Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

John 13: 1 – 11

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Again, as in the dialogue with Nicodemus and the woman at the well and in the story of the healing of the man born blind, this conversation between Peter and Jesus is awkward, if not contrived. The meaning must, surely, lie beneath the surface of the text, between the lines. Mary of Bethany anointed the feet of Jesus with fragrant oil. In the Tanakh, the Old Testament, it was the custom to anoint the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, with oil. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is the new point of meeting and encountering the Mysterious God of Sinai. Moses and Aaron were required to wash their hands and feet with water before they approached God, or they would die. In the Book of Exodus mention is made of the basin for carrying the water. Centuries later, in the temple in Jerusalem, the priests were required to wash their feet before approaching the altar. In the Gospel of John, Jesus took the basin and washed the feet of His disciples. Jesus is the new Tent of Meeting, the new Ark and the new altar: He is the place, the One, in and through whom we encounter the Holy. Jesus is the new Holy of Holies. In that Upper Room, each disciple shared a moment of encounter and intimacy that belonged to no other. Let Jesus wash your feet.

Cleanse us, O God,
wash our feet,
our souls,
that we may draw near to You
as You draw near to us.
Open our eyes
that we may look for you
not in the supernatural
but in the laws of the miraculous universe,
in the blossoming shoots of Spring, and
in the face of the humble
kneeling before us.
Amen.