MAUNDY THURSDAY
Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said this commandment to His disciples. Jesus and his disciples had just shared what was known as the Last Supper and he was washing their feet when he stated:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34).
MUDDY MESS - PASTOR JONATHAN KIM
What do you do when your child comes back into the house with their shoes full of mud (front and back, outside, and inside) with a smile so wide and innocent? You don’t know if you should be angry at them for destroying their new shoes that you just got them or be proud that they explored the outside world (backyard or lawn) with their tiny two feet and were fearless in jumping into the muddy mess. At least they aren’t hurt and crying, right? But the muddy shoes are not going to clean themselves. Can they be salvaged? Is it worth the effort and hassle to try and clean them up? Will they be of use again? Should they just be thrown out? These are some of the questions that need to be seriously considered in face of this mess.
I wonder if Jesus had similar questions and thoughts on the night of his fateful arrest. As he shared the table with his disciples that night, he knew fully well that none of them were going to last the night. As he looked around the different faces eating, chatting, and hanging on his every word, Jesus was the only one there that could see their messy and muddy hearts. Can they be salvaged? Will they be worth the effort once I am no longer with them? Will they be of use to God’s Kingdom once I pour out my life for them on the Cross?
At that point even Jesus had to fully trust God the Father with the fate of his disciples. That very night he instituted the Lord’s Supper for them to remember him continually. He even got up to wash their dirty and messy feet, before His blood was to wash their muddy and messy hearts once and for all.
“During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” John 13:2–5 (ESV).
And afterwards this is what he told them and is telling us today:
"When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:12–17 (ESV).
If you read this far, would you wonder with me during this week:
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Rather than quickly judge and close the book on people or situations in my life, how can I place my trust in God to do what is best?
2. What kind of mud and messiness do I have in my own heart that I need Jesus for?
3. How can we spiritually wash other peoples’ feet to follow Jesus’ example?
Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said this commandment to His disciples. Jesus and his disciples had just shared what was known as the Last Supper and he was washing their feet when he stated:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34).
MUDDY MESS - PASTOR JONATHAN KIM
What do you do when your child comes back into the house with their shoes full of mud (front and back, outside, and inside) with a smile so wide and innocent? You don’t know if you should be angry at them for destroying their new shoes that you just got them or be proud that they explored the outside world (backyard or lawn) with their tiny two feet and were fearless in jumping into the muddy mess. At least they aren’t hurt and crying, right? But the muddy shoes are not going to clean themselves. Can they be salvaged? Is it worth the effort and hassle to try and clean them up? Will they be of use again? Should they just be thrown out? These are some of the questions that need to be seriously considered in face of this mess.
I wonder if Jesus had similar questions and thoughts on the night of his fateful arrest. As he shared the table with his disciples that night, he knew fully well that none of them were going to last the night. As he looked around the different faces eating, chatting, and hanging on his every word, Jesus was the only one there that could see their messy and muddy hearts. Can they be salvaged? Will they be worth the effort once I am no longer with them? Will they be of use to God’s Kingdom once I pour out my life for them on the Cross?
At that point even Jesus had to fully trust God the Father with the fate of his disciples. That very night he instituted the Lord’s Supper for them to remember him continually. He even got up to wash their dirty and messy feet, before His blood was to wash their muddy and messy hearts once and for all.
“During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” John 13:2–5 (ESV).
And afterwards this is what he told them and is telling us today:
"When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:12–17 (ESV).
If you read this far, would you wonder with me during this week:
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Rather than quickly judge and close the book on people or situations in my life, how can I place my trust in God to do what is best?
2. What kind of mud and messiness do I have in my own heart that I need Jesus for?
3. How can we spiritually wash other peoples’ feet to follow Jesus’ example?