John 13:1-17, 31-35
Maundy Thursday – April 14, 2022
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34, NRSV)
There’s a lot in there. A lot. So much to consider and take in. I wonder if you heard that very last phrase: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(cf. John 13:35)
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that I don’t think that’s the first thing people tend to think of these days when they think of Christians.
When people think of “Christians,” I think it’s pretty safe to say that their first thought is not very often, “Wow, now those people really know how to love each other…” !!
Sadly, it seems that more often what is associated with being Christian, at least in the public sphere, is being self-righteous and judgmental, narrow-minded and exclusive, anti-intellect and anti-science. And some might add anti-fun!
All of that is a far, far cry from what Jesus said on that last night with his disciples: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” !!
We’re gonna go back to that night for a few minutes, and see if we can get back to that place.
SO, it’s important to remember that on that night, Jesus knew his time with the disciples was just about over. They hadn’t seemed to grasp that yet, but he knew it. He knew that the window of opportunity for teaching them about God, about the Kingdom of God, about what it means to live as people of God–that window was just about to close.
He knew he had taught them many things, and told them many things in his time with them; and he knew that in that time, he had encouraged them, and confused them, and amazed them, and terrified them. And, he knew that in their time together, he had been frustrated by them! And exasperated by them! And even, at times, disappointed in them. And he knew that within a matter of hours, he would be betrayed by them…
But underlying all of that, and more than all of that, he knew that he loved them.
More than all of that, he had loved them. And he loved them still. Despite their confusion. Despite his frustration. Despite their lack of understanding. Despite his exasperation. Despite their imminent and profound betrayal.
“Having loved his own who were in the world,” we read at the very beginning of our passage, “he loved them to the end.” (cf. John 13:1b)
And he loved them with the love of God! He loved them fiercely and passionately and relentlessly and unconditionally. He loved them completely, with all of their parts. Even with the parts that were frustrating and disappointing. Perhaps especially with the parts that were frustrating and disappointing–the parts that maybe they were ashamed of, the parts they thought were unclean, the parts they maybe tried to hide and ignore and cover up.
Jesus knew all of those parts of them, and yet, he loved them. He loved them with the steadfast, unending, undying love of God. They, no less than he, were God’s beloved. And he needed them to know that–he needed to know that they knew that–before his time with them was up.
He needed them to know the depth of their belovedness, because it was only by being convinced of that, that they would be able to continue in his teachings once he was no longer with them.
He needed them to know the depth of their belovedness, because it was only by being convinced of that, that they would be able to stand firm in the face of the suffering he knew they would face.
He needed them to know the depth of their belovedness, because it was only in being convinced of that Love that they would be able to truly love one another.
He needed them to know that they, too, were God’s beloved, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
SO…while they were all together, on this night, this last night of this particular way of being together, while they were in the middle of eating supper, Jesus “got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” (John 13:4-5a)
Their dusty, dirty feet. Their sweaty, stinky feet. Their calloused, crusty feet. These feet Jesus began to wash. An act of service, yes. Absolutely. An act of upside-down service, in fact.
Jesus was their master and their teacher, not their servant.
But I can’t help but wonder about another way to think about it…
“You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am,” he said to them. And then I imagine that he maybe could have gone on to say something like this: “But I need you to know that everything that I’ve tried to teach you about who God is and what God’s Kingdom is about, comes down to Love. All that I’ve told you about how to live as people of God comes down to Love. And now, tonight, there is no more time for teaching or telling. There’s only time for doing and showing. And so I washed your feet.
“I took the parts of you that are not clean, that are not fit for presentation,” I think Jesus might have been saying, “and I held them with tenderness. I took the parts of you that you’d prefer to keep hidden, that you’d rather ignore, and I washed them with gentleness. I took the parts of you that bring you shame, the parts you find embarrassing, the parts you’d like to cover up, and I looked at them–and at you–with love.”
“Because you, no less than I, are God’s beloved. And I need you to know that. You, who have been encouraged and confused and amazed & terrified by me, are God’s beloved. I need you to know that. You, who have frustrated me to no end, and who are on the verge of denying you’ve ever known me, are God’s beloved. I need you to know that. You, with your dirty, dusty, stinky feet, with your secret, hidden, shameful parts, are God’s beloved.
And it is in receiving that love that you will be able to love one another. It’s in experiencing that love, that you will be able to honor the fullness of one another–the good and the bad and the encouraging and the embarrassing and the beautiful and the ugly–with tenderness and gentleness and humility. It’s in knowing this love, and the depth and completeness and unshakeable-ness of this love, that you will be able to truly love one another–and then the world–as I have loved you.
And so he gave them a new commandment (or in Latin, a new mandatum, which is where we get the word Maundy from, by the way), that they love one another. Just as he had loved them, they also should love one another. (cf. John 13:34b)
As he had loved them…
Which is the same way that he has loved us.
We, too, are God’s beloved, no less than the disciples were, no less than Jesus is. With our dirty, dusty, stinky feet, with our secret, hidden, shameful parts. You and you and you…….and I are God’s beloved.
If we can receive that love, experience that love, know that love, then we will more fully, more completely, more better be able to love one another.
And perhaps then, there will at least be a few moments when the world will see us who are followers of Jesus, and be able to say, “Wow, now those people really do know how to love each other…”
“I give you a new commandment,” Jesus said, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34, NRSV)
Amen.
Rev. Deborah Beloved Church (aka "Pastor Deb") 