Maundy Thursday 2011
Maundy Thursday 2011
People of the Passion
Texts: Luke 22:19-24; John 13:2-5,14
The Apostles, the Servant Leaders
They were a motley bunch, some might say a “ragtag,” group these 12 people of the passion. Several were unschooled fishermen. One was a loathsome tax collector, one a political zealot, or patriot depending on your view, one had a Greek name, one came from the obscure village of Cana in Galilee. A couple of them were known to be quick-tempered. Others were power seekers. In this Lenten series, “The People of the Passion” we’ve already heard about the Judas the traitor and the Peter the great man of faith who denied knowing Christ. As for the others most of us cannot remember all of their names. As the hours raced relentlessly toward Jesus’ death, these men gathered with Jesus for the Passover meal and for a night they would never forget—a night we must never forget.
Early in the evening, as the meal was being served, Jesus did something extraordinary. He took a towel, poured water into a basin, and began to wash his disciples’ feet. It was not out of the ordinary to get one’s feet washed on entering a home. After walking in sandals on dusty paths, a person could use a good foot cleansing. But, the person who did the washing was ordinarily a household slave. In this case, Jesus, the Master; not to mention the Messiah and God’s own Son did the washing. Jesus did the work of a slave for his disciples.
What must these men have thought? They had followed Jesus not because they felt they deserved such favors from him but because he asked them and because they believed—with sometimes wavering faith—that he was the Messiah from God. Now he stooped to wash their feet.
Peter spoke what the others must have felt. “No,” he said, “you shall never wash my feet.” But Jesus said it must be so. He was showing them how much he loved them, the kind of love that would lead him to the cross for them and for all the world. And he was preparing them for what he wanted to see from them and from all of his followers.
“I have set an example,” Jesus explained, “that you should do as I have done for you.” They too are to wash the feet of others. Washing the feet of others is to say that they are to serve others and that no task was too menial.
These unlikely men, minus the betrayer (who left shortly after this), were to be the leaders of Christ’s church on earth. But they were to be servant leaders. They were to be “foot washers.” And Jesus asks no less of us today. He calls on us to serve, to “wash feet.” that is to serve others.
Did the disciples learn the lesson? Not right then! We learn that later in that very evening they argued about which of them was to be considered the greatest. Jesus had, earlier, told them that he would die. Jesus had washed their feet. And they argued about who of them was the greatest!
Isn’t that about what we might expect? How many times have you met a fellow Christian for the first time, or maybe you have told others about all the things each had done at church: “I was president of the congregation.” “I taught Sunday school for 15 years.” “I served meals for all the funerals.” “I served on every committee ever formed.” The list could go on and on.
We serve, but we want to make sure others know we have served. We volunteer, but then we complain about how much we do and how little others do. We have ideas of how to do things, and we get bent out of shape if they are not done our way. We are never far away from wanting to be considered “the greatest.” You might never have thought of it before. In fact you would probably be shocked, but such thinking is called self-righteousness, or work-righteousness.
Jesus knew the hearts and minds of his disciples. He knew then and he knows our hearts and minds now. So what did he do about it? He stayed on course to die on the cross for their sins and ours. He continued to teach them, knowing that they would gradually catch on. He prayed an earnest prayer for them and for us that very night. And he gave a tangible expression of his forgiveness, a simple but the most holy meal that we repeat to this day.
Jesus gave them bread. “This is my body,” he said. He gave them wine. “This is my blood,” he added. And he became explicit: “This is the body that I give for you,” he explained. “This is the blood that I shed for you. This I do so you may be sure you have the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus gave them and he gives us in the Holy Supper what played out on the cross the next day. We cannot explain it; real bread, real body; real wine, real blood given for us and to us, for forgiveness!. We just take his word for it. We rejoice in it. We come to receive it for our sure comfort. We come humbled by it and made more ready by it to serve.
What about the eleven disciples? Did they ever catch on? Well, they did go out, not to make a name for themselves but to proclaim to the world the only name given among us by which we must be saved. They carried the gospel message to the far reaches of their world: to what we know as Great Britain, Germany, India, Iran, Greece, Russia, and to North Africa; to name a few places.
They took huge risks in serving those who did not know Christ. All but one of these men, we have reason to believe, gave their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are counted among the martyrs of Christendom. The last one, John, was not executed, but he was exiled. And God used him to write a gospel, a series of letters, and the book of Revelation in the Scriptures.
It is safe to say that those men became the servant leaders that Jesus intended them to be.
Now Jesus turns to us. As he gives us again this evening his body and blood for our forgiveness, will we do less than offer our bodies in return as servants to his cause? Jesus comforts us; let us bring his eternal comfort to others. Jesus died for all the world; let us do our part in telling the world what that means. Jesus came, the Servant of God, and washed us clean from all sin. Let us go from here and be servants for Christ. Amen.
People of the Passion
Texts: Luke 22:19-24; John 13:2-5,14
The Apostles, the Servant Leaders
They were a motley bunch, some might say a “ragtag,” group these 12 people of the passion. Several were unschooled fishermen. One was a loathsome tax collector, one a political zealot, or patriot depending on your view, one had a Greek name, one came from the obscure village of Cana in Galilee. A couple of them were known to be quick-tempered. Others were power seekers. In this Lenten series, “The People of the Passion” we’ve already heard about the Judas the traitor and the Peter the great man of faith who denied knowing Christ. As for the others most of us cannot remember all of their names. As the hours raced relentlessly toward Jesus’ death, these men gathered with Jesus for the Passover meal and for a night they would never forget—a night we must never forget.
Early in the evening, as the meal was being served, Jesus did something extraordinary. He took a towel, poured water into a basin, and began to wash his disciples’ feet. It was not out of the ordinary to get one’s feet washed on entering a home. After walking in sandals on dusty paths, a person could use a good foot cleansing. But, the person who did the washing was ordinarily a household slave. In this case, Jesus, the Master; not to mention the Messiah and God’s own Son did the washing. Jesus did the work of a slave for his disciples.
What must these men have thought? They had followed Jesus not because they felt they deserved such favors from him but because he asked them and because they believed—with sometimes wavering faith—that he was the Messiah from God. Now he stooped to wash their feet.
Peter spoke what the others must have felt. “No,” he said, “you shall never wash my feet.” But Jesus said it must be so. He was showing them how much he loved them, the kind of love that would lead him to the cross for them and for all the world. And he was preparing them for what he wanted to see from them and from all of his followers.
“I have set an example,” Jesus explained, “that you should do as I have done for you.” They too are to wash the feet of others. Washing the feet of others is to say that they are to serve others and that no task was too menial.
These unlikely men, minus the betrayer (who left shortly after this), were to be the leaders of Christ’s church on earth. But they were to be servant leaders. They were to be “foot washers.” And Jesus asks no less of us today. He calls on us to serve, to “wash feet.” that is to serve others.
Did the disciples learn the lesson? Not right then! We learn that later in that very evening they argued about which of them was to be considered the greatest. Jesus had, earlier, told them that he would die. Jesus had washed their feet. And they argued about who of them was the greatest!
Isn’t that about what we might expect? How many times have you met a fellow Christian for the first time, or maybe you have told others about all the things each had done at church: “I was president of the congregation.” “I taught Sunday school for 15 years.” “I served meals for all the funerals.” “I served on every committee ever formed.” The list could go on and on.
We serve, but we want to make sure others know we have served. We volunteer, but then we complain about how much we do and how little others do. We have ideas of how to do things, and we get bent out of shape if they are not done our way. We are never far away from wanting to be considered “the greatest.” You might never have thought of it before. In fact you would probably be shocked, but such thinking is called self-righteousness, or work-righteousness.
Jesus knew the hearts and minds of his disciples. He knew then and he knows our hearts and minds now. So what did he do about it? He stayed on course to die on the cross for their sins and ours. He continued to teach them, knowing that they would gradually catch on. He prayed an earnest prayer for them and for us that very night. And he gave a tangible expression of his forgiveness, a simple but the most holy meal that we repeat to this day.
Jesus gave them bread. “This is my body,” he said. He gave them wine. “This is my blood,” he added. And he became explicit: “This is the body that I give for you,” he explained. “This is the blood that I shed for you. This I do so you may be sure you have the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus gave them and he gives us in the Holy Supper what played out on the cross the next day. We cannot explain it; real bread, real body; real wine, real blood given for us and to us, for forgiveness!. We just take his word for it. We rejoice in it. We come to receive it for our sure comfort. We come humbled by it and made more ready by it to serve.
What about the eleven disciples? Did they ever catch on? Well, they did go out, not to make a name for themselves but to proclaim to the world the only name given among us by which we must be saved. They carried the gospel message to the far reaches of their world: to what we know as Great Britain, Germany, India, Iran, Greece, Russia, and to North Africa; to name a few places.
They took huge risks in serving those who did not know Christ. All but one of these men, we have reason to believe, gave their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are counted among the martyrs of Christendom. The last one, John, was not executed, but he was exiled. And God used him to write a gospel, a series of letters, and the book of Revelation in the Scriptures.
It is safe to say that those men became the servant leaders that Jesus intended them to be.
Now Jesus turns to us. As he gives us again this evening his body and blood for our forgiveness, will we do less than offer our bodies in return as servants to his cause? Jesus comforts us; let us bring his eternal comfort to others. Jesus died for all the world; let us do our part in telling the world what that means. Jesus came, the Servant of God, and washed us clean from all sin. Let us go from here and be servants for Christ. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:15 PM
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