April 17, 2025 Maundy Thursday The text for today is John 13:1-17, 31b-35.

 -o0o-

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
  ¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
  ^31b“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

-o0o-

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, El Adonai, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As we celebrate this Maundy Thursday, the focus ought to be on the New Commandment that Jesus proclaims to his disciples, and by extension to each of us.  The word itself, ”Maundy” is an Old-English term that means mandate; thus, Jesus mandates or commands that his followers love one another.  Yet, it is only in John’s gospel that we read that Jesus gives this new commandment, so that people will recognize that those who love one another are Jesus’ disciples.  And this is only one of the differences we discover when we view how the Last Supper is described in all four of the gospels.  In Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus shares bread and wine with his disciples as he institutes the Eucharist, Holy Communion.  John has chosen to omit this event from his gospel.  It’s thought that since John’s gospel was written twenty-or-so years after the other three, that people would have already been aware of Jesus’ decree to participate in the Eucharist, and John has determined to focus on the “Maundy” proclamation instead.

And in the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke there is no mention of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.  So, it’s apparent that John felt that this example of humility and servanthood that Jesus performs before giving the new commandment, is the act that lends significance to the mandate itself.  So, what is it about the fact that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet that intensifies his commandment to “love one another”?  Well, first off, the streets in Jesus’ time were mostly sand and soil, and in addition to the grime that sandaled feet would accumulate, there was the added potential of bringing into the house a portion of what the local livestock would leave behind.  And the role of the ritual of washing the feet of one’s guests was dependent upon the social strata in which the hospitality was taking place.  In wealthier homes the chore of washing visitors’ feet was performed by servants; in more modest houses, guests would normally wash their own feet.

But, under no circumstances would the master wash the feet of his followers.  Students would wash the feet of their rabbi or their teacher, but never the other way around.  Jesus turns things upside-down once again!

And, customarily foot washing would have taken place upon entering the house; yet, John tells us that Jesus rose from the table mid-meal to perform this action.  Usually, once the meal was underway some form of entertainment would take place, or perhaps time was set aside for political debates, or even the discussion of the gossip of the day.  This time during the meal was intended to be the focal point of why the guests were gathered together in the first place.  That Jesus chose this time to wash his disciples’ feet only serves to further indicate the importance of what he was attempting to impart to them.  No mention of Holy Communion; the act of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and the commandment he gives them to be willing to do the same; this is the main event in John’s version of the Last Supper.

Everything that has taken place during this meal Jesus shares with his disciples is contrary to what the disciples would have expected; no wonder poor Peter once again doesn’t get it.  He has previously declared that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God, and now he is mortified that Jesus intends to wash the filth off Peter’s feet.  And, as he often does Peter overcompensates when Jesus tells him that he will not count Peter among his followers if Peter doesn’t allow Jesus to wash his feet.  And if all this wasn’t enough to throw Peter and the other disciples for a loop, Jesus stoops to wash even the feet of Judas, the one who will soon betray him!  This scandalous act, that of the Son of God washing the feet of mere mortals is the activity Jesus performs in order to stress the significance of the new commandment he now proclaims to his disciples and to all of us.  Simple faith is one thing, but true discipleship requires that their faith and our faith must be put into action.  “Do for others what I have done for you”, Jesus tells his followers that night at supper.  “Love everyone in the same way I have loved you”, he commands them, and us.

And when John wrote his gospel, he used the word for “love” that confirmed just how intensely Jesus meant for his commandment to be obeyed.  There are several words in Greek that describe various types of love that John might have chosen.

“Eros” is romantic love and “Philos” is brotherly love; this is not what Jesus meant when he commanded us to love one another as he loved us.  John writes that Jesus intends for us to share “agape” love with everyone.  And, unlike the two ways that humans express love for others, “agape” describes the way God loves people.  “Agape” is the expression of love that is pure, intentional, sacrificial, and desires the highest good for the one that is shown this affection.  Jesus demonstrates this type of love in the washing of his disciples’ feet; he will express this love in its ultimate form through his willingness to go to the cross for the sake of humanity. 

So, when John writes that the foot-washing and the new commandment are the focal points of what Jesus does and says at the Last Supper, he intends for us to acknowledge that Jesus demands that we show to others this same devotional love that he, himself has shared with the world.  We are called to live in ways that express love, devotion, humility, and a willingness to serve others, in just the same way that Jesus did.  He has set the bar pretty high and he expects us try to obey this commandment as best we can.  If Jesus humbled himself to wash the filth off Judas’ feet, the one who betrayed him, there is no reason we can’t show love for others in the same way.  Jesus tells us that by doing so, we will then be identified as being his disciples; he went to the cross to show his love for us, we are commanded only to acknowledge his sacrifice and live love-centered lives.       

Jesus’ foot-washing example and the commandment to love as he loves, as God loves, will be expressed tomorrow evening as we gather to remember Christ’s Passion and his death.  This act by Jesus is the greatest example of unconditional agape love the world has ever seen.  The love that Christ bestowed upon his disciples, and us, endures beyond the cross.  Jesus’ sacrifice secured God’s grace for the world, the unmerited agape love that is granted by the Father for all of us.  And I wonder how we might prove ourselves as followers of Jesus, how can we demonstrate our thankfulness for his love for us?  How about we simply obey his new commandment?  How about we just love one another, just as he loved us?                                     

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and Holy God, Jesus your Son knelt to serve and died to save; help us to follow his commandment to be servants in the community he has established.  And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who commands us to love one another as he loved us; with that same “agape” love you bestow upon your children.  Amen. 

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.