The Last Lesson
March 28, 2024
Church of the Servant
Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Click the Audio Link below to hear the Sermon
Loving Like Jesus
April 13, 2017
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Jesus is getting his affairs in order.
There’s no Garden of Gethsemane prayer of doubt in John’s telling of this story.
Jesus is clear about who he is, what he is doing, and what is coming next.
In the passage just ahead of today’s familiar story, it says:
Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. (Jn 12:44-45)
What comes next is a demonstration of what “seeing him who sent me” looks like.
Jesus has had dinner with his disciples before, but he knows that his earthly life is drawing to a close. Words and signs have brought him so far, but he has a few more things to teach. Now he will give a tangible experience, an example of what it feels like to be embraced by God’s love. It’s important to remember that even Judas, the one who will betray Jesus, receives this example of love.
There’s no anxiety in this act. No haste.
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 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 disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. (Jn 13:3-5)
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