Holy Week - Journey to the Ultimate Overcomer: Maundy Thursday

By Shelsea Becker

Maundy Thursday - White - Purity & Covenant

As I research this day within Holy Week with its color and stone, it leads me to the tribe of Naphtali. Scripture describes Naphtali as “a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns” (Genesis 49:21), and there is something in that imagery that just won’t let me go. Freedom. Movement. Life that multiplies. even a gentleness perhaps. Not forced, not striving, just the natural result of being released. When you connect that to the breastpiece, the stone often associated here is the diamond; clear, pure, radiant. And the color tied to this day is white, representing purity and covenant. All of it begins to point to something deeper than a moment… it points to an agreement.

Naphtali was the sixth son, born to Jacob through Bilhah (Genesis 30:7–8), and his descendants settled in the fertile northern region of Galilee (Joshua 19:32–39). This is the same region where Jesus would later base much of His ministry. Matthew tells us that Jesus withdrew to Galilee, to the region of Naphtali, fulfilling what was spoken in Isaiah, that a people walking in darkness would see a great light (Matthew 4:13–15; Isaiah 9:1–2). That is not a coincidence. The place marked by freedom, favor, and fruitfulness became the ground where Jesus would move, teach, heal, and reveal the Kingdom.

Moses later echoed what Jacob had spoken, saying, “Naphtali is abounding with favor and full of the blessing of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 33:23). So now we have both the patriarch and the prophet pointing to the same truth—this is a people marked by grace, by freedom, and by multiplication. And when you lay that over Maundy Thursday, it begins to come into focus.

Because this is the night Jesus sits at the table and redefines everything.

“My body.”

“My blood.”

He is not just sharing a meal. He is establishing a covenant. Not a temporary covering like the lambs of Passover, but a final, complete, once-and-for-all agreement. Signed, sealed, and delivered through the blood that would be shed on the cross. This is not symbolic in the way they were used to. This is fulfillment. This is the moment everything had been pointing toward.

Covenant means commitment. It means binding. It means something that cannot be undone. And Jesus, knowing exactly what was coming, offers Himself fully. His body would be broken. His blood would be poured out. And through that sacrifice, something incredible happens—we are set free.

Like a doe released.

Free from sin. Washed as white as snow. 

Free from striving.

Free from the weight of trying to earn what has already been given.

Catch this, freedom always produces something. It doesn’t stay contained. It multiplies. It bears fruit. That’s what Naphtali shows us. A doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. Freedom leads to life. Real life. Abundant life.

So this covenant isn’t just about forgiveness, it’s about transformation. It’s about stepping into a life marked by favor, by blessing, by fruitfulness. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of what He has done.

As you reflect on this day, let the color white remind you of purity; not your own, but His. Let it remind you that you are part of a covenant that costs everything. And let it remind you that you are no longer bound. You have been set free.

And freedom, when it is real, will always produce something beautiful.

Love, Shelsea

Scriptures:

1. Genesis 49:21

2. Genesis 30:7–8

3. Joshua 19:32–39

4. Matthew 4:13–15

5. Isaiah 9:1–2

6. Deuteronomy 33:23