Maundy Thursday

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

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."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "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. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

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Humility

I found a great blog post that helps explain how we, as servants of God, can be humble servants like Jesus was with his disciples, but do so with a fullness of spirit and a confidence about us that makes us successful in that role.

“To have a strong, large ego isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is a needed thing, especially if we are ever to achieve anything of worth. Nobody does anything great without a strong ego, and that doesn't mean that he or she isn't humble. For example: Few people would ever think of Mother Theresa as having had a big ego. We think of her as humility incarnate. Yet, clearly, she had a huge ego - a powerful self-image that allowed her to stand before the whole world convinced of her truth, convinced of her worth, and convinced of her importance... She was aware that she was a unique and blessed instrument of God in this world and she was secure enough to act on that. And yet she was humble… She was simply a channel of somebody else's power and grace. She had a huge ego, but she wasn't an egoist. She was never full of herself, only full of God (http://www.37days.com/2009/12/book-.html).”

Jesus spent his time on earth as a channel for God, too, but he did this with such strong humility that his disciples couldn’t wrap their heads around it! Peter’s perception of who Jesus, “The Great Messiah,” was “supposed” to be, seemed to be turned upside down by Jesus’ willingness to do things that a fearless, conquering leader would never be caught dead doing. Jesus was all about breaking down false perceptions of his role on earth- he did this through his healing ministry, through the washing of feet and through his dying on the cross. God sent his son to be a servant; a powerful leader, yes, but primarily he came to be a servant. We must be reminded of our duty to be confident, ego-filled servants to mankind, too. Granted, living after His example is a tough act to follow, but if we “love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” we have an opportunity to share God’s love and spread His mission in the way that God would hopefully have us do.