Maundy Thursday — “Fight Like Jesus” review

• Read the overview of the book “Fight Like Jesus” by Jason Porterfield here.
• Read about Palm Sunday here.
• Read about Holy Monday here.
• Read about Holy Tuesday here.
• Read about Holy Wednesday here.

Thursday. The day it all changes. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s the day everyone thinks is the culmination of the week’s events. The day that changes things. The day where it becomes inevitable that Jesus will die.

Or maybe we have it all wrong.

When we get to Thursday, all the action in the Temple is done. So are the debates. It’s now time for something else. Jesus is busy. Doing what? Forming community and teaching how to live.

And boy does he have some vital lessons for us.

“Jesus infused the Passover meal with scandalous new meaning. If Jesus had been a violent messiah (as so many wanted him to be), he would have torn the bread, poured the wine, and said, ‘This is my enemy’s body. Break it for me. And this is my enemy’s blood. Shed it for me.’ Instead, as Catholic activist John Dear writes, ‘Jesus turns that logic upside down and offers a new covenant of nonviolence, saying: ‘This is my body broken for you! This is my blood shed for you!’ After this, Jesus immediately models his commitment to nonviolence by…