MAUNDY
THURSDAY
April
1, 2021
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
John 13:1-5, 12-17
“HANDS OF
HUMILITY!”
John 13:1-5, 12-17
(EHV) “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew
that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having
loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 By
the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the
heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus
knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come
from God and was going back to God. 4 He got up
from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it
around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a
basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that
was wrapped around him…. 12 After Jesus had washed their
feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you
understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You
call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. 14 Now
if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. 15 Yes, I have given you an example
so that you also would do just as I have done for you. 16 Amen,
Amen, I tell 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, you are blessed if you do them.”
I’m guessing you have all either had
an experience like this or watched it happen. You go to a restaurant. The
hostess seats you and says, “Your server will be with you shortly.” You wait.
You converse with your dinner guests. After a while of talking you realize no
has stopped at your table yet, not even to fill glasses of water. That’s weird.
You look around trying to catch the eye of who is supposed to be your server.
No one. You go back to the hostess who points out your server to you. You ask
for some water. “Sure, I’ll be right there.” More waiting. Uncomfortable.
Starting to lead to anger. You hunt the server down. “Can we get some help?”
“Sure, just let me take care of this table first.” You head out in a huff.
That’s not good service.
Whether that has actually happened to
you or not at a restaurant it has happened somewhere. Poor service just leaves
you waiting and frustrated and it is all too common. At the doctor’s office.
The grocery store checkout or just trying to get an oil change. Here’s the
problem. We all depend on others for needed service. In fact God created people
to depend on others. You might be able to do your taxes but can you fix your
computer, your car, your plumbing? Good service is so important and often so
rare that we are willing to honor good service with healthy tips and
enthusiastic referrals.
And if you are the person who likes to
do that then certainly you will want to refer your friends and relatives, and
maybe even your enemies, to Jesus! The word of God we are looking at shows
Jesus providing invaluable service not just to His disciples but to all of us
as we look at his Hands of Humility.
We join Jesus and His disciples in the
Upper Room and the night of what we have come to call Maundy Thursday. They are
celebrating the Passover and Jesus has a lot on his mind. “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus
knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.
Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 By
the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the
heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus
knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come
from God and was going back to God.” Did you catch that? Jesus knew. He
knew it was time, time for Him to feel the sting of betrayal by a friend, time
for Him to endure the pain and suffering of Hell in order to redeem
the people He loved so much. Who would have blamed Jesus if He made the night
about Himself, if He had been withdrawn and quiet? But He wasn’t. He was busy
serving.
“He got up from the supper and laid
aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then
he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them
with the towel that was wrapped around him.” You have to wonder a little
bit just what had happened when Jesus and his disciples had first entered the
upper room. Remember, these are the guys that Jesus busted arguing about who
would be the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. These are the guys who fought again
when James and John’s mother asked for special privileges for them. Normally
when you entered a house in that culture someone washed your feet. I don’t
think it’s a stretch to say the lowest man on the totem pole got the privilege
of handling, sweaty, stinky dirty feet. With no one there to wash their feet
were they arguing again? Who would get stuck washing feet? Nose goes! Rock,
paper, scissors! Wouldn’t you think one of them would at least have offered to
wash Jesus’ feet? Didn’t happen. But feet were washed—by Jesus. “ After
Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the
table again.” With all that Jesus had on His mind, with the weight of the
sins of the world resting on His shoulders we would understand if Jesus let a
little of his righteous anger show. But he didn’t. His hands of humility went
into action and He served.
And He served with purpose. “Do you
understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You
call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. 14 Now
if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. 15 Yes, I have given you an example
so that you also would do just as I have done for you. 16 Amen,
Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent him.” You can teach with words. You can teach
with actions. You can do what’s best and teach with both. That’s what Jesus was
doing. Without frustration or exasperation, with perfect patience Jesus taught
the joy of service.
Jesus’ hands of humility humble us.
Most of the time our service to others falls far short of what Jesus has shown
us. Often we base it on the behavior of our neighbor. We shun people who don’t
agree with us. We get around to the problem child last. We do the least we can
get by with for the most difficult people in our lives and gladly do good to
those who are good to us and we justify our poor Christian service by saying,
“That’s all they deserved,” And our own words condemn us. What if Jesus worked
that way? No one would have gotten their feet washed. Much worse, no one’s sins
would be paid for. But that’s not Jesus. He didn’t walk out in a huff over the
bad behavior of his disciples and he didn’t walk out on you and me either. He
served and gave his life as a ransom for many.
Maybe we wonder why Jesus took this
particular time to teach a lesson on Christian service. So many other things
could have been His priority. But the Savior you know always has the best
interest of His people in mind. He gives what they need. What we need is to
know what will give us joy in this sin filled world as we wait for the glory of
heaven. And what we need is the strength to do it. Both of those Jesus provided
with His hands of humility. This day we call Maundy Thursday. Many people think
Maundy must have something to do with the Lord’s Supper because this is when
Jesus gave it to us. Actually the word Maundy comes from the Latin Mandate
which means command. A new command Jesus gave that night. Love each other as I
have loved you. Love by serving. Find joy by serving. The command is not to
wash feet but to serve others needs even if it’s lowly, even if they don’t
deserve it. And the strength to do it? Jesus’ hands of humility held out bread
and said, “Take and eat, this is my body,” and the cup and said, “Take and
drink, this is my blood.” Faith food. Strength for Christian living.
I said earlier that God created people to need
the service of others. He also created us to find joy in serving others with
our own hands of humility. That’s why Jesus said, “If you know these things,
you are blessed if you do them.” Happy serving! Amen.
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