Video from The Church of England
What Happened on Maundy Thursday?
"On Maundy Thursday Christians mark the Last Supper. On the eve of his death, Jesus gathered a group together. Before they ate, Jesus washed their feet saying: “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you”. After the meal, people drifted away and Jesus was left to face his accusers alone." from video introduction
The maundy in Maundy Thursday means “commandment,” from the Latin mandatum. The commandment in view is Jesus’s famous words in John 13:34–35: 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.
In his final hours, Jesus provides his disciples, and future Christians, with the key to being distinct from the rest the world as followers of the Son of God.