Maundy Thursday: Who Would Jesus Refuse to Serve?

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1, 10-17  (BCP., p.759)



1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)

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." 

Blog Reflection

There has been a lot of news these days about "religious liberty" and who business owners should be able to serve or refuse to serve.  Legislative bills are being introduced, fast tracked, passed and signed into law to give individuals the "right of their religious beliefs" to service those whom they believe most conform to their ideology.  While we can speculate about what is and what is not the best approach to these bills, they do give Christians a lot to think about.

The words Maundy Thursday get their meaning from the Latin word mandatum, which contains the English root word, mandate or commandment.  The focus of Maundy Thursday in addition to the institution of the Holy Eucharist is the new commandment of Jesus to love others as He has loved all of us.  Jesus, in His Paschal Mystery loved all of us without distinction or exception.  As John records for us, Jesus took the form of a servant and washed the feet of His Disciples.  Jesus gave us an example of what it means to love and serve others in total self sacrifice.  Jesus held nothing back.   Jesus gave Himself to us in His Body and Blood, and stooped down in humility to wash our feet and commanded us to love one another in His Name.

What Jesus did seems to be a stark contrast to what those license to discriminate on the basis of "religious liberty" bills are about.  I have a hard time believing that Jesus would put up a sign to the window of the upper room that says "We do not serve gays" or "Muslims" or "Jews"  or "Athiests" or "only Baptized Christians".  While the sexism given to us in the Scriptures suggests that the only Disciples of Jesus were men, I tend to believe that women must have been present in that upper room moment, and that Jesus washed their feet too.  In the very act of serving by the washing of feet, Jesus assumes a very feminine role.  Jesus really does lay down His life, by giving over even the appearance of what His gender stereotypes would be, to serve the least among us with the greatest of humility.

In The Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 53 On the Reception of Guests, he instructs the community to wash the feet of His guests.  St. Benedict wanted his monks to remember what he wrote in Chapter 7 On Humility.  Humility means "being earthed".  St. Benedict wanted those who observe his Rule to live into the Christian life with authenticity and transparency.

On this Maundy Thursday, Jesus commands us to love one another as we are loved by Him.  Jesus gave us this commandment while living into what it means.  As Jesus lived into the greatest acts of love, humility and service of everyone without distinction, so He commands each of us to do for others.  Including and especially those who are different from us.   Lord, have mercy on us all.

Who would Jesus refuse to serve?

Who will we serve or refuse to serve in the Name of Jesus today?


Prayers

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he
suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Maundy Thursday.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a
wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion:
Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and
Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit
of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect on the Holy Eucharist.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.252).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).