Maundy Thursday 2012

Maundy Thursday 2012 (Old Format)

Our Gospel Reading is part

          of what are known as the farewell discourses.

Jesus is basically preparing his disciples

          for his coming death as well as

                   what they need to do once he is gone.

After washing their feet,

          he teaches them to do the same

                    for one another.

Then, he presents them

          a new commandment

                   to love one another

                             as he has loved them.

What strikes me immediately

          is that this would be considered

                   a new commandment—

                             I mean it’s not as if

                                      this was a new idea.

 Certainly the radical way

          in which Jesus poses it is new.

This command to love is given even more authority,

          because Jesus has demonstrated it by washing his disciples’ feet.

                   We may not really understand it,

                             because it’s not part of our culture.

But it is easy to recognize

          that it is an act of great humility,

                   and of even greater love.

We know that as the Teacher,

          Jesus has no business washing his disciples’ dirty feet.

Of course that’s half the point,

          that he makes himself an example

                   of how they should serve one another.

Jesus is also showing them

          that he is prepared to give himself

                   fully for all of them.

 There should be no question

          that Jesus does this as an act of love.

If there are any doubts,

          we should remember that Jesus

                   even washed the feet of Judas Iscariot.

The Gospel of John makes it clear

          that Jesus knows his betrayer—

                   all the same, Jesus is a servant even to him.

What’s more,

is that immediately after

 sending Judas out to betray him—

Jesus gives this command to love.

 It’s as if the whole experience

would eventually become a kind of object lesson

about loving with ruthless abandon.

Obviously it is a command

          which can be  hard

                   to live into and comes at a great cost.

 Whenever we read this new command

          or hear it, we are challenged.

 One commentary writer,

          D.A. Carson,  puts it very well. He says:

"The new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, [but] profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice" 

This shouldn’t be taken as a jab.

          Truly loving is not an easy thing.

Some people are easier to love than others.

          Some people try our patience.

                   There are even some others who,

                             because of certain circumstances,

                                      may not know how to love or accept it.

Still, the command doesn’t change

          because of circumstances.

We’re commanded to love—

          but loving is something that we learn how to do continually.

It’s not an automatic gift of the Spirit,

          but like riding a bicycle,

                   once we start, we don’t forget.

                             In fact, we get better at it.

It is true that none of us are Jesus. 

          That doesn’t change the fact

                    that Jesus commanded us to love

                             as he has loved us.

It’s not impossible,

          and it’s not something that only works

                   in a perfect world.

We have to grow into loving one another;

          and because we do not live in a perfect world,

                   there are plenty of learning opportunities.

More importantly, there is always a need for more self-giving love.