Nancy Myer
Maundy Thursday
March 28, 2024
John 13: 1-17, 31-35
13Now 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.’
12 After 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.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘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.’
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
There is a storytelling game that helps people get to know one another called “My shoes have been.” Each participant in the group looks down at their shoes and proceeds to tell a story about an interesting location where those shoes have taken them. It is an opportunity to learn a fun fact about each person. Whether noteworthy to the rest of the group or not, the place about which the person chooses to share is important to them in one way or another. Humor me for just a minute. Look down at your shoes. Where is one place that they’ve been? Try to think outside the box a little; think about something more than just home, work, church, school.
When we really stop and think about it, it becomes clear that our shoes – and the feet in them – travel far and wide. And not only do they travel far in distance, but they travel far with us on the emotional spectrum as well. Our shoes accompany us to some pretty poignant places and moments… to places of joy and celebration… and to times of sadness and grief. In Jesus’ time, foot washing was a customary act. One purpose for which hosts invited guests to wash their feet – or to have their feet washed – was simply to clean them. Roads at that time would have been dusty and travelers likely would have worn sandals, so feet would have been dirty from the vast array of locations they had traveled.
And so it is that we find Jesus, at table with his disciples, getting up, tying a towel around his waist, and washing the feet of those closest to him. When Jesus finishes with his foot washing ritual and returns to the table, he says to the disciples, “Do you know what I have done to you?” “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” The instructions seem simple enough. Jesus does this for us; he asks us in turn to do unto others. But he doesn’t stop there; there’s a second part. Later on Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” John told us at the beginning of this passage that Jesus loved his own until the end. So essentially Jesus is saying, “I have washed your feet, I have set for you an example, I have loved you to the end, and I have commanded you to do the same.”
Now maybe feet aren’t your thing. I will tell you, the idea of a foot washing ritual is not high on my list. After all, they can be dirty, ugly, and smelly. So what else could “washing feet” be for you? Tonight we will be washing hands as a symbolic act. But what are the small, humble acts in your day that symbolize something bigger? You might already be doing it, or you might choose to be more intentional about it moving forward.
It strikes me that we are pretty quick to “do unto others.” If we see an opportunity to reach out and offer a helping hand, we are likely to do it. It is much more difficult, on many occasions, to accept the help that is offered to us. Jesus said, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
This text has two parts. Jesus invites the disciples to wash the feet of others, but first they must have their own feet washed. They need to accept the symbol of hospitality offered to them by their Lord and Teacher before going on to do it themselves.
I feel like the oxygen mask analogy is helpful here. You know, when you’re on the airplane, preparing for takeoff, and the flight attendants are doing their safety spiel. Each and every time, the reminder comes – put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help children and others around you who might need it. We cannot serve and care for others without being cared for ourselves, whether that comes from self-care or care from another or both. Jesus also commands the disciples to love one another, but not in just any way. They are to love one another just as he has loved them. So again, in order to show that love to the world, they must first receive it. We love because God first loved us. In the beginning, before anything else even existed, God’s love was here. And in response to that love, we are called – commanded in fact – to love one another.
We have learned previously that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The second is like it – love your neighbor as yourself. Neither of those is quite the same as the commandment Jesus gives to the disciples at table in the book of John. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Yet there is a common denominator, and I know you know already what it is. Love. It doesn’t matter who the recipient is of our love. God, neighbor, ourselves. No, the who isn’t what matters. It’s the fact that we are loving. Love wins. Period. John returns to this commandment – love one another as I have loved you – just two chapters later. And he follows it up with more words of Jesus: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
That’s it, isn’t it? Tonight, we remember the foot washing, the meal. We have set before us a basin, a towel, bread, a cup. Tonight we remember, we reflect. We know what’s coming. We know what tomorrow will bring. Jesus knows what is coming. He chooses to use foot washing as a symbol of what lies ahead, as a symbol of his own humble death which is to come. And so it is that ultimate love leads to ultimate sacrifice. In the first verse in chapter 13, John writes, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The Greek for “to the end” is eis telos [ace teh-los]. This can mean “to the end” in a temporal sense or it can mean “to the full extent.” It seems to me that Jesus did both. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” He loved them – and us – to the end of his life – and to the end of time – and he loved them – and us – unconditionally, to the full extent, wholly and completely. Love without bounds.
You might have noticed that on this night of all nights, when we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, communion as bread and cup does not show up directly in our scripture. The foot-washing is what John chooses to focus on in his version of the events leading up to the cross, and yet no other gospel writer mentions it. New Testament scholar Raymond Brown points out parallels between foot-washing and the Lord’s Supper. Brown says that “the foot-washing stands at the same place in the meal, is an action symbolic of Jesus’ self-giving in death, and is accompanied by a command to repeat it.”
Tonight, we will do them together. In just a few minutes, you will come forward and have your hands washed, as a symbol of Jesus serving his disciples by washing their feet. And then you will be offered bread and cup. Take a moment, take a breath, and receive it. Slow down and accept this act of hospitality. May this be an invitation to notice opportunities for service in your own life, whatever they may be. And as you partake in the bread and cup, may it be a reminder that Jesus loves us eis telos – to the end, and to the full extent. May we too turn and love one another, without bounds, wholly, and completely, just as Jesus loves us. Amen.