A New Commandment

March 28th, 2024 homily on John 13:1-17, 31b-35 for Maundy Thursday, by Pastor Galen

This week our city experienced a great tragedy, as a container ship struck one of the support pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the main spans of the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River. Even more devastating than the destruction of the bridge itself was the loss of the lives of the 6 members of a construction crew who had been working on the roadway. Our prayers are with their family and friends as they mourn during this time. Our prayers are also with all of those who have been impacted by this tragedy, in whatever shape or form that may be. 

Experiencing a tragedy such as this often causes us to take stock of our own lives—to think about what’s really important, and how we’re living our lives every day. For me, I had to wonder what was going through the minds of the people who were on the bridge that day. What were they thinking about in those brief moments after the bridge was struck? What would run through my mind if I knew that my time on this earth was short?

Some of you have been in situations where your life flashed before your eyes. Perhaps it was a car accident that could have been fatal. Perhaps it was a diagnosis that could have been worse. Whatever it was, these sorts of experiences change the way we think about life. We realize that tomorrow is never promised, and so we realize that all we can do is to make the most of each and every day we have been given.

“He Loved Them to the End”

In John 13:1 we’re told, “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.”

It strikes me that during Jesus’s last 24 hours on this earth, his thoughts were for those he loved. He had spent his life in love and service to others, and even when he knew his time on this earth was short, he continued to love them. He knew that some would deny him, or turn away from him, but he continued to love them, even to the end. Even when he was hanging on the cross, his thoughts were for those he loved. 

Jesus demonstrated his love for his disciples during the last meal that he ate with them, on the night before he was crucified. John says, “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 (John 13:1-5).

This action was quite shocking to the disciples, who didn’t know what to say or do. It wasn’t because they were unfamiliar with the concept of foot washing, it’s just that it was shocking that Jesus was washing their feet.

You see, a good example of hospitality in those days was when a host provided a basin of water for their guests to wash their own feet. A host offering that their servant could wash the feet of their guests, was seen as an even more generous, extravagant display of hospitality. But for a teacher or rabbit such as Jesus to wash the feet of his disciples was virtually unheard of. Peter, of course, pushed back, refusing to have his feet washed by Jesus until Jesus told him “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me,” after which Peter was all in.

Love One Another

After Jesus finished washing the feet of his disciples he told them, “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” (John 13:15-17). A few verses later, he said, “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” (John 13:34-35).

It may seem odd to us that Jesus would refer to this as a new commandment, since the command to love our neighbor as ourself is found in the book of Leviticus. And most religions of the world have a variation of what’s often called The Golden Rule, often saying that we should not hurt others, or that we should not do to others what we would not want them to do to us. 

But Jesus’s commandment to love one another has no boundaries. It’s not limited to those who live in close proximity to us, or to those who look like us or vote like us or practice the same religion that we do. When Jesus told his disciples to love one another, he was talking to former Zealots and tax collectors– bitter enemies in that society. He was talking to people who had been considered unclean, or at the bottom end of the social spectrum, and to those who had been at the top. And he didn’t just tell them not to hurt each other, but to go above and beyond. To love with a sacrificial love that stoops down and washes the dirty grime off the feet of those who would never stoop to do the same for us. This is how others will know that we are Jesus’s disciples — if we have this type of love for one another. 

Of course, we cannot do any of this on our own strength. We need to be healed and cleansed and forgiven by Jesus. We need the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. And we need our siblings in Christ to encourage us along the way. 

And so this evening, as we receive the communion elements, and as we practice serving one another, let us remember to make the most of each day that we have been given. Let us look to Jesus as our example, and let’s rely on the strength that he gives to love others as we have been loved. 

Amen.