Jesus the True Passover Lamb

Before the crown of thorns and before the cross, there was a table, a towel, and a garden.

Maundy Thursday marked Jesus’ last night with his disciples. On this night, Jesus revealed himself as the true Passover Lamb, broke bread to begin a new covenant, and surrendered to God’s will. This night wasn’t just something that came before the crucifixion. This night was a window into the heart of Jesus and how he calls us to live today.

The Mandate to Love One Another

On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered his disciples to celebrate the Passover—a moment we often refer to as the Last Supper. But before the meal started, Jesus did something unexpected. He rose from the table and began washing his disciples’ feet.

This was a significant moment because Jesus, the Savior of the world, humbled himself to do what was normally the task of the lowest servant. But Jesus wasn’t simply meeting a practical need. He was demonstrating something deeper. He was modeling the kind of sacrificial love that would define his kingdom and those who followed him.

The Commandment

This is where “Maundy Thursday” comes from. Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning “command.” After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “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” (John 13:34).

He wasn’t just teaching them about love—he was showing them what it looked like. Jesus demonstrated a love that served, stooped low, and laid down its life for others. That’s the kind of love Jesus was showing his disciples and calling them to live out.

The Last Supper

After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus returned to the table and shared the Passover meal with them.

The Passover was a celebration of God delivering the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. On the very first Passover night, God sent the tenth plague on Egypt to kill every firstborn. But the Israelites were spared. God had instructed them to mark their door frames with the blood of a lamb. When the Angel of Death saw the blood, he would pass over their homes, leaving them completely untouched (Genesis 12).

Fast forward 1,500 years. Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate this very act of redemption. But something even greater was about to unfold. Just as the blood of a lamb had once saved the Israelites, the disciples were about to witness the sacrifice of the Lamb—whose blood would bring eternal life, delivering all of humanity not from physical slavery but from the slavery of sin and darkness.

On that night, Jesus took the bread and the cup as was a common practice during the Celebration of Passover. But this time, he would give it a new meaning. The bread, which reminded the Israelites of the haste with which their ancestors fled Egypt, now represented his body—broken for them. The cup, once a symbol of God’s covenant and deliverance from slavery, now represented a new covenant, sealed by Jesus’ blood (Luke 22:19-20).

Through this, Jesus was showing his disciples that he was the true passover lamb. Through his sacrifice, all people can now experience freedom from the bondage of sin.

That’s the hope we carry today as we remember Maundy Thursday. Every time we take the bread and the cup, we remember this night and we remember the hope and new life we have in Jesus.

The Garden of Gethsemane

After dinner, Jesus took his disciples with him to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the garden, Jesus was overcome with grief. In this moment, we see the humanity of Jesus—just as he was fully God, but also fully man.

In his anguish, Jesus cried out to God and brought his burdens before his Heavenly Father. In the garden, he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

Jesus was honest with God about his feelings and desires. Yet he laid them aside and put God’s will above his own. Jesus knew the pain that awaited him. He knew the betrayal, the suffering, and the weight of the sin that he would bear yet he willingly chose it.

Jesus showed us what true surrender to God’s will looks like. It’s not the absence of grief and sorrow. It’s the obedience in the midst of it. Jesus’ prayer showed us how to trust God even when the future seems difficult or painful. Surrendering to God’s will isn’t weakness—it’s faith in action.

So What?

Maundy Thursday is more than the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s a vivid picture of the gospel message and the depth of Jesus’ love for us. With the towel, Jesus knelt to wash his disciples’ feet, showing what sacrificial love looks like and how we can love one another in this way. At the table, Jesus broke the bread and drank the cup, revealing himself as the true Passover Lamb who would make a new covenant with God. In the garden, Jesus prayed and demonstrated true surrender to God’s will and the depth of his love for us.

As we remember Maundy Thursday, we should ask ourselves:

Do I truly remember and honor what Jesus did for me every time I take the bread and the cup?
Am I loving others the way he commanded me to?
Am I willing to boldly pray, “Not my will, but yours be done”?

May this Maundy Thursday not just be a time to remember Jesus’ sacrifice but a call to live in the way he showed us—with love, humility, and surrender. As we look to the table, the towel, and the garden, may we draw closer to Jesus, the true Passover Lamb.

Kali Gibson is the editor-in-chief for So We Speak and a copywriter for the Youversion Bible App.