Welcome, friends. The Gospel of John, chapter 13, provides the last words and final actions of Jesus Christ for his disciples. And it all centers in humble love. Click the videos below, and let us observe and remember…
Maundy Thursday, Pastor Tim Ehrhardt
Behold the Lamb (Communion Hymn) – sung by Keith & Kristyn Getty, words by Stuart Townsend, 2009
Holy God, you give us this meal of bread and wine in which we celebrate your great compassion; grant that we may work with you to fulfil our prayers, and to love and serve others as Christ has loved us; this we ask through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end.
Even before the evening meal started, the devil had made Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, decide to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew that he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. So, during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples’ feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.
But when he came to Simon Peter, that disciple asked, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t really know what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“You will never wash my feet!” Peter replied.
“If I don’t wash you,” Jesus told him, “you don’t really belong to me.”
Peter said, “Lord, don’t wash just my feet. Wash my hands and my head.”
Jesus answered, “People who have bathed and are clean all over need to wash just their feet. And you, my disciples, are clean, except for one of you.” Jesus knew who would betray him. That is why he said, “except for one of you.”
After Jesus had washed his disciples’ feet and had put his outer garment back on, he sat down again. Then he said:
Do you understand what I have done? You call me your teacher and Lord, and you should, because that is who I am. And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you. I tell you for certain that servants are not greater than their master, and messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. You know these things, and God will bless you, if you do them….
Now the Son of Man will be given glory, and he will bring glory to God. Then, after God is given glory because of him, God will bring glory to him, and God will do it very soon.
My children, I will be with you for a little while longer. Then you will look for me, but you won’t find me. I tell you just as I told the people, “You cannot go where I am going.” But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples. (CEV)
Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciple by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996)
We all need to receive love and to give love. Without love, there is little to live for. Apart from love, relationships devolve into silent standoffs and destructive triangles. Indeed, with an absence of love the world ceases to spin on its axis.
Yet, where love is present all things are beautiful. Personal relations have meaning and joy. All seems right and just in the world.
Love, however, comes at a cost. Because we live in a broken world full of pride and hubris, greed, and avarice, hate and envy, we are victims of loveless systems and unjust actions. We need love to rescue us, to redeem us from the sheer muck of existence. It’s as if we are constantly walking knee deep through sludge so thick, we can barely get anywhere. We need saving. We need Jesus.
Christians everywhere around the world are journeying through Holy Week, the most sacred time of the year for followers of Christ. When we think about Holy Week, we are familiar with Good Friday and certainly Easter, but Maundy Thursday?
On this day, the Church remembers the final evening Jesus shared with his disciples in the upper room before his arrest and crucifixion. The experiences in the upper room were highly significant because this was the last teaching, modeling, and instruction Jesus gave before facing the cross. Jesus was careful and deliberate to communicate exactly what was important to him: to love one another.
Maundy Thursday marks three important events in Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples:
The washing of the disciples’ feet (the action of loving service)
The instituting of the Lord’s Supper (the remembrance of loving sacrifice)
The giving of a “new” commandment to love one another (the mandate of a loving lifestyle).
For Jesus, his last night with the disciples was all about love, God’s love. On that fateful night, having loved his disciples for the past three years, Jesus showed them the full extent of his love by taking the posture of a servant and washing each one of the disciples’ feet, including Judas. After demonstrating for them humble service, Jesus said,
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15, NIV).
This was an incredible act of love. Jesus Christ loves me just as I am, and not as I should be. He loves me even with my dirty stinky feet, my herky-jerky commitment to him, and my pre-meditated sin.
The Last Supper by Indian artist Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002)
Not only did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet, but he lifted the cup of wine and boldly asserted:
“Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:17-20, NIV).
Because of these words, the church throughout the world, for two millennia, have practiced this communion so that we might have the redemptive events of Jesus pressed firmly into our minds and our hearts by means of the visceral and common elements of bread and wine. We are to not just know about Jesus; we are to experience being united with him.
Having washed the disciples’ feet, and proclaiming to them the meaning of his impending death, Jesus gave them a clear commandment:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35, NIV)
Love one another, insisted Jesus, by imitating his humble service. We represent Christ on this earth when we carefully, diligently, and persistently practice love. Although love was not a new concept for the disciples, in the form and teaching of Jesus love was shown with four distinctions:
Jesus is the new model of love.
A new motive of love, that Christ first loved me.
A new motivator to help us love, the Holy Spirit.
A new mission, the evangelization of the world, utilizing the power of Christ’s love to accomplish it.
Maundy Thursday is a highly significant day on the Church Calendar – one which deserves to be observed, and an opportunity to remember the important words and actions of Jesus on our behalf. Through Jesus Christ we are to live always in love, modeling our life and church ministry after him.
In Christ, love is to characterize our life together as we proclaim God’s love in both word and deed. A watching world will only take notice and desire to be a part of our fellowship if we are deeply and profoundly centered in the love of God in Christ. This is the reality Maundy Thursday brings to us.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart! Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. (NRSV)
We have a Holy Week because of love. There is a journey along the Via Dolorosa (traveling through a place in route to a destination) because of God’s steadfast love.
Love suffers. Every parent knows this. Because of a parent’s committed and faithful love toward a child, they feel not only the joys but also the sorrows and pain of their children. I can say that this feeling does not go away, even with adult children. And it is compounded with grandchildren. Just as our love is big enough to hold multiple children and grandchildren, so our capacity for experiencing deep emotion for their welfare is equally large.
Holy Week reminds us that God’s committed parental love suffers. It is because of God’s immense and steadfast love that there was a road to the cross and a tortured death for Jesus. The cost of our salvation involved a very bloody affair. Deliverance came at the price of horrible violence. Jesus Christ lived and died for us, because of love. He suffered much because he loved much.
God’s people, walking in the way of love, quickly discover that it is simultaneously walking in the way of suffering. From Old Testament times through the New Testament and into the present day, the faithful have always experienced suffering as a central part of their piety and devotion in showing steadfast love.
The medieval mystics of the Church understood well the connection between suffering and love. They could not imagine a Christian life without hardship, difficulty, and persecution. Thomas à Kempis, a sort of pastor to pastors, wrote in the fifteenth century these words:
“Sometimes it is to our advantage to endure misfortunes and adversities, for they make us enter into our inner selves and acknowledge that we are in a place of exile and that we ought not to rely on anything in this world. And sometimes it is good for us to suffer contradictions and know that there are those who think ill and badly of us, even though we do our best and act with every good intention…. When men ridicule and belittle us, we should turn to God, who sees our innermost thoughts, and seek His judgment…. It is when a man of good will is distressed, or tempted, or afflicted with evil that he best understands the overwhelming need he has for God, without whom he can do nothing…. It is in such times of trial that he realizes that perfect security and full peace are not to be found in this world.”
And yet, it is because of love that suffering is transformed and endured as something wholly other than sheer pain or hurt. Thomas à Kempis went on to say:
“Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good; Love alone lightens every burden and makes the rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable. The love of Jesus is noble and inspires us to great deeds; it moves us always to desire perfection. Love aspires to high things and is held back by nothing base. Love longs to be free, a stranger to every worldly desire, lest its inner vision become dimmed, and lest worldly self-interest hinder it, or ill-fortune cast it down…. Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds. Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil, attempts things beyond its strength; love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things. Love therefore does great things; it is strange and effective; while he who lacks love faints and fails.”
Holy Week’s message is certainly one of suffering love. Jesus went to the greatest lengths possible to give Divine steadfast love to humanity. So, let us not run away from the cross, but journey with Jesus to Golgotha, embracing the love of God for us. In so doing, we will find the inner resources needed to love the world, even in all its unloveliness.
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, though in our weakness we fail, we may be revived through the Passion of your Only Begotten Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Welcome, friends! John 3:16 may be a familiar Bible verse to many, yet a closer inspection reveals an immense treasure of the greatest realities ever for people everywhere. Click the videos below and let’s enjoy the love of God in Christ….
Pastor Tim Ehrhardt, John 3:16
God So Loved Lyric Video – Hillsong Worship
To God the Father, who loved us, and made us accepted in the Beloved: to God the Son who loved us, and loosed us from our sins by his own blood: to God the Holy Spirit, who spreads the love of God abroad in our hearts: to the one true God be all love and all glory for time and for eternity. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 