Maundy Thursday
Sermon
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Servanthood
4 rose from supper, laid aside his
garments, and girded himself with a towel.
5* Then he poured water into a basin,
and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel
with which he was girded.
16* Truly, truly, I say to you, a
servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater
than he who sent him.
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ
We have the John's text for the last supper.
The John's text differs greatly from the other gospels as he does not
have the words of institution, but he does have the only account of the
foot washing of the disciples.
It is that act of servant hood that I would like to look at this
evening.
Have you ever washed anyone else's feet? I don't mean as in washing
them in a bath tub or washing a baby's feet in the sink? But washing
someone's feet as they are sitting as was done in the gospel story.
I have and it is a very moving experience. I did a first person
monologue for a Lenten Service many years ago, and I played the
character of Peter. He had just had his feet washed by Jesus and being
impulsive as Peter was, he wanted to wash someone else's feet. So, I
took my basin of water, a towel and went out into the congregation. I
had not asked anyone before if they would allow me to do this, I just
did it. I was trembling, shaking all over. The guy I picked, did not
protest, but I could see he was very uncomfortable. I took off his
boot, his sock, put his foot in the basin, poured water over it with my
hand and dried it with a towel. Being on the ground, kneeling before
him, I felt like a servant.
I finished, and returned to the chancel and finished the Peter
monologue, then we sang a hymn, I went to the little room off the
chancel, changed into my vestments from the costume I was wearing, and
then finished the service.
That experience moved me throughout the rest of the service. I really
could feel what it was like to be a servant, to be humble enough to
wash some one's feet.
After the service, the guy who's feet I washed, was in tears. He felt
humbled, that someone would actually do that for him. It was a moving
experience for him and I think both of us could fully appreciate how
Jesus might have felt.
Jesus was trying to show the disciples that he came to serve. It is
interesting that in Raymond Brown's commentary on John he says the
Greek word for laid aside, or laid down, is the same Greek word used in
chapter ten for laying down a life. When the text says: rose from
supper, laid aside his garments
John was really trying to show that Jesus was a servant who was willing
to lay down his life for the sake of humanity.
On the cross, Jesus spread out his arms and welcomed all the sins of
humanity as the true servant of God.
Try spreading out your arms like that. What do you feel? Vulnerable,
open, accepting. As a servant on the cross that what Jesus was. He
opened himself to all the sinfulness of humanity.
And if you open your arms that way, you are also inviting. He is
inviting us to come to him, to place our sins on him. That is way today
is called Maundy Thursday. For Maundy, means command. He commands us to
eat and drink, he commands us to come, he commands us to love as he
loves us.
Jesus opened his arms on the cross as the servant for all.
But did you do the same for someone else
She sat alone in an old folks home,
Lonely and old and gray;
She wished that someone-just anyone,
Would call on her that day.
DID YOU?
He lay for days on his hospital bed,
The hours were long, and hard;
He wished someone-just anyone,
Would write him a card.
DID YOU?
Her loved one had died, just a few months ago,
All sad and lonely she sat;
She wished that someone-just anyone,
Would drop in for a chat.
DID YOU?
He was far from home on foreign soil,
Feeling sick, lonely, and blue;
He wished that someone-just anyone,
Would write him a line or two.
DID YOU?
She spent long hours, that teacher,
Giving the best she knew;
She wished that someone-just anyone,
Would say a brief "THANK YOU."
DID YOU?
That matter of Christian service
We are living it day by day;
When we help someone-just anyone,
As we walk along life's pathway.
DID YOU? 3
A pastor wrote:
The Cross is the place where grace and sin collide with a crash, but
the wreckage is suffered on the heart of God. The sinner walks away
free - free from sin's penalty, free to walk with God, free to live in
His Heaven for all eternity.1
Jesus came as a servant to lay down his life for us. On the cross of
Calvary that servant hood was manifested where he opened his arms to
sinners and we obtained eternal life.
A closing story says it well:
A story from Scotland tells of a mother's dramatic rescue of her child.
Workmen were blasting rock in a quarry. One day after they had attached
the fuse and retired to a safe place and gave the alarm they saw a
three year old child wandering across the open space where danger
threatened. Every passing second meant death was closing in on the
child.
The workmen called to the child and waved their arms, but he only
looked on their strange antics with amusement. No man dared run forward
knowing the explosion was only seconds away. The child most certainly
would have been killed, had not his mother appeared at this moment of
crisis.
Taking in the situation at a glance she did what her mother's heart
dictated. She did not run toward her son or yell to frighten him.
Instead, she knelt down, opened wide her arms and smiled for him to
come. Instantly the child ran towards her. Shortly later the area shook
with the force of the explosion, yet the child was safe in his mother's
arms.
What a picture of the grace of God and of the cross. With outstretched
arms on the cross Jesus gives his gracious invitation to the world.
Indicating we are to come to him for eternal safety. Will you come to
Jesus? 2
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale
1Submitted by: Pastor David Zimmerman
Bible Baptist Church
Sapulpa, OK
on SermonCentral
2 Pulpit Helps
3 author unknown from Inspiration Lane e-mail group