Maundy Thursday/Foot-Washing
John 13:1-8, NIV - It was just before the Passover
Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go
to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had
already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew
that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from
God and was returning to God; so he got
up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his
waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his
disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you
going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing,
but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with
me.”
The
gospel of John is the only place we find an account to Jesus washing the
disciples feet. In John’s narrative,
this surprising event takes place on the night before Jesus’s crucifixion. Today, millions of Christians remember that
night with various Maundy Thursday observances.
In many traditions, a foot-washing service is a part. It’s been many years since I personally have
participated or led in such a service and I won’t be doing such a thing
today. However, I think this story is important for us to consider
and can teach us an essential element of the gospel we proclaim today. Let’s highlight a couple of things from this
story.
First,
John introduces the story with the following sentence:
“Having
loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
What Jesus is about to do is an expression of Jesus’s love
for His people. It isn’t to teach them
an object lesson. He washes their dirty,
nasty feet to show them the very nature of God’s love. God’s love is not above getting down on the
knees and cleaning the filth out from between our toes.
The
last time I remember participating in a foot-washing service, I, as the Pastor
washed the feet of my Lay Leader, a man in his eighties. His feet were not all that dirty, but what I remember
was how bad they smelled. He had yellow
toenails and they badly needed to be clipped.
That experience might be the reason that I haven’t suggested
foot-washing since then. I’m only
half-kidding. The idea of doing that again doesn’t sit well with me.
Our
faith tells us that entering into that kind of messiness is not something that
sits well with God either. But God does
it anyway because of Love. Love, as
defined by God, is not unwilling to deal with the undesirable funk of our humanity. I know I’m using visceral language that might
make some uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable to write it. But that leads to the other detail in this
story for which we should take notice:
“No,”
said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash
you, you have no part with me.”
It wasn’t
the fact that Jesus was doing “servant’s work” by washing Peter’s feet that
made Peter uncomfortable. It was that it
was extremely unnerving to have the Son of God dealing with Peter’s “dirt.” Peter had to allow Jesus to clean up Peter’s
messiness. Can you imagine Jesus proposing
to do the same with you?
I don’t
want anybody washing my feet. I sure
anyone in the more serious mess of my life.
But the message from Jesus that I, and perhaps you, need to hear today
is we “have no part in [Jesus}” is we do not allow God into our mess, no matter
how uncomfortable it makes us. The Great
Physician cannot heal us if we don’t allow access to the mess.
Question: Can we
allow God into the most embarrassing aspects of our humanity?
Prayer: God, I admit
that I identify with Peter’s objection to you washing his feet. Help me let go of any pride I have and allow
you into the most embarrassing aspects of my life so that your can heal it with
Your Love. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for millions of refugees that have been driven from their homes
Song: Lord I Come
(Wash my feet) – David Brackenbury
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