Peter and John heal the crippled man, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o’clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout.
Peter and John stared at him. “Look at us!” Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, “I don’t have any money, but I’ll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!” Peter took hold of the man’s right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God.
All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple’s Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him. (God’s Word Translation)
Peter and John at the gate of the temple, by Rembrandt
Money isn’t everything; and neither is having a lot of talent or giftedness. Yet, we often live our lives as if we cannot do much because of our lack of personal abilities and financial resources. But we can. All we need to do is give something that we all have to give.
Peter and John were disciples of Jesus. Though Jesus has ascended to heaven and the gift of the Spirit has come, they still maintained a daily rhythm of prayer three times a day at the temple.
As the two of them were about to attend afternoon prayer, they encountered a man at the gate. We are told that this particular guy was crippled. He came every day to the temple in order to beg. What is interesting to me is that this surely was not the first time Peter and John encountered the guy who begged at the gate.
Did they just ignore him? Was he one of many? Whatever the reason, they never put their eyes to him before. But on this occasion they did. In fact, they fixed their gaze on him and really took the time to stop and look at him.
I remember when my late brother-in-law had a complete turn around of his life to Jesus. At the time, he walked to work every day in the city. And every day there was a beggar on the corner. Most every day he had ignored him. One day he even spit on him.
The day after his great awakening to the Lord, he was walking to work and saw the beggar. But this time he really saw him. And when he looked into the man’s eyes, he had pity upon him. My brother-in-law – who took his lunch with him each day – surrendered it to the beggar. Eventually, he began a practice of bringing enough food for two, sitting down with the man, and talking with him as they ate together.
Perhaps for the first time, these disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, see the man who was there every day at the temple. They have not a thing with them. No money. No lunch. But they had something better: the power of grace and love.
In our contemporary Western society, we prefer things to be efficient and simple. Giving money, preferably online and dispassionately, is ideal for us. This way, we can give without any strings attached while feeling good about ourselves.
Yet, my brother-in-law and Peter and John decided to give the gift of connection. And that meeting of the eyes was the conduit for spiritual power to flow from one person to another. Doing what they saw Jesus do, the disciples gave the man who could not walk his legs back.
As a result, the guy was no longer lame nor a beggar. He became a fellow witness of God’s mercy and power. He went right up into the temple with Peter and John – walking and jumping and praising God.
It is not really money that gets things done. And it’s not our ingenuity or intelligence that really makes things happens. Throughout the book of Acts, demonstrations of God’s mighty power in the name of Jesus Christ is paramount. And those with alternative sources of power are shown to be powerless when it comes to life transformation.
In all of human history, including today, people like power; and power attracts wealth, as well as wealth attracting power. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is completely disconnected from worldly wealth. And it is never used for personal gain or popularity. And what’s more, this sort of power is available to every Christian – and not just a special class of super-Christians or clergy persons.
If we trace apostolic work in the New Testament, we shall find that the people with such spiritual power received it not because of extraordinary faith or exceptional virtue; instead, the Spirit grants us the ability to make a difference in this world by granting us the gift of sight – to truly see another as the precious image bearer of God that they are.
There are people right in front of us every day that we might not see. If we are wondering how to tap into the spiritual power of resurrection, we have no further to look than observing and gazing upon the folks within our eyesight, so that we can see them in new and redemptive ways.
Holy Lord, you gave us something more powerful and more valuable than riches; you have given us healing and hope. Please bring that healing and hope into our world and show us evidence of your presence in our lives. Amen.
Mosaic of Mary Magdalene in the garden with Jesus, Resurrection Chapel, Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her. (New Revised Standard Version)
Do Not Hold On To Me, by He Qi
Although Peter and John have a role in this story about Christ’s resurrection, the main character is Mary Magdalene. This is significant and symbolic for several reasons:
It was Mary who experienced one of the most profound and deep changes of life due to the ministry of Jesus. Mary had been an immoral woman and spiritually enslaved to the machinations of seven demons. Jesus thoroughly delivered her from her personal hell.
Mary was forever thankful to Jesus for changing her life, and so, she followed Christ and supported him in any way she could.
Mary was at the foot of the cross when Jesus died. While other disciples were keeping their distance out of fear, Mary was bold in standing with the other women for all to see that they were completely devoted to Jesus. Mary never turned her back on Jesus.
It was Mary who was there on the Sunday morning of Christ’s resurrection. Whereas the other followers were nowhere to be found, Mary came to the grave, still with a heart given to Jesus and grieving over his death.
Because Mary had been given a new chance at life, she was deeply thankful and everything she had belonged to Jesus. Mary Magdalene was forgiven much, and, so she loved much. Here she is, after her Lord’s crucifixion, death, and burial, at the grave of Jesus.
Mary came to the tomb on Easter Sunday still living in a Good Friday world – grieving, sad, and discouraged. She soon discovered, however, that Christ is risen!
In the midst of your days of disappointment, loss, or sadness, how have you been surprised by joy and the presence of the risen Christ? How has your grief been turned to gratitude? Have you seen the risen Lord?
Let Mary Magdalene’s experience be of encouragement to you. Mary was given new life and was transformed by the Lord. Yet, on Easter Sunday she did not immediately get what the heck was going on. Jesus rising from death was not anywhere on her radar.
The empty tomb and the angels did not immediately lead her to faith – not until she saw Jesus, and even then, she did not recognize him. Only when Jesus called her name did Mary recognize him and respond, believing it was her Lord.
And Jesus is still calling out names. He is calling your name. Jesus had said to his disciples that the sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice; he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3-4). One little word can change our lives forever: our name.
Easter opens a whole new world for us, as it did for Mary – a future of announcing good news and proclaiming resurrection.
There is a simple reason why the grave clothes were left in the tomb just lying there – they were not needed anymore! We no longer need the grave clothes of discouragement, defeat, and despair. We no longer need to weep and wonder because Christ is risen! Jesus Christ has called us by name, and we hear his voice.
The twentieth century theologian, Karl Barth, said that what brings people to worship God – not just on Easter, but any day – is an unspoken question clinging to our minds and hearts: Is it true? Is it true that God lives? Is it true that Jesus is alive? Could it be true that I can live a new life in Christ? Is it true that I can rebuild my life? Is it all true?
Mary Magdalene approached the tomb and found that it was true: Christ Jesus is risen from death!
Today, all over the world, followers of Jesus are testifying that this day and it’s deep implications for life is real: Christ is risen, and there is new life in Jesus. Believers across the globe are worshiping the risen Lord because they declare along with us, “I have seen the Lord!”
God has always been in the business of changing lives. British author A. N. Wilson, used to be known for his scathing attacks on Christianity and proclaimed the death of God. Yet he celebrated Easter in 2009 at a church with a group of other church members, proclaiming that the story of Jesus is the only one that makes sense out of life and its challenges. Wilson said:
“My own return to faith has surprised none more than myself…. My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known—not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in light of the resurrection story, and in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die.”
The moment Jesus calls a person’s name, the power of the resurrection is enabled—the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Come now, see what you consider as immovable slabs of stone in your life—bitterness, insecurity, fear, self-doubt or cynicism. Those immense rocks can be rolled away. To know Jesus is to know the power of the resurrection.
We don’t need to merely hear testimonies of changed lives like Mary Magdalene’s; we can experience new life ourselves.
There is one word, one name, which has forever changed the world: “Jesus.” And Jesus wants to change the world by uttering one simple word, one name, your name, so that you can exclaim with great joy, “I have seen the Lord!”
Loving Lord Jesus, you are our freedom. When I was lost in a dark hole of guilt and shame, you liberated me. You lifted me from sin, death, and hell.
Almighty God, hear today our prayers for the salvation of the world. Grant mercy to everyone who has turned away from you. Open their hearts and minds with your gracious light. Gather your children from the east and the west, from the north and the south.
O God, bring people everywhere out of the darkness of disease and death, and into your marvelous light. Hear our prayers and answer us. May the benevolent way of Jesus be the hope of the world; among all nations may your salvation come.
Gracious Lord, our neighbors, relatives, friends, and co-workers, along with the sick, the poor, the prisoner, the widow, and all creation are in your hands. Therefore, fill us all with your love and your mighty resurrection power! And, grant us peace through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.
Today’s Gospel lesson encompasses the full two chapters of events surrounding the arrest, torture, crucifixion, and death of Christ. Jesus died not only for white European heritage persons (like me) but for people of all races and ethnicities everywhere. And so, it is good and appropriate that the following comes from the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.
Every English translation of the Bible is accomplished by people translating from their own cultural perspectives and understandings. This particular translation comes through the cultural lens of American Indigenous peoples. And, in my view, this is a much needed addition to the many versions of the Bible now in print.
We have so many various translations, because we deem Holy Scripture important enough to be translated for all of the various peoples who exist – with all of their particular societal assumptions, and angles on spirituality.
So, please read this slowly, out loud if you can, and let the redemptive events of Jesus be seen in a way that will help your own understanding of Christ and his loving sacrifice for the whole world. This is Good Friday…
When he finished sending up his prayers, he and the ones who walked the road with him walked across the Valley of Darkness (Kidron) and entered a garden with many olive trees.
Speaks Well Of (Judas), the betrayer, knew about this place because Creator Sets Free (Jesus) would often go there with his followers. The betrayer came into the garden, and with him came a band of lodge soldiers sent from the scroll keepers, head holy men, and Separated Ones (Pharisees), representing the elders of the Grand Council. The air was filled with the smell of burning torches as they entered the garden carrying clubs and long knives.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew all this would happen, yet he turned to the soldiers and asked, “Who have you come for?”
With one voice they answered back, “Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth)!”
The betrayer, Speaks Well Of (Judas), was standing there with the lodge soldiers when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered, “I am he!”
The Guards Falling Backwards, by James J. Tissot (1836-1902)
At the sound of his voice they all moved back and fell to the ground.
He asked them again, “Who have you come for?”
They answered, “Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth).”
“I told you already, I am the one you are looking for,” he said, “Let these other men go.”
He said this to fulfill his promise, “None of the ones you gave to me have been lost.”
Right then, Stands on the Rock (Peter) drew his long knife from its sheath and cut off the right ear of the servant of the chief holy man. The servant’s name was Chieftain (Malchus).
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) turned to Stands on the Rock (Peter) and cried out, “Enough of this! Put your long knife back into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup of suffering my Father has asked of me?”
The lodge soldiers, along with their head soldier and the Grand Council representatives, the took hold of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), tied him securely with cowhide strips, and took him first to Walks Humbly (Annas), one of the high holy men. He was the father of the wife of Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man who had advised the Grand Council by saying, “It will be better if one man dies for all the people.”
Stands on the Rock (Peter) and one other follower had been watching from a distance. Since this follower was known by the chief holy man, he entered the courtyard of the house. But Stands on the Rock (Peter) stood outside the gate. This follower spoke to the gatekeeper, a young woman, who then let Stands on the Rock (Peter) in.
The Denial of St. Peter, by Gerard Seghers, c.1620
She said to him, “Are you not one of his followers?”
“No!” he told her, “I am not.”
The night was growing cold, so some of the men, along with the solider guards from the lodge, built a fire in the courtyard to keep warm. Stands on the Rock (Peter) stood there with them, trying to stay warm.
Back inside, the chief holy man began to question Creator Sets Free (Jesus) about his followers and his teachings. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him, “I have spoken openly to all, in the gathering houses and the sacred lodge. I said nothing in secret. Why ask me? Ask the ones who heard me. They will know.”
One of the head soldiers struck him in the face and said, “Is that how you answer a chief holy man?”
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered him back, “If I have spoken wrongly, tell what I said wrong. If I spoke what is true, then by what right do you strike me?”
Walks Humbly (Annas) decided to send Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man. So they took him, still bound by ropes, to Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas).
Outside in the courtyard, Stands on the Rock (Peter) was still warming himself by the fire. The other asked him, “You are not one of his followers, are you?”
“No!” Stands on the Rock (Peter) denied. “I am not!”
One of the servants of the chief holy man, a relative of the man whose ear had been cut off, looked at him, and said, “Yes, you are! I saw you in the garden with him!”
Stands on the Rock (Peter) shook his head in denial – and right then a rooster began to crow.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was taken from the house of Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas) to the lodge of the governor of the People of Iron (Romans). The tribal leaders stayed outside, for they did not want to become ceremonially unclean by going inside. It was early in the morning, and many of them had not yet eaten the ceremonial meal of Passover.
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) came outside to meet them.
They took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and stood him before Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate). He took a good long look at him, then turned back to the crowd.
“What has this man done wrong?” he asked them.
“If he were not a criminal, would we have brought him to you?” they answered.
“Take him away!” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them. “Use your own law to decide what to do.”
“Our tribal law will not permit us to put him to death,” they answered.
This proved that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was right when he told them how he would die – by being nailed to a tree-pole – the cross.
Christ Before Pilate, by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1310
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) went back into his lodge and had Creator Sets Free (Jesus) brought to him, so he could question him in private.
Once inside, he said to him, “Are you the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?
“Is this your question,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked, “or are you listening to others?”
“I am not from your tribes,” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) answered. “It is your own people and their head holy men who have turned you over to me. What have you done?”
“My way of ruling is a good road. It is not in the ways of this world. If it were, my followers would have fought to keep me from being captured.”
“So, then, you are a chief,” he said back to him.
“It is you who have said it,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “I was born for this and have come into the world for this purpose – to tell about the truth. The ones who belong to the truth will listen to my voice.”
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) shook his head and said, “What is truth?”
Then Spear of the Great Waters went outside to the tribal leaders and said to them, “I find no guilt in this man. By your own tradition we set free one criminal during your Passover Festival. Do you want me to release Creator Sets Free (Jesus), your chief?”
“No! Not him,” the crowd roared back. “Release Son of His Father (Barabbas)!”
Son of His Father (Barabbas) was a troublemaker who had caused an uprising.
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) turned Creator Sets Free (Jesus) over to his soldiers to have him beaten. The soldiers twisted together a headdress from a thorn bush, pressed the thorns into his head, and wrapped a purple chief blanket around him. They bowed down before him, making a big show of it, and kept mocking him, saying, “Honor! Honor to the Great Chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).”
Christ Mocked by Soldiers, by Georges Rouault (1871-1958)
They took turns hitting him on his face until he was bruised and bloodied.
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) stood before the crowd again and said, “I bring to you the one in whom I have found no guilt.”
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was brought forward, blood flowing down his bruised face. He was wearing the headdress of thorns and the purple chief blanket that was wrapped around him.
“Behold the man!” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them, “Take a good long look at him!”
The crowd stared at him in stunned silence.
But then the head holy men and the lodge guards began to shout, “Death! Death on the cross!”
“Then take him and kill him yourselves,” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them. “I find no guilt in him!”
They answered him back, “Our law tells us he must die, for he has represented himself as the Son of the Great Spirit.”
When Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) heard this, his fear grew stronger, so he took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) back inside his lodge.
“Who are you, and where are you from?” he questioned him.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) stood there and remained silent.
“Speak to me! Do you not know I have the power of life and death over you? I can have you killed or set you free,” he warned him. “Have you nothing to say?”
“The only power you have is what has been given you from above,” he answered. “The ones who turned you over to me carry the greater guilt.”
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) tried harder to have Creator Sets Free (Jesus) released, but the people would not have it.
They stood their ground, saying, “If you release a man who says he is a chief, you are not honoring the ruler of your people, for anyone who claims to be a chief challenges his power.”
When Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) heard this, he took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and went to the Stone of Deciding, called Gabbatha in the tribal language, and sat down. It was now midday on the Day of Preparation for the Passover Festival.
He brought Creator Sets Free (Jesus) before the people and said, “Here is your chief.”
“Take him away! Take him away!” the crowd shouted with one voice. “Nail him to the cross!”
“Would you have me nail your chief to the cross?” he asked them.
This time the head holy men answered back, “We have no other chief than the Ruler of the People Iron (Caesar).”
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) then turned Creator Sets Free (Jesus) over to the soldiers to have him put to death on a tree-pole – the cross – so they took him away.
The cross was an instrument of torture and terror used by the People of Iron (Romans) to strike fear into the hearts of any who dared to rise up against their empire. The victim’s hands and feet would be pierced with large iron nails, fastening them to the cross. The victims would hang there, sometimes for days, until they were dead. This was one of the most cruel and painful ways to die ever devised by human beings.
The soldiers placed a wooden crossbeam on his back and forced him to carry it to the place where he would be executed.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) carried the crossbeam to the Place of the Skull, which is called Golgotha in the tribal language. There they nailed his hands and feet to the cross, along with the two others, and placed his cross between the two of them.
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) fastened a sign to the top of the cross where they attached the crossbeam with these words written on it:
CREATOR SETS FREE
FROM SEED PLANTERS VILLAGE
CHIEF OF THE TRIBES
OF WRESTLES WITH CREATOR
This was near Village of Peace (Jerusalem). So that many of the Tribal Members could read it, the sign was written in Aramaic, their tribal language, but also in Latin and Greek, the languages of the People of Iron (Romans).
The chief head holy men and the tribal leaders said to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate), “Do not write ‘chief of the tribes.’ Instead write, ‘He said he is chief.’”
But he answered, “What I have written will stand.”
The Crucifixion, by Georges Rouault
The soldiers stripped his clothes from him when they nailed his hands and feet to the cross. They tore one of his garments in to four pieces, one for each guard. His long outer garment was woven together into one piece, so they said, “Let us not tear this, we can draw straws for it.”
This gave full meaning to the Sacred Teachings that said, “They divided my clothes between them and gambled for my garment.” This is what the soldiers did as they kept watch over Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
Standing near the cross was Bitter Tears (Mary), the mother of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who had come to see him, along with her sister. Two other women also came with her, Brooding Tears (Mary) the wife of Trader (Clopas), and Strong Tears (Mary) from Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala). He Shows Goodwill (John), the much loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), was also there with them.
When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked down and saw them, he said to his mother, “Honored woman, look to your son.” The he said to his follower, “Look to your mother.”
From that time the follower took Bitter Tears (Mary) into his family and cared for her.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus), knowing he had done all the ancient Sacred Teachings had foretold, said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel of sour and bitter wine standing nearby. One of the soldiers dipped a cloth in it to soak up some wine. He wrapped the cloth around the tip of a hyssop branch and held it up to the mouth of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
He then tasted the bitter wine, turned his head to the sky and cried out loud, “It is done!”
He then lowered his head to his chest and, with his last breath, gave up his spirit.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was dead.
Soon the sun would set and a special Day of Resting would begin when no work could be done. It was time to prepare for this day, so the Tribal members asked Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) to have the legs of the men on the crosses broken, which would make them die sooner. Then they could take the bodies down and prepare them for burial.
The soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men on each side of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). When they came to him, they saw he was already dead. Instead of breaking his legs, one of the soldiers took a spear and pierced his side. Blood and water flowed out from the wound.
The one who saw these things with his own eyes is telling the truth about this – so that all will believe. This was foretold in the ancient Sacred Teachings that say, “Not one of his bones was broken,” (Psalm 34:20) and, “They will look upon the one they have pierced.” (Zechariah 12:10)
Christ being lifted by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, by Antonio Canova (1757–1822)
He Gets More (Joseph) from High Mountain (Arimathea), a man with many possessions, was a follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), but in secret, because he feared the tribal leaders. Since it would soon be sunset, when the Day of Resting would begin, he went to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) and asked permission to remove the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from the cross.
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) released the body to him. So he and another man, Conquers the People (Nicodemus), who had come to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in secret at night, took his body away to prepare it ceremonially for burial. Conquers the People (Nicodemus) had brought a mixture of myrrh and oils weighing about seventy-five pounds. Together they ceremonially wrapped his body for burial in the traditional way, using strips of cloth and herbal spices and oils.
So because it was the Day of Preparation for the Passover Festival, and the day of resting was about to begin, they laid the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in a nearby burial cave that had never been used and then returned to their homes.
Jesus Washing the Disciples’ Feet, by Leszck Forczek (1946-2019)
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. The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 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 supper, 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 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.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them….
“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (New Revised Standard Version)
Today is Maundy Thursday. It is a time in Holy Week to reflect upon the great love of Christ for humanity, as well as much of humanity’s great resistance to that divine love.
The word “Maundy” is the Latin word for “commandment.” It’s a reference to Christ’s mandate for his followers to love one another. And Jesus gave his disciples an example of this love in a way they would never forget.
The jaw-dropping illustration of love for each other is preceded by setting the stage. It is the Last Supper, the final meal of Jesus with the disciples. Christ’s imminent crucifixion is very much tied to the Jewish Passover. Just as the festival is about to happen, dominating the spiritual landscape of Jerusalem, so the cross of Christ looms heavy in the Upper Room. The hour is nearly upon them.
Washing of the Feet, by John August Swanson, 2000
And only Jesus seems to know the brevity of the moment. He knows that Judas is about to betray him. Events that were prophesied centuries earlier are about to be set in motion. Every word and action of Jesus at this Supper is formed and informed by what is about to take place in the next few days.
We are meant to understand, as observers to this Upper Room meal, that Jesus not only knows what is happening, but that he also has control over the unfolding events. Satan may believe that he knows what’s going on and can influence Judas for diabolical purposes; but Jesus is really the One in charge. Even the workings of the devil are used for the divine agenda. Every event – whether meant for good or for ill – shall be bent toward the will of God.
The example, the capstone of all Christ’s teaching, is now divulged and acted out. The disciples themselves are participants in the drama; and they are aghast at what Jesus is doing. Christ proceeds to divest himself, humble himself, and serve them all by washing their feet.
Jesus intends his actions to be followed. Whereas the disciples likely believed that, over the past three years, they were being groomed for ruling in God’s new government, Christ was informing them that they will be servants in that new rule and reign of God. Yes, they will be leaders; but it will be a servant-leadership that uses its authority to love others.
Not everyone was immediately on board with this type of leadership and service. That’s because there were those who found it extremely hard to accept such a love as this.
Peter had serious difficulties with this foot washing thing. Maybe Peter thought that the roles should be reversed; he should be serving Jesus, and not the other way around. It could be that Peter was simply clueless or confused. Or perhaps he believed this action to be socially inappropriate and foolish. Yet, no matter what was going through Peter’s mind, he blatantly resisted the love of Christ.
Jesus would have none of this resistance to his loving service. Sharing in Jesus involves being served by him, even in so lowly and intimate a form as foot washing. Bottom line: the disciples of Jesus must be washed by him.
Peter (bless his extrovert mouth and heart) totally changes from rejection to the foot washing, to wanting a complete bath. Even in this, however, Jesus brings the zealot spirit down a few notches. He brought Peter to where he needs to be, and not where Peter wants to be.
Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciple by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996)
The whole washing of feet is an act of love and service that Jesus performed for them. Judas is there, too, getting his feet washed, as well. The example Jesus set was not simply one of service to an elite group of believers. The love of disciples for one another includes even those people we might prefer to forget.
Slaves were the ones who performed the service of washing feet whenever guests arrived at the master’s house. For the Christian, since our own Master initiated this practice, we ought also to love one another through meeting even the most mundane and stinky of needs. After all, we are not above our Master.
Yet, Christ considers us friends, and not necessarily as slaves, and even grants us an inheritance with him. Meeting needs requires the utilization of love.
It seems that Peter wanted to make the symbolic practice of washing feet something it was not meant to be. He asked for a lavish display of cleanliness for his entire body. Perhaps Peter thought that if you’re going to make a mark and a statement, then really go all out and do it!
For sure, Peter didn’t really know what he was saying. Jesus told Peter as much. But later, Jesus assured Peter, and all the disciples, that they indeed would, in time, understand all that he was opening up for them.
Of utmost value to Jesus was to have his disciples be driven by what drives he himself: love. Being a Christ follower is only secondarily about what one knows, and primarily about how one loves.
Christians have been profoundly loved by God through Jesus Christ. And what we do with that received love is of great importance to Jesus. As the Apostle Paul would say later to a young Corinthian Church, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)
On this Maundy Thursday, it is more than appropriate to contemplate the incredible love shown to the original disciples, and toward us, all these centuries later. Let this contemplation compel us to put a great deal of thought and conversation into the best ways of loving the people in front of us with actions that have real meaning for them.
O God of love, giver of concord, through your only Son you have given us a new commandment that we should love one another even as you have loved us, the unworthy and the wandering, and gave your beloved Son for our life and salvation. Lord, in our time of life on earth give us a mind forgetful of past ill-will, a pure conscience and sincere thoughts, and hearts to love one another; for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – A Prayer of St. Cyril of Alexandria, 5th century
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 