13:1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Today is Maundy Thursday; “maundy” comes from a Latin word meaning “commandment.”
Loving his own to the very end. What kind of love is this act of Jesus? We hear the disciples’ confusion in Peter’s words. His gasp at his Lord doing what only the lowest servant of any household could be forced to do, wash filthy feet. Then Peter’s exclamation to wash all of him, revealing his deep desire to please and follow this man who had turned his world upside down.
The disciples have followed Jesus. They believed as best they could. They obeyed when asked. They persevered when others left the Lord. But now, Jesus commands them to do what?…to love.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Not a heart-felt emotion or kind thought but a demeaning act of service. Not something disembodied or nebulous but concrete, fully embodied in Christ. 15 “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” In joyful humiliating service when called; even unto death if necessary.
How is it possible to love each other so completely? Not if we only look to ourselves to accomplish it. But Jesus does not abandon us to our human frailty. Instead, he endows our humanity with his divinity in order to accomplish so great a commandment. The Holy Spirit will guide us into this love that will transform each of us, each other, and the world. Are you ready to enter that love? You cannot do so alone for it is a commandment to love one another. Do you sense God’s extraordinary joy waiting at the doorstep? Will you take his hand and cross the threshold with me, with us, so that we may enter into this love together?
Author: Mary Spaulding
Other Lenten readings for today:
- Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14
- 1 Corinthian 11:23-26
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