High Priest, remaining on earth His Body.
But, O Lord, grant us never to approach Thy Mysteries as Judas did. For even he, having already betrayed the Master in his heart, did not shrink from receiving the holy Bread and Cup from His hands. And as the Gospel bears witness, “after the sop Satan entered into him” (John 13:27); he carried out his wicked purpose, which led him to despair and suicide. May such a fate never befall any of us. Rather, may we preserve in our hearts faithfulness and love toward our Lord — amid labors, sorrows, and temptations of this earthly life, and through all the storms the ship of the Church must still endure until the day of the Second Coming of her Divine Founder.
Tropar, Tone 8
When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of the feet during supper, Then Judas, the wicked one, ailing with love of money, was darkened: And to the lawless judges he betrayed Thee, the Righteous Judge. Behold the lover of money: for the sake of gain he hanged himself. Flee from the insatiate soul, which dared such things against the Master. Thou who art good unto all, O Lord, glory be to Thee.
Kondak, Tone 6
Of Thy mystical supper today, O Son of God, Accept me as a communicant; For I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies, Neither will I give Thee a kiss as did Judas, But like the thief I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom.
Stikhera at “Lord, I have cried,” Tone 2
He whom Isaiah foretold as the Lamb, Cometh of His own will to be led to the slaughter. He giveth His back to stripes, His cheeks to smiting, And turneth not His face from the shame of spitting. He is condemned by an unjust judgment to a shameful death. All these things the Sinless One endureth willingly, That He may grant unto all the resurrection from the dead.