Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2021
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? 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 one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Little 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.” 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.’ John 13:1-17, 33-35
The story is familiar. Jesus takes on the chore of a servant washing his disciples’ feet. Peter protests when Jesus bends to wash his feet, acknowledging Jesus’ status. Status is essential in most societies. Whether intended or not, hierarchies of worth come naturally, though not in the Kingdom of God. Jesus made this point many times in his ministry. As he came to the end of his time on earth, he must have felt the need to underscore its importance. The definition of abundance in the Kingdom of God is unlike the world’s definition. The fulfillment of God’s Kingdom is the source of the abundant life Jesus described in John 10:10. The foundation of God’s abundance is love, not status or wealth.
Today we remember that Last Supper where, as told in John, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. We, too, are reminded that Jesus has called us to be the workers in his service, crafting a new world where all are loved and appreciated for who they were created to be and who we all can become as we grow in God’s justice and mercy by God’s grace.
In whatever way we observe this event, now called Maundy Thursday, let us take a few moments to consider our next steps in making the Kingdom of God a reality.
Prayer: Lord, gift us with the hope of building a better world where all are loved and all have enough to survive and thrive as we do our part in loving like Jesus. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.