April 13, 2017
Maundy Thursday
John 13:3-10a,12-15,34
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
It was either the day
before passover (the day of preparation) or the passover itself, when Jesus and
his closest disciples shared supper together for the final time.
//
The Apostle Paul gives us
the oldest account of how The Last Supper was practiced in the early decades of
the Christian Church:
For
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on
the night he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, 'This is my body that is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way he also took the cup, after
supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my
blood. Do this as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.'
//
#480VU "Let Us
Break Bread Together"
//
These are the gifts of God
for the people of God.
//
//
Even though the location
was a rented room, Jesus acted as host. On special occasions, it was customary for
the host to arrange for the guests to be comfortable as they arrived for the
evening.
Life in 1st century Judea
was a walking culture and it was (for the most part) an arid climate. So, the host would arrange to have a
household servant wash the guests' feet: it would be appreciated as a special
luxury, allowing people to feel relaxed and ready for their time together.
From the Gospel of John...
Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had
come from God and going to God, got up from the table, and tied a towel around
himself. Then he poured water into a
basin and began to wash his disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that
was tied around him. He came to Simon
Peter, who said 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus answered, 'You
do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.' Peter said to him, 'You will never wash my
feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.' Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not only my
feet but also my hands and my head!'
Jesus said to him, 'One who has bathed does not
need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean.' ... After [Jesus] had washed their feet, had put his robe
on, and had returned to the table, he said to them, 'Do you know what I have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord - and you are
right for that is what I Am. So, if I,
your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash each other's
feet. For I have set you an example,
that you should do as I have done for you.'
//
Jesus - the host - takes on
the role of a servant. Peter gets that
and feels that Jesus (his lord and teacher) should be one who is served, rather
than the servant. Jesus convinces him to
play along.
After the foot washing is
finished, Jesus makes it clear that there was both a metaphoric dimension to this experience. It was a lived-out parable ... the actions
held a deeper meaning.
"Do as I have done."
//
#560VU "O Master
Let Me Walk with Thee"
//
If you are at all familiar
with the basic rituals of the Christian Church, you might know that we
regularly celebrate two sacraments that the Bible indicates were initiated by
Jesus... Communion (The Last Supper,
Eucharist): Do
this often - eat and drink in remembrance of me; and... Baptism:
Go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
But we do not
have a sacrament of foot washing, even though the bible clearly
says that Jesus told us to Do as I have done. It would make sense if the had developed a
ritualized practice to be faithful to Jesus call for us to wash each other's
feet.
Now, I know
that - there are times when foot-washing is incorporated into Holy Thursday
services, but it is far from a regular universal practice across denominational
lines, like communion and baptism are.
//
I think that
this is because, before Jesus was finished speaking on that night, he made it
clear that the foot washing was not really about foot washing. It was a parable for what Jesus wanted his
disciples to be all about.
I give you a new commandment (a
new mandate), that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you
should love one another.
The practice of
Jesus, that he was mandating them to copy was his compassion... his practice of
servant love.
//
//
Let us go to love and serve
our God by living out the compassion of our Christ.
Make Holy Love real.
It is by love that the
world will know we are Jesus' disciples.
//
#298VU "When You
Walk From Here"
No comments:
Post a Comment