Holy Thursday, Year C

Scripture: John 13:1-17, 31b-35

¹Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.
²Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. ⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “ Lord, are you going to wash my feet? ”
⁷Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”
⁸“No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”
⁹Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”
¹⁰Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”
¹²After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. ¹⁴If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example: just as I have done, you also must do. ¹⁶I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.
³¹Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. ³³Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’
³⁴“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you
also must love each other. ³⁵This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples,
when you love each other.”

Sermon one: Which Basin Do You Choose?

Approaching his trial and death, Jesus had supper with his disciples. There was likely an underlying tension in the room because the disciples’ feet were still dirty after the meal began. Lacking a servant, the disciples may have taken turns performing this important hospitality duty. Because, according to the other Gospels, the disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest and jostling for position, perhaps no one wanted to do servant’s work. The room must have grown silent with disbelief as Jesus stood up, removed his robe, put a towel around his waist, took up a basin of water and began to wash the disciples’ feet. What is Jesus doing? That’s a job for a servant! Peter tried to object, but Jesus made it clear that Peter must accept his foot washing and that he would soon understand. When Jesus finished and sat down, every eye must have been on him, awaiting an explanation. Jesus said, “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.” With a basin of water, Jesus demonstrated servanthood and called his disciples to follow his example. Jesus gave a gift to his disciples and to the world that night: the gift of service. Service is a gift because it gives us a way to respond to God’s love and because loving God and our neighbor enables us to live an abundant and joy-filled life. We need the gift of service as a way of blessing our world.

I remember when, at the age of ten, I first bought Christmas presents for my parents. They had been giving me presents all my life and had expressed their love in many other ways. I needed a way to give back to them. My grandmother paid me for helping her gather and sell pecans and then took me shopping so I could buy my own gifts for my parents. That gift from my grandmother was the most memorable because she gave me a way of expressing my love and gratitude through giving. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:40). When we give a drink of water to the thirsty, visit someone who is sick or in prison, give clothes to one who is naked, or food to someone who is hungry, we do it to Jesus—that is how closely Jesus relates to the poor, the hungry, the naked, and the ill. The gift of service is the opportunity to respond to God’s love by loving and serving those with whom Jesus identifies completely.

In his early days, Saint Francis of Assisi was quite wealthy and spent his time partying and acquiring as much as he could get, yet he was not happy. One day, riding alone in the country, he saw a leper with a mass of sores on his body. Francis was deeply moved. Instead of backing away in fear he got down off his horse and embraced the leper. In that moment the face of the leper became the face of Christ. Francis’ life was transformed—as was the life of the leper—by the gift of service.

Jesus made clear the responsibility that accompanies the gift: “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.” What Jesus expects from his disciples is that we serve—that we take up the basin of service.

Matthew’s Gospel tells of another basin wielded by a corrupt and cruel leader named Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor. When the religious authorities brought Jesus to Pilate and demanded Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate knew what was right because his wife had reminded him that Jesus was righteous. Pilate took a basin of water, literally washed his hands of the matter, and handed Jesus over to be crucified (Matt. 27:1-24). History reveals however, that Pilate could not wash Jesus’ blood off his own hands. Only Pilate—and not the Jews—had the power either to kill Jesus or to set him free. That is why we say in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Pilate didn’t drive the nails, but with a basin of apathy he killed Jesus.

Apathy is, after all, deadly. No wonder the early church leaders included sloth on their list of seven deadly sins. Sloth doesn’t just mean “laziness.” It means not caring enough to do anything. That describes the basin of Pilate. When we see the plight of a brother or sister in need and turn away, or when we know what is right and absolve ourselves of the responsibility, then we are choosing Pilate’s basin.

Two basins were used within a few hours of each other: Pilate’s and Jesus.’ Holy Thursday is an especially appropriate time to ask ourselves the question again: Which basin do I choose most consistently in my life? Do I give of myself and my money for the sake of others? Do I serve Christ by serving others in Christ’s name? Do I care and put that caring into action? Which basin do I choose—the basin of service or the basin of Pilate? The answer to that question makes all the difference in the world because the difference between Pilate’s basin and Christ’s basin is the difference between night and day. Service is the way of Christ because it brings peace where there is turmoil, love where there is hate, fulfillment where there is emptiness, and meaning where there is meaninglessness. Service is the mark of the Christian disciple.

There is an old legend—told in many faith traditions—of a person being granted a vision of heaven and hell. That vision confronts us with the truth of the difference between the two basins. The vision of hell is a huge banquet table loaded with all kinds of wonderful foods—everything good to eat that you can imagine. The problem is that the people around the table are starving to death. In their faces the dreamer sees pain and misery, for on their arms are splints holding their arms straight so they are unable to bend their elbows to get the food to their mouths.

Immediately another vision takes the individual to heaven and to his surprise he finds a room that looks exactly the same: the same table, the same delicious food, people sitting around the table. Only these people are happy. They are laughing and talking and enjoying one another’s company. They also have splints on their arms. There is only one difference, and it’s a big difference—the difference between night and day, the difference between the basin of Pilate and the Basin of Christ. The difference? They are feeding each other.

Which basin will you choose?

—Tim K. Bruster

Sermon two: A New Love Commandment

The central focus of the Gospel of John is love. The most famous text from the Gospel, John 3:16, proclaims God’s love for the world demonstrated through the sacrifice of his Son. The second half of the Gospel opens with John 13:1, declaring how Jesus loved his own who were in the world, even to the end. The Messiah’s saving mission is to love, and his final commandment to the disciples is to love one another.

Jesus and the disciples are gathered for the pre-Passover meal and Jesus is aware that his death is near. Jesus uses the occasion as a teaching moment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). In the Gospel of Luke, the lawyer quotes Hebrew law that loving the Lord and loving your neighbor are required to gain eternal life. In the Gospel of John, this expression of the love commandment is based on the way of life Jesus has modeled.

It seems odd not to be focusing on the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday. However, John’s portrayal of the Last Supper has no mention of the meal or of Jesus’ sharing bread and wine. Instead, it focuses on a teaching moment through an act of service.

During supper, Jesus takes off his outer robe and wraps a towel around his waist, an act of a servant. He then pours water into a basin and washes his disciples’ feet and wipes them dry with the towel. Other disciples may have felt uneasy, but it was Peter who spoke up: “You will never wash my feet” (13:8). Jesus assures Peter that he will not understand fully until later, but “unless I wash you, you have no share with me” (v. 8). Peter then wants Jesus to wash his entire body.

When Jesus finishes washing his disciples’ feet, the teaching moment begins. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (13:14). Jesus is modeling how he wants his disciples, and us, to treat one another. Especially as we are called into relationship with God, we are not greater than others, but servants.

This lesson of servanthood would take on more meaning by the cross event. This selfless act would gain power. The disciples may not have been aware, but Jesus knew that Judas had decided to betray him and yet he washed his feet as well. The lesson was clear. The foundation of discipleship is serving and loving one another. In fact, Jesus says if you live in this way, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (13:35).

Serving others as Christ serves is more than simply acting out of love. It is acting out of the abiding love of Christ. Jesus loves those of us in the world because of the abiding love of God. Therefore Peter turned away from divine love when he refused to be washed by Christ. “Unless I wash you,” said Jesus, “you have no share with me” (13:8). Divine love motivates us toward acts of love, and such acts reveal our relationship with Christ.

Just before his own death Jesus teaches his disciples how to live. He models servanthood and loving one another, but this lesson extends beyond the temporal world. The disciples will understand only after the Resurrection. John 3:16 reminds us that God loves us so, he sent his Son that we might have eternal life. To live in Christ is to receive life. In our text, Jesus is about to be glorified, and as he leaves this earth, his final commandment is demonstrated in an act of service: love one another as I have loved you, and you shall live!

—Dan L. Flanagan

Holy Thursday

 

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Sermon 2: A New Love Commandment

Scripture: John 13:1-17, 31b-35

¹Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully. 
²Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. ⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 
⁷Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.” 
⁸"No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!” 
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.” 
⁹Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” 
¹⁰Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.” 
¹²After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. ¹⁴If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example: just as I have done, you also must do. ¹⁶I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. 
³¹b“NowtheHumanOnehasbeenglorified,andGodhasbeenglorifiedinhim. ³²IfGod has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. ³³Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’ 
³⁴"I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also 
must love each other. ³⁵This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when 
you love each other.”

 

Sermon

The central focus of the Gospel of John is love. The most famous text from the Gospel, John 3:16, proclaims God’s love for the world demonstrated through the sacrifice of his Son. The second half of the Gospel opens with John 13:1, declaring how Jesus loved his own who were in the world, even to the end. The Messiah’s saving mission is to love, and his final commandment to the disciples is to love one another.

Jesus and the disciples are gathered for the pre-Passover meal and Jesus is aware that his death is near. Jesus uses the occasion as a teaching moment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). In the Gospel of Luke, the lawyer quotes Hebrew law that loving the Lord and loving your neighbor are required to gain eternal life. In the Gospel of John, this expression of the love commandment is based on the way of life Jesus has modeled.

It seems odd not to be focusing on the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday. However, John’s portrayal of the Last Supper has no mention of the meal or of Jesus’ sharing bread and wine. Instead, it focuses on a teaching moment through an act of service.

During supper, Jesus takes off his outer robe and wraps a towel around his waist, an act of a servant. He then pours water into a basin and washes his disciples’ feet and wipes them dry with the towel. Other disciples may have felt uneasy, but it was Peter who spoke up: “You will never wash my feet” (13:8). Jesus assures Peter that he will not understand fully until later, but “unless I wash you, you have no share with me” (v. 8). Peter then wants Jesus to wash his entire body.

When Jesus finishes washing his disciples’ feet, the teaching moment begins. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (13:14). Jesus is modeling how he wants his disciples, and us, to treat one another. Especially as we are called into relationship with God, we are not greater than others, but servants.

This lesson of servanthood would take on more meaning by the cross event. This selfless act would gain power. The disciples may not have been aware, but Jesus knew that Judas had decided to betray him and yet he washed his feet as well. The lesson was clear. The foundation of discipleship is serving and loving one another. In fact, Jesus says if you live in this way, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (13:35).

Serving others as Christ serves is more than simply acting out of love. It is acting out of the abiding love of Christ. Jesus loves those of us in the world because of the abiding love of God. Therefore Peter turned away from divine love when he refused to be washed by Christ. “Unless I wash you,” said Jesus, “you have no share with me” (13:8). Divine love motivates us toward acts of love, and such acts reveal our relationship with Christ.

Just before his own death Jesus teaches his disciples how to live. He models servanthood and loving one another, but this lesson extends beyond the temporal world. The disciples will understand only after the Resurrection. John 3:16 reminds us that God loves us so, he sent his Son that we might have eternal life. To live in Christ is to receive life. In our text, Jesus is about to be glorified, and as he leaves this earth, his final commandment is demonstrated in an act of service: love one another as I have loved you, and you shall live!

—Dan L. Flanagan 

Sermon three: Peter the Denier

The room was dark, giving it a gloomy feeling. We were gathered for a meal on the eve of Passover. Because the Lord was quietly pensive, we ate in silence. During supper, he stood, removed his robe and tied a towel around his waist like a servant. He poured water into a clay basin and began to wash the feet of each of us, drying them with the towel. “This is slave’s work,” I thought. I couldn’t imagine the Lord, the One we believed to be the Messiah, doing the work of a common slave.

When he knelt at my feet, I asked, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet, too?”

He said, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

I said firmly, “You will never wash my feet.”

The Lord’s tone matched mine: “Unless I wash you, you will have no future with me.”

“Then wash not only my feet, but my whole body,” I said.

After washing my feet, the Lord said, “Not all of you are clean.” I was perplexed by this.

He continued teaching, as he often did after performing a sign, “If I, your Lord and Master, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have done this as an example for you.”

At the time I thought, “How strange to tell us to wash one another’s feet.” Later I realized that he was not talking about foot washing, but about love. We were to follow his example and lovingly serve one another. As with everything the Lord did, foot washing pointed to a deeper truth.

After the foot washing, we gathered around the table for supper. The Lord’s face darkened with an expression I had never seen. He looked deeply distressed, as if in pain.

“I tell you truly, one of you will betray me,” he said. I glanced at Andrew whose expression was a mixture of horror and sadness. “Who could he mean?” I thought. I turned to John, who was sitting next to Jesus, and whispered, “Ask him who he means.”

John asked, and the Lord said, “The one to whom I’m giving this piece of bread dipped in the dish.” He handed the bread to Judas and said, “Do quickly what you must.”

We thought Judas was simply leaving to buy more food. He was the treasurer and often left a meal early to buy food for the next day. With Judas gone in the darkness of night, the Lord continued teaching, “Children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, but where I am going, you cannot come.”

Immediately I asked, “Lord, where are you going?”

He said, “You cannot follow me now where I am going, but you will follow afterward.”

I was confused and afraid as I said, “Lord why can’t I follow you now? I would lay down my life for you.”

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, he answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? In truth, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.”

The mystery of where Judas went was soon solved. After supper, we went with the Lord across the Kidron valley to a garden where he liked to pray. While we were praying, Judas emerged from the shadows leading a group made up of Roman soldiers, chief priests’ guards, and some Pharisees.

The Lord turned and asked, “Whom are you looking for?”

They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

When the Lord said, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. He asked them a second time whom were they seeking. Their answer was the same. “You have found me. Now, let these men go,” he said. I couldn’t allow the Lord to be arrested without a fight. I drew a sword from under my cloak and slashed at the man who was about to seize the Lord, cutting off his ear. The Lord rebuked me saying, “Put your sword away. Would you prevent me from drinking the cup the Father has given me?” Stung by these words, I stood frozen in place while they bound him. John violently jerked my arm, and we ran for our lives.

We fled in terror and confusion, having no idea where the others went. When we realized the soldiers hadn’t pursued us, we retraced our steps and followed the Lord and his arresters. They took him into Jerusalem to Annas, who shared the office of high priest with his father-in-law, Caiaphas.

John was admitted into the courtyard, since he was known to Annas. I remained outside the gate, crouching in the shadows, afraid of being recognized as a follower of Jesus. A short time later John came out and called, “Peter, where are you?” I emerged from hiding and followed. As we passed a woman standing by the gate, she said, “Aren’t you also one of Jesus’ disciples?” I disagreed firmly saying, “I am not.”

I disappeared into the crowd gathered in the courtyard, joining those huddled around a large fire in the cold dawn. I listened for news of what was happening to the Lord. Someone said that Annas was questioning him. While warming myself by the fire, one of the temple police who had been at the arrest looked at me intently. I turned my face away. He said, “Aren’t you also one of his disciples?” I answered, “I am not.”

As I worked my way to the edge of the crowd, one of the slaves of the high priest who was also at the Lord’s arrest said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” I denied it vehemently by saying, “I was never there.” No sooner had the words escaped, a cock crowed.

What have I done? I thought. How could I deny my Lord? How could the words of betrayal have been spoken by my lips? I didn’t believe I was capable of such a cowardly act. But, in the end, I denied him.

I was devastated by the cowardice of my denials. I, who had sworn allegiance to the death, had crumbled in fear. The “rock” had been crushed; terror had triumphed over loyalty.

The Lord was crucified that same day. I didn’t watch . . . I couldn’t watch. I was no longer Peter the Rock. In shame, I confessed my new name: Peter the Denier.

—Robert Martin Walker