Holy (Maundy) Thursday
April 13, 2017
Cross~Wind
April 9, 2009
Cross~Wind Ministries
Title: Maundy Thursday Theology
Introducing the passage
John 13:1-20 is the account, found only in John’s
gospel, of Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet. Chapter 13 begins the second
section of the Gospel of John, a shift from the public ministry of Jesus to his
farewell discourse to the disciples and the passion narrative. John identifies
this event as occurring on Thursday night of the Jewish observance of the
eating of the Passover sacrificial meal is an important one for us. Judas has a
disturbing and threatening presence, in many ways more so than Jewish leaders
or Pilate. Think of it this way. Judas was part of the inner circle of Jesus.
Jesus had chosen him. He basked in the light. Yet, he preferred and chose
darkness. It makes us wonder that of which we are capable. Further, Jesus knows
humanity well enough that events are in motion that will lead to his death for
others. He knows of Judas. He knows his disciples will desert him. He knows
Romans and Jewish leaders will conspire to kill him. Yet, this knowledge does
not dissuade him from his mission. Instead, Jesus offers his life as an
expression of his love. His love is total in these hours. Yet, his immediate
act is one of hospitality and the role of a servant. The one called Lord,
Master, and Teacher is the one who washes the feet of his disciples. In that
sense, this passage is about foot-washing. It was the job of the first-century
household slave. It was a practical task, given that people walked to most
places on dusty roads. Yet, in another sense, the passage is about something
far deeper. Our lives do not require the hospitality of feet-washing when
guests come to our homes. Yet, the example Jesus provides remains powerful for
us today, who seek to follow Jesus.
Introduction
We come together this evening to
recall in our hearts and minds the events that occurred on Thursday of what the
church calls Holy Week, the last week in the life of our Lord. The disciples
have gathered in a home, whose we are not sure, but we do know that it had a
furnished second floor. As they gather, they participate in a Seder meal, one
of the highlights of the Passover week. The Passover festival commemorated that
time when the Jews were in bondage in Egypt. Moses warned Pharaoh to let his
people go, but Pharaoh hardened his heart. God sent a death over the land of
Egypt, but miraculously this death passed over the homes of the Jews. Thus, the season of Passover had its birth.
The meal itself was a symbolic one
reminding the Jews of the sufferings of their ancestors and the power of God's
deliverance. The foods they ate were symbols to remind the Jews of their
captivity in Egypt.
Thirteen men have dinner to celebrate
their shared Jewish history. One of them washes the others’ feet.
John 13:1-15 (NRSV)
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus
knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The
devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to
betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had
given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to
God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a
towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began
to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied
around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are
you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now
what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to
him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you
have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my
feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One
who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely
clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who
was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12
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? 13 You call me
Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if
I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also
should do as I have done to you.
Application
I have entitled this reflection “Maundy Thursday
Theology.” I think a rich theology underpins Maundy Theology. It seems to me, however,
that Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter overshadow it. One pastor in what
some might call a “low church tradition” recently asked, “There’s church on
Thursday? That is a long workweek. You had better take some comp days.” Yes —
there is church on Thursday. If you are serious, some churches a Vigil on
Saturday as well.
I want us to explore John 13:1-15. The
passage is about foot washing, and it is not about foot washing at the same
time.
First, in what ways is this passage
about foot washing? “He poured water into
a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel
that was tied around him.”
The humility of Christ is what stuns
us. The King of Kings chose the servant’s role as an object lesson. Remember
that in those days, foot washing was no more a symbolic ceremony than was
breaking the bread and pouring the wine. It was practical. Dusty, muddy and
manure-strewn roads made sandaled feet a mealtime killer. The first-century
household slave would always get the foot-washing task as it was one of the
most demeaning and filthy tasks in their culture. I do not know if it was dirty
enough to make Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, but it was a dirty
task. Since Jesus and the disciples held the meeting in secret, there was no
slave to do the work. To further the irony of the Messiah washing feet, our
minds lay onto this story Luke tells us that the Upper Room discourse included
the favorite spat of the apostles — “Which
of us is the greatest?” (Luke 22:24).
Second, in what way is this passage
not about foot washing?
The point of the story is the example Jesus set of
giving his life for others and serving others.
The fact is, the Imitation of Christ
is toward downward mobility. Therefore, at a deeper level, John 13 does not
have much to do with foot washing at all. The whole passage is about
incarnating into a world of pain and brokenness on behalf of those in need. Into
a world of darkness and death, followers of Jesus are to offer light and life. Jesus
was commissioning the disciples to do this based on the command to imitate him
(v. 15). He invited them to serve, but in ways that were unexpected by the
person served.
I invite you to reflect upon John
tells here. It was Passover, a holy
time of sacrifice. His hour had come,
his time for glorification through death, resurrection, and ascension. He had loved his own end to the end. One of his
closest friends was at the table, ready to betray him. He knew that the Father had given all things into his
hands, that he had come from God and was going to God. In our humanity, if
we knew all this about ourselves, we might have delivered a great message
lasting hours, led army to victory, or done something else that people might
consider grand. However, 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 disciple’s feet and to wipe
them with the towel that was tied around him.
This foot washing has little to do
with dirty feet and everything to do with the life of the Christ. He left
heaven, stripped himself of glory and divine rights, took on human flesh, and
entered into suffering and pain — applying his very humanity to the redemption
of the dirty humanity of others.
Confused about what is going on, Jesus
tells Peter that even he will not understand the whole scene until later (v.
7). Over his protests, Jesus washes his feet anyway.
What theology emerges from this
discourse?
One, the feet are the part of us that stay in
contact with the earth. Jesus cleanses us by purifying us from that part of our
humanity that the world taints. Granted,
sin does not destroy the imago dei in
each person; it is marred in its expression within and to the world. Jesus
cleanses the part of us that will continue to remain in contact with a soiled
world, and that cleansing is enough for us to remain standing in the world,
without corrupting the whole of us.
Two, Peter’s protest draws attention
to the servant/master tension in the passage. What is Christ doing?! The
command of verse 15 is staggering. It is not just about feet. It is about life.
Bring the kingdom down to the places of brokenness. “For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done
to you” (13:15). Jesus is calling us to leave higher safety for a lower, broken,
dark, death-like world, asking us to enter into the sorrow that is the
incarnation of Maundy Thursday.
Conclusion
I invite you to reflect upon a person
who has shown you how to wear a towel of a servant, someone who has set an
example of service or love each other. Consider that person quietly, so that
you might experience the instructions of Jesus to serve and love others through
your thoughts, words, or actions.
[Pray the following slowly].
Prayer
of Commitment
Servant
Lord, in Scripture you teach us how to love and serve, not just through words, but
also through your life of servanthood. In the lives of other servants, you show
us how to stand in a servant’s posture and live with love as our call. Thank
you for all who live out your instruction, and in their actions show your
teaching.
Lord
and Teacher, may we also follow your example, serving you and others by sharing
your love. Show us how to wear a servant’s towel. Use us to meet the deep needs
of those near and far. Help us not to be afraid of getting messy, but to risk
our own time and energy for the sake of following your call. When others serve
us, may we accept their gifts with grace.
We
commit ourselves to your service, and ask all of these things in your name.
Amen.
Going deeper
Now
before the festival of the Passover, [which
would be Thursday. This would differ from Mark 14:12, 14, 16, which refer to
the first evening of Passover. The symbolism of the sacrificial death of Jesus
coinciding with the Passover is one the reader ought not to miss.] Jesus knew [(humanity well enough that)
(in 7:30 and 8:20 his hour had not come) Jesus was fully aware that the way
events around him were unfolding would lead to his sacrificial death, and that
this knowledge did not dissuade him from his mission] that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father [(even
as he had come from the Father).] Having loved his own [(a group larger
than the disciples)] who were in the
world, he loved them to the end. [The Greek word here is normally a
temporal reference, referring to the end of an action. However, it could also
refer to the goal or purpose of an action. In that case, the translation in the
New English Bible as “the full extent of his love” becomes possible. For the
first time, the life and death of Jesus are the expression of love. That love
is total.] 2 The devil had
already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. [Judas
is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders. Think of it
this way. One of Jesus’ own circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the
darkness. He not only saw the light; he basked in the light, and still he chose
the darkness. ] And during supper 3 Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had
come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took
off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he
poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them
with the towel that was tied around him. [This was a sign of hospitality in
the ancient world, and was usually the role of the servant of the house.] 6 He came to Simon Peter, who
said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus
answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later [referring to the
post-resurrection insight from the Holy Spirit] you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never
wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my
head!”[ likely reflecting the
practice of ritual washing in Judaism.] 10
Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for
the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11
For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of
you are clean.”
12
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? 13 You
call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So
if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also
should do as I have done to you.
He stresses that servants are not
greater than the master. Messengers are not greater than the one who sent them.
If they know these things, God will bless them. However, he is not speaking of
all of them. He knows whom he has chosen. He refers to scripture in Psalm 41:9
that said that the one who ate my bread has lifts his heel against me. He
concludes by affirming that whoever receives one whom Jesus sends receives
Jesus, while whoever receives Jesus receives the one who sent him.
This passage is the biblical basis
for the sacramental practice of foot washing. Jesus washed the feet of the
disciples as a sign of cleansing and of servanthood. Apparently, in the
churches of Asia Minor, present—day Turkey, the practice continued as a
sacrament. Some churches through the centuries washed the feet of persons who
were newly baptized. However, it was most common in the monasteries, where the
head of the monastery would wash the feet of the newly admitted monks.
Normally, this was done on Maundy Thursday as part of the Lenten observance. No
less of a theologian than Bernard of Clairvaux (1091—1153) urged the acceptance
of this practice as a sacrament. It became part of the practice of royalty,
who would invite the poor to a banquet, and then the king would bow before them
and wash their feet. Through some of this kind of practice, there would often
be great public display of the action. This misuse caused Martin Luther to
reject the practice, and Protestant churches have generally followed him.
However, the Church of Brethren has continued the practice as a sign of cleansing
and servanthood. The practice is seeing a comeback in Protestant churches as
part of the Maundy Thursday service.
This passage gives us an
opportunity to reflect upon the theological meaning of Judas. Johannine scholar
Adele Reinhartz interprets the gospel of John as three intertwining “tales,”
and one can fruitfully interpret Judas through her framework. The “historical tale” is the plain reading of
the gospel, as an account of Jesus of Nazareth in his particular time, place
and circumstances. In this tale, Judas is a real person, a close friend of
Jesus, who betrays him into the hands of their political rulers, the Romans.
The “cosmological tale” is more subtle, and extends beyond the historical
setting of the gospel to the entire cosmos and an eternal time frame. The hero
of this tale is the Word who enters the world, defeats the cosmic ruler of this
world (the devil), and returns home to the Father. In this tale, Judas is the
agent of the “devil” (6:70) or “Satan” (13:27). The “ecclesiological tale” is
even more subtle: It tells the story of the Johannine community at the time of
the gospel’s composition. Scholars interpret the first-century community of
John’s gospel as one in conflict with the synagogue of its day. Judas
represents those Jews who have rejected the message of Jesus.
One challenge many readers,
scholarly as well as laity, is a theological one. Simply stated, if Jesus
foresees his betrayal by Judas (John 6:70-71; 13:26-27), then did Judas have
free will in his betrayal? If the crucifixion was necessary for the salvation
of humanity, was the betrayal by Judas betrayal a part of the plan of God? Is
not Judas a participant in God’s plan of salvation? When one ponders Judas, one
wrestles with weighty theological topics.
Furthermore, Judas manifests a
practical challenge before all readers of John’s gospel. David Bartlett has
preached on this practical challenge of Judas’ character. According to Bartlett,
“Judas is a far more threatening figure
than Pilate or the Jewish leaders to those of us Christians who read John’s
gospel. ... What frightens us as we watch Judas go out into the night, what
should terrify us had the story not grown so familiar, is that one of Jesus’ own
circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the darkness. What frightens us is
this portrayal of one who was so close to Jesus as flesh to bone. He not only
saw the light; he basked in the light, and still he chose the darkness.”
Barth will stress that Judas shares the same unclean feet as
do the disciples. Judas simply embodies the uncleanness of all the disciples.
The disciples embody obstinate Israel and therefore the obstinate world. When
Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, all said, “Is it I?” He
stresses that the special cleansing mentioned in verse 18 is a condition of
fellowship with Jesus. To understand this, we need to go back to verse 1, which
stresses the love that embraced them as disciples. Jesus also knew the
authority he had from the Father. At that moment, his loving disposition toward
them led him to an action that was in response to the satanic indwelling of
Judas. In this critical moment, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.
[2]
It seems to me that the repetition of this Christ-act
does not need to be foot washing. That was the best first-century model, but
what would happen if we think about the 21st-century equivalent?
What would happen if we were to talk together?
• What characteristics of
Christ most stand out to you based on his washing of the disciples’ feet?
• What is the foot-washing
equivalent in our culture that would communicate these qualities?
• Jesus washed their feet,
and they were to do as he had done. To whom? Each other? Their disciples? The
outside world?
• And what were they supposed
to do? Go wash feet, or was there something else?
• Who is one person whose
“feet” God wants you to “wash”? How should you do this?
