Message in a Basin

                                            Maundy Thursday

                 John 13: 1-9, 12-16

 

 

          It is Thursday and the week of Passover. In fact, Thursday is the evening of the Passover meal. At least, that’s the way it was that night two thousand years ago when Jesus gathered with his disciples to break bread together. Since then, the events of that night have been enshrined by Christians as the Last Supper, or Holy Communion. The night is referred to as Maundy Thursday, derived from the Latin word for “command.” Our Scriptural text for this message is taken from the opening verses of Chapter 13 of John’s gospel. This passage introduces a discourse with Jesus and his disciples that spans five full chapters of John. In chapter 15, we find the words which inspired the name of the day, as Jesus gives his disciples a final commandment: “that you love one another as I have loved you” [12].

          Perhaps the most important word in that command might be that little word “as.” Love as… Why is it so important? Because what Jesus is doing in these five chapters is telling his disciples how to love. Jesus wants them to love in a certain way…his way. Love as I have loved you.

          John tells us that it is before the Feast of the Passover. The group is getting ready to partake of the evening meal. There are almost certainly no chairs. In accordance with the custom of the day, the disciples and Jesus would be reclining on thin mats around a low table, most resting on their left arm in order to reach and eat with their right. John tells us that Jesus rose from supper and took off his outer garments.

          But there is a little more stage to be set. Look at the opening verses. Twice, John tells us that Jesus knows. What is it that Jesus knows? He knows that his hour has come. It is time for him to depart this world to the Father, says John. Secondly, Jesus knows that the Father has given him all things into his hands. There is huge significance here. Jesus is aware that he has all things, all people, the whole of the creation, at his disposal. He does not have to go to the cross. He has complete power to rescue himself. This puts an entirely different light upon the events that are about to transpire.       

          So now, knowing that God has given him the power to do what he will, Jesus rises and takes off his outer garments. He is now dressed like a slave, dressed ready to do menial work. To clarify that, he takes a towel and wraps it around his waist. This is culturally unacceptable. Peers did not wash each others’ feet. This task was left to slaves and servants. Only in an act of great love would one wash the feet of one’s peer, and Jesus was not their peer; he was their teacher, which elevated him to an even higher status.

          And yet, here is Jesus, dressed as a menial servant, washing the feet of his disciples. He does not change. He does lose his divine nature. Rather, he robes himself in the flesh and blood of mankind, and mankind at its most unselfish, and challenges us to find the deity in this dress, in these acts. It is the manifestation of matchless selflessness. He is empty of pride and full of love.

          Peter, as he is prone to do, expresses aloud the thoughts silently pervading the minds of the other disciples. You can’t do this. It’s beneath you.  Jesus responds not just to Peter but also to us. I must do it and you must let me. To deny me this is to deny your entry into my presence. This is the ultimate truth. D.A. Carson puts it this way: “unless the Lamb of God had taken away a person’s sin, has washed that person, he or she can have no part with him.”

          Peter then responds in faith, as do the other disciples. But note that Jesus even washes the feet of Judas. Is this another chance for Judas to redeem himself, or just proof that an overt act of faith is not necessarily proof of that faith?

          Jesus asks the disciples if they understand. Do they understand what he has done to them? The answer is no. They do not understand. But they participate in faith. The understanding will come later.

          The last night of his freedom, Jesus brought the lesson in a basin. It was a simple lesson, but forever profound. In the implements of service, a basin, a towel, are found our faith. In the tools of simple humility, caring for one another, are found our salvation.

          It is Maundy Thursday, Commandment Thursday. And here is his commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends.”

          How do we love one another? As he loved us. No holding back.