Maundy Thursday
Today is Maundy Thursday. It is the beginning of the Triduum, which lasts from now until the evening of Holy Saturday. It is a time to meditate deeply on Jesus’ final moments before the resurrection on Easter Sunday. During these days especially we allow ourselves to see ourselves as participants in the story. To feel the emotions. We see ourselves as the disciples. We see ourselves as the fickle crowd that shifts from shouting "Hosanna" to calling for his crucifixion. We see ourselves as Peter, and Judas. We see ourselves as the powerful leaders seeking to remove Jesus as and annoying inconvenience- as disruptive to the status quo. … Jesus’ words from John 15 stand over these days-
“no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15:13).
So, everything that happens in these coming days is seen as an expression of that sacrificial love.
Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word “Mandatum”, which means “command”. (Think of the word “mandate”.) It refers to Jesus’s words at the end of our Gospel reading (13:34-35),
Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word “Mandatum”, which means “command”. (Think of the word “mandate”.) It refers to Jesus’s words at the end of our Gospel reading (13:34-35),
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
This might not seem that new to us because loving your neighbour is commanded in Leviticus 19:18
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.”
What is new here is the kind of love we are commanded to give. In Leviticus we love as we love ourselves. But Jesus is commanding us to love as he has loved- that is, with a sacrificial love. Of course, this is a love that is impossible without Christ living inside us, and loving through us.
Today is the day when we remember The Last Supper, which was a Passover meal. The Passover meal was the meal when the Jewish people remembered God rescuing them from slavery in Egypt as they were led by Moses. It involved eating a sacrificed lamb, whose blood painted the doorway of the homes of their ancestors so the angel of death would “pass over” them. We read about this in our first reading from Exodus.
Jesus transforms this meal into the Eucharist, declaring that the bread is his body and the wine is his blood. Remember, too, that Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and that a sacrificed lamb was a part of this Passover meal. In Matthew 26:26-28 we read,
Today is the day when we remember The Last Supper, which was a Passover meal. The Passover meal was the meal when the Jewish people remembered God rescuing them from slavery in Egypt as they were led by Moses. It involved eating a sacrificed lamb, whose blood painted the doorway of the homes of their ancestors so the angel of death would “pass over” them. We read about this in our first reading from Exodus.
Jesus transforms this meal into the Eucharist, declaring that the bread is his body and the wine is his blood. Remember, too, that Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and that a sacrificed lamb was a part of this Passover meal. In Matthew 26:26-28 we read,
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.
Jesus was establishing a new covenant. The Covenant established with Moses at Mount Sanai involved commands and sacrifice. And here, with Jesus, we have a new command to love and we have Jesus using sacrificial language about himself, declaring a new covenant.
So, we have the new command, we have the Eucharist, and the third thing we meditate on during Maundy Thursday is the foot washing. … The disciples arrive at a home and are eating supper when Jesus gets up, takes off his clothes, and wraps a towel around his waste. He gets a basin of water and begins washing the disciples' feet. … Jesus gets up and dresses like a servant, then he begins doing the work of a servant.
Foot washing was among the most demeaning of all jobs. It wasn't just any servant who did the foot washing. It was the least ranking servant who did the foot washing. It was the job even the servants didn't want, so it was the duty of the lowest ranking servant.
The fact that Jesus gets up to do this task is shocking. This is their Rabbi! But even more than that! Here is the Lord of the universe washing the feet of fishermen and tax collectors. The way the world understands power and authority has just been turned on its head. In this foot washing Jesus is enacting the ancient hymn we find in Philippians chapter 2
Jesus places himself in the lowest possible position for the sake of serving his disciples. … We might also look to Isaiah 53 and the description of the suffering servant- he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows in service and love for us.
In the Roman Catholic tradition they actually see this as a kind of ordination to the priesthood for the Apostles. While the washing is sometimes seen as symbolic of baptism, it is also seen as pointing to the symbolic washing of priests before they serve in the temple.
Peter can't accept Jesus in this role. His mind is still working in the way of the world. Peter cannot put Jesus in that role. … Peter has a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that power and authority in the kingdom work differently. The ways of the world are not the ways of the kingdom.
Judas was also present among the disciples during the foot washing. And I find this very moving. Jesus placed the basin and knelt at Judas' feet. And Jesus knew what was going through Judas' mind. He knew that Judas would set in motion a political machine that would result in his agonizing torture and death. … And Jesus kneels at those feet that have walked with him for three years of dusty roads. He washes the feet that will shortly walk away from his light into the darkness of the night to betray Jesus into the hands of those who will kill him. … The love he shows Judas is not comprehensible to the world. … Even those within the church whose hearts are set on betrayal are treated with loving service by Jesus. When we are at our darkest, we still find Jesus lovingly washing our feet and feeding us bread.
Jesus is the embodiment of the God who is love. God's love is not something we earn or work for. It doesn't matter if we are a traitor like Judas, or a zealous follower like Peter (though, he too, was a betrayer, as I suppose we all are in our own ways). Jesus loves us and serves us because that's who he is. It's not really about who we are, it's about who he is.
Jesus' whole life is an integrated act of loving service to us and to his Father. His birth, baptism, teaching, healing, exorcism, cross, resurrection, and ascension are all about Jesus' loving service. They all work together. The life of Jesus is an integrated whole. This foot washing teaches us about the cross. The cross is a loving act of service. It is Jesus taking the lowest position. Jesus takes the most despised position as an act of loving service.
The Lord of the universe washes our feet, and in return he doesn't ask that we wash his, He asks instead that we wash each other's feet. Our service and love to him is shown in our love and service to each other. And this is how we become known- it is by our love. We are shown to be followers of Jesus by our love for one another- by our willingness to serve each other and even give our lives for one another- Even if it is humiliating. But Jesus doesn't ask anything of us that he hasn't done for us.
We do not serve and love those around us because they are anything special (though they are all made in the image of God). We serve and love because God has poured his love into us. We serve and love because that is who we have become because of Jesus' love. We serve and love because Jesus who is our Lord and God has served us first.
As a sign of the humiliation of the cross, to remember that Christ was stripped of his earthly dignity as he was betrayed, mocked, and beaten,… we will strip the altar after this service and leave it barren until Easter morning.
AMEN
So, we have the new command, we have the Eucharist, and the third thing we meditate on during Maundy Thursday is the foot washing. … The disciples arrive at a home and are eating supper when Jesus gets up, takes off his clothes, and wraps a towel around his waste. He gets a basin of water and begins washing the disciples' feet. … Jesus gets up and dresses like a servant, then he begins doing the work of a servant.
Foot washing was among the most demeaning of all jobs. It wasn't just any servant who did the foot washing. It was the least ranking servant who did the foot washing. It was the job even the servants didn't want, so it was the duty of the lowest ranking servant.
The fact that Jesus gets up to do this task is shocking. This is their Rabbi! But even more than that! Here is the Lord of the universe washing the feet of fishermen and tax collectors. The way the world understands power and authority has just been turned on its head. In this foot washing Jesus is enacting the ancient hymn we find in Philippians chapter 2
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)
Jesus places himself in the lowest possible position for the sake of serving his disciples. … We might also look to Isaiah 53 and the description of the suffering servant- he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows in service and love for us.
In the Roman Catholic tradition they actually see this as a kind of ordination to the priesthood for the Apostles. While the washing is sometimes seen as symbolic of baptism, it is also seen as pointing to the symbolic washing of priests before they serve in the temple.
Peter can't accept Jesus in this role. His mind is still working in the way of the world. Peter cannot put Jesus in that role. … Peter has a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that power and authority in the kingdom work differently. The ways of the world are not the ways of the kingdom.
Judas was also present among the disciples during the foot washing. And I find this very moving. Jesus placed the basin and knelt at Judas' feet. And Jesus knew what was going through Judas' mind. He knew that Judas would set in motion a political machine that would result in his agonizing torture and death. … And Jesus kneels at those feet that have walked with him for three years of dusty roads. He washes the feet that will shortly walk away from his light into the darkness of the night to betray Jesus into the hands of those who will kill him. … The love he shows Judas is not comprehensible to the world. … Even those within the church whose hearts are set on betrayal are treated with loving service by Jesus. When we are at our darkest, we still find Jesus lovingly washing our feet and feeding us bread.
Jesus is the embodiment of the God who is love. God's love is not something we earn or work for. It doesn't matter if we are a traitor like Judas, or a zealous follower like Peter (though, he too, was a betrayer, as I suppose we all are in our own ways). Jesus loves us and serves us because that's who he is. It's not really about who we are, it's about who he is.
Jesus' whole life is an integrated act of loving service to us and to his Father. His birth, baptism, teaching, healing, exorcism, cross, resurrection, and ascension are all about Jesus' loving service. They all work together. The life of Jesus is an integrated whole. This foot washing teaches us about the cross. The cross is a loving act of service. It is Jesus taking the lowest position. Jesus takes the most despised position as an act of loving service.
The Lord of the universe washes our feet, and in return he doesn't ask that we wash his, He asks instead that we wash each other's feet. Our service and love to him is shown in our love and service to each other. And this is how we become known- it is by our love. We are shown to be followers of Jesus by our love for one another- by our willingness to serve each other and even give our lives for one another- Even if it is humiliating. But Jesus doesn't ask anything of us that he hasn't done for us.
We do not serve and love those around us because they are anything special (though they are all made in the image of God). We serve and love because God has poured his love into us. We serve and love because that is who we have become because of Jesus' love. We serve and love because Jesus who is our Lord and God has served us first.
As a sign of the humiliation of the cross, to remember that Christ was stripped of his earthly dignity as he was betrayed, mocked, and beaten,… we will strip the altar after this service and leave it barren until Easter morning.
AMEN
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