Maundy Thursday – Humility and Love

John 13:1-17, 31-35

Washing His Disciples’ Feet

13 ^1-2 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.

^3-6 Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”

⁸ Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”

Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”

⁹ “Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

^10-12 Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.

^12-17 Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

A New Command

^31-32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God’s glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!

³³ “Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I’m telling you: ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’

^34-35 “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

Best Seat in The House

You walk into a room, and you look around for the best spot to sit. Near enough the heating to be warm, but not so near to be cooked; near enough a window for some air, but not so near that you’re in the draught; near enough the front that you can see, but not so near you might get dragged into the action; a comfy seat; just enough light… Everyone wants the best place.

Mark 10:35-45

The Request of James and John

³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, will you do us a favour?”

³⁶Jesus asked them what they wanted, ³⁷and they answered, “When you come into your glory, please let one of us sit at your right side and the other at your left.”

³⁸Jesus told them, “You don’t really know what you’re asking! Are you able to drink from the cup that I must soon drink from or be baptized as I must be baptized?”

³⁹“Yes, we are!” James and John answered.

Then Jesus replied, “You certainly will drink from the cup from which I must drink. And you will be baptized just as I must! ⁴⁰But it isn’t for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. That is for God to decide.”

⁴¹When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with James and John. ⁴²But Jesus called the disciples together and said:

You know that those foreigners who call themselves kings like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over the people they rule. ⁴³But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. ⁴⁴And if you want to be first, you must be everyone’s slave. ⁴⁵The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.

This story has echoes of the “Who will be the greatest” argument of Mark 9:33-41.  Jesus must have felt that he was banging his head against a brick wall – they were still failing to get the point…

God’s new thing was not about who was going to get the best places in heaven.  God’s ways are not about jostling for a nice position, they are about serving others.    The question should be not what favour Jesus will do for them – but what they are going to do for others.

The main focus of Jesus life was to show us how God would live – how we should live, not to bring comfort for eternity.  Following him means nothing if it does not make us act as he did…

 

Our Servant King, calls us to follow him, to daily live out lives as he did – in the service of others.

Are we looking for an easy life, eternal rest, or to serve others as God would?  That might not be a glamorous or easy life – but it is the one God calls us to, for that is how his new way will come. Will you join him?

Tom Wright’s prayer for today (p 105):

Help us, Lord Jesus,

servant and saviour,

to be grasped by your vision of God’s new world,

and to follow you in the servant-work

through which it is accomplished

 

This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.

First and Last

On many of the talent shows that you see on tv, when the contestants are asked why they think they should win it, the answer is invariably, “Because I want it so much” – as if the more you want something, the more you deserve it…

As they were walking along, Jesus disciples had been in discussion:

Mark 9:33-41

Who Is the Greatest?

³³Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” ³⁴They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.

³⁵After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honour, you must become a slave and serve others!”

³⁶Then Jesus had a child stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, ³⁷“When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”

For or against Jesus

³⁸John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn’t one of us, and we told him to stop.”

³⁹Jesus said to his disciples:

Don’t stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. ⁴⁰Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. ⁴¹And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded.

Well, actually they had been arguing – about which of them was the greatest.  They have heard all that Jesus has said about God’s new way, and yet they can still think who is the greatest among them is a sensible conversation to have.

But clearly jealousy and one-upmanship was alive and well…

But Jesus says, the way to gain honour, is to be looking after others, not our own egos.  The way to be best, is not to push ourselves forward, making it all about “me”, or wanting the glory – it’s about looking out for the other person, doing what’s best for them.  It’s not about putting yourself first, wanting what you want; but putting others needs ahead of your own.

This new way of God’s takes a whole new turn around from what we are used to.  Are we ready for it?

Are we truly ready to put God’s ways ahead of our ways?  For that is how we will welcome Jesus and his way of living into the world.

Tom Wright’s prayer for today (p 93):

Give us,

gracious Lord,

the humility to follow wherever you lead,

with no thought for our own status

except for that of a servant

This year, I am again following the BigRead using Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone – Mark.  I’ll reflect here – if you’re following it too, or even if you’re not, please share with me.