April 6, 2023 – Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-5, 12-17
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever had this experience? You go into a restaurant – busy, not busy – doesn’t really matter. But it takes minutes to get waited on. You don’t get a “I’ll be with you in a minute” or anything. You just sit and try to stay patient. Or you go to a retail store and the clerk is on their phone . . . as you wait. You are a patient in a hospital, and you feel the staff has neglected you. “Hello, has everyone gone home!” Or the one we have all faced, the repairman who gives you the three-hour window. You come home from work and five minutes before the window closes they arrive.
God created people with an expertise in something. We need someone’s help to help us get through life. The accountant, the car repair man, the roofer, the dentist. The world doesn’t work without us serving one another. When we get good service, we are happy to tell others in person or online.
If that’s the case then maybe you are ready to refer Jesus to your friends and relatives (and maybe your enemies too) when you learn about the kind of service God provides. In tonight’s lesson, Jesus not only provides great service to His disciples, but He does it for free. No demand for payment, no excuses, no patronizing. Jesus serves His disciples with His . . .
“HANDS OF HUMILITY”
Jesus has a lot on his mind this night. In less than 24 hours He will lay down His life for the sins of the world. God has laid all things at his feet. Instead of a dazzling display of the divine, Jesus exercised abject humility.
While Jesus’ mind raced with anticipation the pain and suffering of hell, while He foresaw the cross He would endure, lovingly conscious of the souls He would redeem, His disciples were in a petty argument over who was the greatest. They were oblivious to the needs of Jesus. This carries over to the upper room and now no one is here to wash their stinking feet. Which disciple would step up? Even in the midst of this silly squabble, won’t one of them get up to wash the Savior’s feet? Not one of them ever reached for the bucket.
On this Thursday evening, Jesus didn’t opt for a lecture. He would model what humble service looks like. He rose from the supper, put water in the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. They even get them dried. If Jesus had blown a gasket here, we would understand. His love never wavered. He didn’t get exasperated. He handled their pride with perfect patience. He overcame their arrogance with humble service.
Most of our Christian service falls short because we base it on the behavior of our neighbor. We shun people we don’t agree with. Doctors are a little slower to help belligerent patients. If we make our menu order difficult, we might be treated differently. Inside our families, we tiptoe around the hothead and walk on eggshells around the opiniated brother-in-law. Worse yet, we justify our behavior by suggesting they had it coming because they were being obnoxious. The irony is this. When we justify our behavior and blame our neighbor, we are the one who are being obnoxious.
If Jesus based His service on the disciples’ behavior, no one gets their feet washed tonight. No one would have their sins forgiven because Jesus would have never made it to the cross. Jesus’ humility shines brighter than ours because it’s not based on human behavior. Jesus’ humility is based on love and grace. His love is perfect. He even washed Judas’ feet.
Would Jesus walk out of a restaurant because of poor service? He didn’t walk out on the disciples, and He didn’t walk out on you. He came to serve you. Christ’s obedient death has served you well. It paid the price for our pride and entitled attitude. It paid for every shallow and insecure excuse we’ve ever offered God for failure to serve. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
The disciples had a history of missing the point. If Jesus got up and washed your feet, wouldn’t you feel ashamed? Jesus wanted more than to shame their pride; He wanted to rewire their attitudes and invite them to use their hands of humility. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (v. 14-15)
Jesus was not superior to the disciples. He didn’t tower over them. He stoops to the lowliest of service to show what service is all about. His service is incomparable, and it is free. Jesus’ humble death purifies us of our poor service, and Jesus’ perfect humble, hands satisfy God’s holiness and provide us the motive to serve our neighbor. Then heed Christ’s call and wash each other’s feet. Love and serve your neighbor, like Jesus did, with humility. “How can I serve?” “Who can I serve?” “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (v. 17)
Amen.