A number of things happened on the night before Jesus’s crucifixion, which we now call Maundy Thursday. Jesus and his friends celebrated the Passover meal. He washed their feet. He gave them a new commandment, to love one another. Then he went to the Garden of Gethsemane and experienced such emotional pain, he sweated blood. After that, all his disciples either betrayed, denied, or deserted him. And he was arrested.  

Tonight, many churches will hold a service of darkness to remember it.

I saw a TV show years ago about darkness. The people in a particular town got up one morning, but the sun never came up. It just remained dark. The racial hatred was so strong in that town, even the sun couldn’t rise.  

That show could have been set in 2021. There’s still so much darkness. Yet Jesus said this. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

We don’t have to stay in darkness. Tonight, in an act of gratitude and choice, we can light a candle.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)