Maundy Thursday, March 24, 2016
Exodus 12:1-14, John 13: 1-35
Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church
First Presbyterian Church
By Young Kim
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ who washes your feet. Amen.
We are here to observe Maundy Thursday and commemorate the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. As you already know, on that night, there were so many big and memorable events that had happened. Let’s briefly go over Jesus’ path to the cross that night. Jesus and his disciples gathered together and had their last Supper; breaking the bread and pouring the cup, Jesus was eating with them and blessing them… full of joy and laughter… probably the disciples didn’t recognize that this will be the last Supper with his master, the Lord. While they were eating, Jesus had a water basin and knelt down on his knees and washed his disciples’ feet showing them his love and compassion; they were so surprised and overwhelmed by Jesus’ humbleness and love toward them. Then Jesus taught them to love one another and went to Gethsemane with his disciples and prayed to God. Then Jesus was betrayed from Judah Iscariot, one of his beloved disciples.
As you read the Bible, you might be able to guess the mixed emotions inside of Jesus’ heart. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that, by the end of the night, one of them will betray him to the authorities; one will deny him three times; and all of them will leave him and he will be left all alone in his hour of greatest pain. Jesus knew that he will be mocked, beaten, whipped, and nailed on the cross within 24 hours. But Jesus didn’t get angry at them; he didn’t spend his time trying to prove his innocence to the authorities; he didn’t plot for revenge nor ran away from the fear of death. Instead, he chose to spend his time with his beloved ones. He loved them to the end, to the fullest extent. He loved them, those who weren’t perfect. And he even loved Judas, the betrayer, to the end.
What would you do if you were Jesus? What would you do? How would you spend your time if you knew that, soon, you won’t be around these people and this place anymore?... Jesus used his last precious hours to serve, teach and prepare his beloved disciples.
Today, as we carefully walk through Jesus’ path to the cross, I would like us to think deeply about these three things: serving, forgiving, and loving.
First, let’s think about serving. Back in Jesus' time, Jesus washing his disciple’s feet was very unusual. People’s feet easily got dry and dirty when they walked around with sandals. The feet were the dirtiest place of their whole body. So, foot washing was typically a duty given for the lowliest of all servants in one’s household. Washing someone’s feet was an act of hospitality and care for the guests. It was also an act of servitude and humility. No wonder Simon Peter told Jesus, “You will never wash my feet,” since Jesus was his master, his Lord. Just imagine how surprising and awkward it would be if the President of the United States came up to you and started to shine your shoes. Or how would you feel if the Queen of England came to you and offered to give you a pedicure? Once we understand the culture and the relationship that was built between Jesus and the disciples, we will be able to take one step closer to being enlightened by the revealing intentions of Jesus Christ.
Then, why on earth did Jesus offer to wash their feet in the middle of eating? It is not written in today’s text, but in the Gospel of Luke, we can see that the disciples were arguing at the last supper to find out who the greatest was among them.
They were the ones who had been selected by Jesus from the crowds from lowly places like fishermen, tax collectors and even under the trees unexpectedly and they were given new meaning to their lives. They might have thought that they had become something special being the disciples of Jesus, the Messiah. So perhaps, pride was peeking out from them and they might have expected to become celebrities when Jesus sat on his throne in his Kingdom. But that was not what Jesus wanted. Instead, Jesus knelt down in front of them to wash their feet and showed his teachings through his action, which was to serve one another like servants and slaves, and to carry on Jesus’ ministry of loving people after he departs.
By showing the example of humbleness, Jesus was preparing them for the time of his physical absence. They will be the ones standing in front of the crowds of people teaching salvation and Jesus’ sacrificial love. They will be facing all types of sinners; they will meet the sick who are suffering from all kinds of diseases. When the disciples face such moments without Jesus’ presence, they will remember Jesus kneeling down and washing their feet. Jesus is asking you now to be the same with the disciples expecting us to treat other people and embrace the dirtiest part of their body and wash it. In Mark chapter 10, Jesus taught us “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first must be slave of all.” Jesus showed it himself to the disciples, and while doing so, he did not pick and choose which feet to wash. This brings us to our next point.
The second is forgiving. We tend to remember and focus on the fact that Jesus washed Peter’s feet, but the most important thing here is that Jesus washed the feet of Judas as well. Jesus knew from the beginning that Judah will betray him. But Jesus loved him at the same level with the other disciples and he trusted him to take care of the public money. The word forgiveness has a notion of God forgiving the sins of human beings, but it can also mean forgiving and not judging others for their sins. First we need to admit that I, myself, am a sinner. We need to apply to ourselves first the effort to be clean and maintain holiness in our life. But once we start applying it to others, it becomes the knife and standard that judge and condemn others. This will make us no different from the Pharisees who tried to test Jesus by bringing the sinners and asking him to judge them. Regardless how clean we wash ourselves, once we step outside the shower, our feet have become dirty again and we need to wash again eventually. Like so, we all are sinners who cannot be free from our own sins. And just as Jesus washed everybody’s feet including Judas’ feet, Jesus wants us to have a heart that does not pick and choose who we forgive or love.
The last but definitely not the least is loving. Jesus said something very important in verse 34. Let’s read it altogether: “a new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This was the will of Jesus given to his disciples before he died on the cross.
The word “Maundy” comes from a Latin word: mandatum. And mandatum means “mandate” or a “commandment.” So when we talk about Maundy Thursday, we’re talking about “mandate” Thursday. The washing of the feet and the last supper were both very important events that we should remember, but we should never forget that this was the day that Jesus gave the disciples the new commandment, the new mandatum: to love one another.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 that Jesus has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill them. And this commandment was the fulfillment of the Law. In the Book of Romans, Apostle Paul elaborated on this teaching of Jesus very clearly. This is what he says: Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10) If you love, you won’t sin. Therefore, loving is more sublime and beautiful than keeping the Law. It is just like the children obeying and listening to their parents out of love and respect. Wouldn’t it be too sad if the children were listening to their parents only out of fear of being punished?
When I was young, believe it or not, I was the most creative and mischievous kid. One of the mildest pranks that I did with my friends was calling 911. I know, it’s terrible, but I believe that we’ve all done pranks at some point in our life. Anyways, all we did was to call the number and say, “Hey man, it’s me,” and then hang up. There were seven of us, and we took turns to call 911 again and again. We were too naïve to disguise our location that we stayed at the same public phone booth for the whole time. We stopped after calling them around 30 times. The operation system at 911 was smarter than us, and the officer at the fire department soon found out who we were. I heard later that the officer actually bribed one of the kids in the neighborhood and asked who the most playful kids in the town were. The kid was one of our friends, and apparently, she gave such a good list of names that it didn’t take long for us to all gather in the main office of fire department. We were scolded for quite a while, and that office was definitely not an accommodating place for a child to stay. So, after that incident, I never called 911 again for fun. And here’s our point: I never called 911 again, because I was scared that I would get caught. It was not because I felt bad to the people whose line could have been delayed because of my prank or because I felt sorry that I had been disturbing the officers from concentrating on their duties. I stopped doing it only because I learned that I will be punished if I did it again.
It was the same for the Jews. They were the ones who put a lot of effort to keep the law perfectly, and they were proud of it. But they obeyed the law only for the sake of the law without realizing the fundamental spirit of the Law. There wasn’t that loving and trusting relationship between them and God. This is why their so-called righteous deeds could not be done out of respect or love for God, but out of fear of the judgement. So, to renew the prevalent misunderstanding of the Law, Jesus came to the earth 2000 years ago and shouted out for love throughout his life.
Then how about us now? Have we become any better after 2000 years? We should reflect upon our lives by asking these questions: “Am I keeping God’s Words only for the sake of my own righteousness?” “Am I not rejecting and judging others thinking that I need to protect myself from the sinners?” Or, we could change the question the other way around and ask, “Am I abusing my love for God to make an excuse for myself of not doing what I ought to do as God’s children?” What we ought to do is to abide by the Law naturally out of love for God and love for one another.
Today, Jesus is in front of each one of us to wash our feet. To show us the perfect model of serving, forgiving, and loving. Jesus is telling us to keep in mind the new commandment: to love one another. And this was the last thing Jesus really wanted the disciples to know. Tonight, as we eat the bread and drink the cup, remember the new commandment; love one another. Let’s not forget what the mandate is. It is so simple, and yet it demands our whole lives and our whole attentions.
Jesus hopes to see someone who cries for others out of compassion; Jesus hopes to see someone who takes a good care of the weak out of love from their center; Jesus hopes to see someone who washes the feet of others out of grace in their heart. And Jesus demands us to be this someone, and he promises us that he will not only reveal himself to us, but also give himself for us together with the love of God forever.
Exodus 12:1-14, John 13: 1-35
Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church
First Presbyterian Church
By Young Kim
Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ who washes your feet. Amen.
We are here to observe Maundy Thursday and commemorate the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. As you already know, on that night, there were so many big and memorable events that had happened. Let’s briefly go over Jesus’ path to the cross that night. Jesus and his disciples gathered together and had their last Supper; breaking the bread and pouring the cup, Jesus was eating with them and blessing them… full of joy and laughter… probably the disciples didn’t recognize that this will be the last Supper with his master, the Lord. While they were eating, Jesus had a water basin and knelt down on his knees and washed his disciples’ feet showing them his love and compassion; they were so surprised and overwhelmed by Jesus’ humbleness and love toward them. Then Jesus taught them to love one another and went to Gethsemane with his disciples and prayed to God. Then Jesus was betrayed from Judah Iscariot, one of his beloved disciples.
As you read the Bible, you might be able to guess the mixed emotions inside of Jesus’ heart. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that, by the end of the night, one of them will betray him to the authorities; one will deny him three times; and all of them will leave him and he will be left all alone in his hour of greatest pain. Jesus knew that he will be mocked, beaten, whipped, and nailed on the cross within 24 hours. But Jesus didn’t get angry at them; he didn’t spend his time trying to prove his innocence to the authorities; he didn’t plot for revenge nor ran away from the fear of death. Instead, he chose to spend his time with his beloved ones. He loved them to the end, to the fullest extent. He loved them, those who weren’t perfect. And he even loved Judas, the betrayer, to the end.
What would you do if you were Jesus? What would you do? How would you spend your time if you knew that, soon, you won’t be around these people and this place anymore?... Jesus used his last precious hours to serve, teach and prepare his beloved disciples.
Today, as we carefully walk through Jesus’ path to the cross, I would like us to think deeply about these three things: serving, forgiving, and loving.
First, let’s think about serving. Back in Jesus' time, Jesus washing his disciple’s feet was very unusual. People’s feet easily got dry and dirty when they walked around with sandals. The feet were the dirtiest place of their whole body. So, foot washing was typically a duty given for the lowliest of all servants in one’s household. Washing someone’s feet was an act of hospitality and care for the guests. It was also an act of servitude and humility. No wonder Simon Peter told Jesus, “You will never wash my feet,” since Jesus was his master, his Lord. Just imagine how surprising and awkward it would be if the President of the United States came up to you and started to shine your shoes. Or how would you feel if the Queen of England came to you and offered to give you a pedicure? Once we understand the culture and the relationship that was built between Jesus and the disciples, we will be able to take one step closer to being enlightened by the revealing intentions of Jesus Christ.
Then, why on earth did Jesus offer to wash their feet in the middle of eating? It is not written in today’s text, but in the Gospel of Luke, we can see that the disciples were arguing at the last supper to find out who the greatest was among them.
They were the ones who had been selected by Jesus from the crowds from lowly places like fishermen, tax collectors and even under the trees unexpectedly and they were given new meaning to their lives. They might have thought that they had become something special being the disciples of Jesus, the Messiah. So perhaps, pride was peeking out from them and they might have expected to become celebrities when Jesus sat on his throne in his Kingdom. But that was not what Jesus wanted. Instead, Jesus knelt down in front of them to wash their feet and showed his teachings through his action, which was to serve one another like servants and slaves, and to carry on Jesus’ ministry of loving people after he departs.
By showing the example of humbleness, Jesus was preparing them for the time of his physical absence. They will be the ones standing in front of the crowds of people teaching salvation and Jesus’ sacrificial love. They will be facing all types of sinners; they will meet the sick who are suffering from all kinds of diseases. When the disciples face such moments without Jesus’ presence, they will remember Jesus kneeling down and washing their feet. Jesus is asking you now to be the same with the disciples expecting us to treat other people and embrace the dirtiest part of their body and wash it. In Mark chapter 10, Jesus taught us “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first must be slave of all.” Jesus showed it himself to the disciples, and while doing so, he did not pick and choose which feet to wash. This brings us to our next point.
The second is forgiving. We tend to remember and focus on the fact that Jesus washed Peter’s feet, but the most important thing here is that Jesus washed the feet of Judas as well. Jesus knew from the beginning that Judah will betray him. But Jesus loved him at the same level with the other disciples and he trusted him to take care of the public money. The word forgiveness has a notion of God forgiving the sins of human beings, but it can also mean forgiving and not judging others for their sins. First we need to admit that I, myself, am a sinner. We need to apply to ourselves first the effort to be clean and maintain holiness in our life. But once we start applying it to others, it becomes the knife and standard that judge and condemn others. This will make us no different from the Pharisees who tried to test Jesus by bringing the sinners and asking him to judge them. Regardless how clean we wash ourselves, once we step outside the shower, our feet have become dirty again and we need to wash again eventually. Like so, we all are sinners who cannot be free from our own sins. And just as Jesus washed everybody’s feet including Judas’ feet, Jesus wants us to have a heart that does not pick and choose who we forgive or love.
The last but definitely not the least is loving. Jesus said something very important in verse 34. Let’s read it altogether: “a new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This was the will of Jesus given to his disciples before he died on the cross.
The word “Maundy” comes from a Latin word: mandatum. And mandatum means “mandate” or a “commandment.” So when we talk about Maundy Thursday, we’re talking about “mandate” Thursday. The washing of the feet and the last supper were both very important events that we should remember, but we should never forget that this was the day that Jesus gave the disciples the new commandment, the new mandatum: to love one another.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 that Jesus has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill them. And this commandment was the fulfillment of the Law. In the Book of Romans, Apostle Paul elaborated on this teaching of Jesus very clearly. This is what he says: Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10) If you love, you won’t sin. Therefore, loving is more sublime and beautiful than keeping the Law. It is just like the children obeying and listening to their parents out of love and respect. Wouldn’t it be too sad if the children were listening to their parents only out of fear of being punished?
When I was young, believe it or not, I was the most creative and mischievous kid. One of the mildest pranks that I did with my friends was calling 911. I know, it’s terrible, but I believe that we’ve all done pranks at some point in our life. Anyways, all we did was to call the number and say, “Hey man, it’s me,” and then hang up. There were seven of us, and we took turns to call 911 again and again. We were too naïve to disguise our location that we stayed at the same public phone booth for the whole time. We stopped after calling them around 30 times. The operation system at 911 was smarter than us, and the officer at the fire department soon found out who we were. I heard later that the officer actually bribed one of the kids in the neighborhood and asked who the most playful kids in the town were. The kid was one of our friends, and apparently, she gave such a good list of names that it didn’t take long for us to all gather in the main office of fire department. We were scolded for quite a while, and that office was definitely not an accommodating place for a child to stay. So, after that incident, I never called 911 again for fun. And here’s our point: I never called 911 again, because I was scared that I would get caught. It was not because I felt bad to the people whose line could have been delayed because of my prank or because I felt sorry that I had been disturbing the officers from concentrating on their duties. I stopped doing it only because I learned that I will be punished if I did it again.
It was the same for the Jews. They were the ones who put a lot of effort to keep the law perfectly, and they were proud of it. But they obeyed the law only for the sake of the law without realizing the fundamental spirit of the Law. There wasn’t that loving and trusting relationship between them and God. This is why their so-called righteous deeds could not be done out of respect or love for God, but out of fear of the judgement. So, to renew the prevalent misunderstanding of the Law, Jesus came to the earth 2000 years ago and shouted out for love throughout his life.
Then how about us now? Have we become any better after 2000 years? We should reflect upon our lives by asking these questions: “Am I keeping God’s Words only for the sake of my own righteousness?” “Am I not rejecting and judging others thinking that I need to protect myself from the sinners?” Or, we could change the question the other way around and ask, “Am I abusing my love for God to make an excuse for myself of not doing what I ought to do as God’s children?” What we ought to do is to abide by the Law naturally out of love for God and love for one another.
Today, Jesus is in front of each one of us to wash our feet. To show us the perfect model of serving, forgiving, and loving. Jesus is telling us to keep in mind the new commandment: to love one another. And this was the last thing Jesus really wanted the disciples to know. Tonight, as we eat the bread and drink the cup, remember the new commandment; love one another. Let’s not forget what the mandate is. It is so simple, and yet it demands our whole lives and our whole attentions.
Jesus hopes to see someone who cries for others out of compassion; Jesus hopes to see someone who takes a good care of the weak out of love from their center; Jesus hopes to see someone who washes the feet of others out of grace in their heart. And Jesus demands us to be this someone, and he promises us that he will not only reveal himself to us, but also give himself for us together with the love of God forever.