Suppose on a 2d lattice we have discretized some PDE and get something like $$ U_{ij}^{n+1}=\mu(u_{i-1j}^n +u_{i j-1}^n+u_{i+1j}^n+u_{ij+1}^n)+(1-4\mu)u_{ij}^n $$
What then might be meant with a statement like "$U_{ij}$ satisfies a maximum principle?"
And why might it be important that it satisfies a maximal principle?
Of course you can only guess but maybe this already helps me.