John 13:1-17, 31b-35
This is a special night. Jesus takes this one last opportunity away from the crowds and the
people and the noise to eat with his closest friends. To share with them what starts out as an
ordinary time together but at a certain point shifts to something extraordinary as he gives his
followers a command - hence the name Maundy. It comes from the Latin word mandatum which
means “command.” It’s where we get the English word “mandate.”
I give you a new command,” Jesus says, “that you love one another.” But he doesn’t stop there,
he links it to something crucial, “Just as I have loved you.” Now I find it worth noting that up
until this point in John’s Gospel it’s never been explicitly stated that Jesus loves his disciples.
There is the famous verse, John 3:16, where Jesus announces God's love for the entire world, but
on this night, in this moment, things all of a sudden get profoundly personal. It's not about the
world at large. It's not about the Jews as a whole or even the disciples as a group. It's about each
one of them, individually. Which is rather unique because overwhelmingly throughout the
gospels whenever we encounter the word “you” it’s almost always plural, as in “you all.” But not
here, Jesus is using the “you” in the singular. As in, Love one another just as I have loved YOU,
Peter and YOU, Andrew, and YOU, Philip. And even YOU, Judas.
Because before any of those disciples gathered around the table could ever understand what
Jesus’ command called them to do, they first had to wrap their heads and hearts around what
the command revealed about them. Before the command to love others is about others, it's
about us. Before it's about the person sitting next to you, it's about you. If the amazing, merciful,
abundant love of God is ever to be for anyone else, it first has to be for you.
That’s the challenge the disciples had then, and we as disciples of Jesus, have now. It’s the
challenge to grasp the depth of Jesus’ love for each one of us, personally. Love one another just
as I have loved you. Which begs the question, how did Jesus love? Well, the gospel of John tells
us that Jesus, “having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end.” Or probably
a more accurate translation would read, he loved them fully or to the utmost or he loved them to
the greatest possible extent. It's less about a statement about time and more about depth. It’s
about how far Jesus’ love actually reaches into a person's life. And part of what’s so special about
this night is that Jesus interrupts the meal to show everyone exactly what the depth of that love
looks like as he gets up from the table, takes off his outer robe, bows down, and washes the
disciples’ feet.
Now you’re probably aware that the washing of feet was a common and necessary act in Jesus’
day. People wore sandals and primarily walked on dirt, feet got dirty all the time and so they
needed washing all the time. Not surprisingly, washing feet was a dirty job and considered the
lowest of all services. So low that Jews exempted themselves from performing this act - either
you washed your own feet or you had a Gentile slave do it for you. Which adds to the shock value
of Jesus'; act. Kneeling down to wash his disciples feet was radical on so many levels - including
in the revelation of radical humility and self-giving love.
I marvel at that, but I also marvel at what leads up to this act. I appreciate that John’s gospel
gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ inner life. “Knowing that the Father had given all things into his
hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,” Jesus got up from the table and
began to wash feet. Jesus’ ability to serve directly corresponds with being solidly rooted and
grounded to who he was in God. Jesus’ capacity to love is fully related to the knowledge that he
himself is so loved - loved by God the Father fully, to the utmost, to the greatest extent. Loved,
just like we are.
It is that love that empowers Jesus to love and serve in extravagant ways - even to the point of
washing feet. And it is that love empowers us to do likewise. Which brings me back to the truth,
that before the command to love others is about others, it's about us. Before it's about the person
sitting next to you, it's about you. You are loved fully, to the utmost, to the greatest extent.
Following Jesus’ command to love begins when you let that love of God fill you and flow through
you.
But I want to highlight something here. Jesus’ love command isn’t about letting love flow only in
one direction - from God into us then out to others. That's a big part of it, yes, but there’s more.
God’s love is meant to flow in all directions. From us to others and from others back to us.
For I look around and I see you. I see how open and generous you are. How you step up to serve
others - whether that be those in your family, in this community, in the world. And in doing so I
see the love of God at work. Yet I also see your resistance. How hard it is to be on the receiving
end of that same love and let others serve you. And I get it. It’s humbling to be served when you
are genuinely in need. Yet when we are rooted and grounded in who we are, like Jesus was.
When we know our identity in Christ - that we are loved by God with an extraordinary love, then
we can stop resisting that love when it seeks to flow through others into our lives and, instead,
receive it with grace, gratitude, and even joy.
And that’s the opportunity we have this evening. Now I realize that tonight we’ve heard a lot
about foot washing and that Jesus says that, “You also should do as I have done to you.” But that
doesn’t mean we have to literally wash the feet of others. Sometimes that may be what’s needed,
but in our culture it makes more sense that we embody Jesus' command through the washing of
hands, as well as in countless other ways that we can love and serve. So tonight we’re sticking
with hands and letting God’s love flow in all directions as we both give and receive a washing as
we say the words, “The Christ in me serves the Christ in you.” For ultimately any act of love is
God’s spirit in us recognizing and serving God’s Spirit in another.
So between the commotion and celebration of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, I encourage you
to spend a moment and let things get profoundly personal. Let God love you fully, to the depths
of your soul. And then, by all means, go and love one another just as Jesus has loved you.
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