Maundy Thursday – Vicar Lehne sermon
Text: St. John 13:1-15

In Christ Jesus, who cleansed you by his selfless love, dear fellow redeemed:

The time had finally come. Jesus knew what was about to happen. In only a few short hours, he would be betrayed by one of his own disciples and arrested by the religious authorities in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then, after being questioned, mocked, and tortured, he would be sentenced to death on a cross, one of the worst ways for a person to die, even though he had done nothing wrong. On that cross, he would bear the burden of the entire world’s sin as if it were his own and face the punishment for all of it. This would be the final Passover meal that Jesus would eat with his disciples before he would be sacrificed as the ultimate Passover Lamb.

If you knew that you were about to face the ultimate suffering, surely you would be dreading what was about to happen and, if it were possible, would be thinking of ways that you could escape it. But Jesus wasn’t thinking about himself or the pain that he was about to endure. He was instead thinking about “his own who were in the world” (verse 1), whom he loved to the end, to the fullest extent. These people were not only his disciples, but were also, as Jesus describes in John 17:20, “those who will believe in [him] through their word,” that is, the gospel that would be preached by the disciples. In his final hours, Jesus was thinking about you. His disciples, on the other hand, were thinking about something much different.

In the gospel according to St. Luke, we hear that “[a] dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest” (Luke 22:24). This is not the first time that the disciples had this dispute. The last time they did, Jesus called a child to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3–4). But it appears that the lesson did not sink in. So, this time, Jesus said to them, “[L]et the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:26–28).

The Jews, including the disciples, thought that the Messiah was going to be an earthly king who would free them from the Romans, but Jesus did not come down from his throne in heaven to be an earthly king. He came down to earth to be a servant. In our Epistle lesson for Palm Sunday, we heard that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6–7). We also hear in the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). Now, Jesus was not only going to show his disciples through his actions that he came to be a servant, but he was also going to give them an example for how they were expected to act. He got up from the table, took off his outer garments and laid them aside, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet.

Since the Jews wore sandals when they traveled at that time, traveling on the dusty roads would cause their feet to get dirty. But washing feet was not a task that just anyone did. This was considered menial work that was reserved for the lowest of servants. Because the disciples thought so highly of themselves, none of them thought to volunteer to wash the feet of the others. But now that Jesus, the greatest among them, was willingly washing their feet without complaint, they all felt guilty that they had not been the ones to volunteer.

You might not argue that you are the greatest, like the disciples did, but there are times when you think that you are better than others or you think that a certain task is beneath you. You may not be perfect, but at least you’re better than the person who actively lives in sin, despite the warnings that are given to them by you or others, or the person who refuses to go to church, even though they are perfectly able to do so. There are also many important tasks that you are in charge of. So, why should you be expected to do even more when you’re already doing so much? Why can’t other people be found to do those tasks? It’s really easy to start thinking in these ways, but when you think in these ways, you are putting yourself, your wants and desires, before others and their needs.

This is not the example that Jesus gave us to follow. By washing the feet of his disciples, by willingly taking on the task that was reserved for the lowliest of servants, Jesus was teaching his disciples and us that we are to humble ourselves in loving service to others. But it’s clear from how often we fail to do that and only think of ourselves that it’s impossible for us to serve like Jesus served. Fortunately for us, Jesus perfectly humbled himself in loving service to others for us.

Jesus’ entire earthly ministry was spent in loving service to others. He fed people who were hungry, healed people who were sick, cast out demons from people who were possessed, and even raised people back to life who had died. Jesus was not performing these miracles because he was trying to make himself look good or because he was trying to get something out of those he was helping. He was performing these miracles because he loved the people of the world and wanted to help them. And Jesus showed how much he truly loved all sinners when he willingly laid down his own life for them.

Jesus’ willing sacrifice was the ultimate example of his loving service to others. Because of his great love for us, Jesus took all of our sins on himself and carried them all the way to the cross. He bore the burden of our sins as he hung on the cross and paid the price for every single one of them. When Jesus died on the cross, all of our sins died with him, because he bore them as though they were his own and made atonement for them.

Peter did not yet understand why Jesus was washing his feet or what Jesus was going to have to do to save him and the world. So, when Jesus came to wash his feet, Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet” (verse 8). But Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” (verse 8). Jesus was not saying that Peter needed to have his feet washed if he wanted to have a share of Jesus’ eternal inheritance in heaven. He was saying that Peter, as well as all of us, need to be spiritually cleansed by him if we want to have a share in his eternal inheritance.

All of us who believe in Jesus have already been spiritually cleansed by him. But, just like a person who needs to keep washing his dirty feet, we also need to keep returning to Jesus for forgiveness since we continue to sin every day of our lives. One of the ways that we receive this forgiveness is in the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus would soon institute Holy Communion after he finished washing his disciples’ feet. In that supper, you receive Jesus’ true body and blood in the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of sins. When Jesus instituted Holy Communion, he was looking forward to the sacrifice he would soon make as the Passover Lamb on the cross, shedding his blood for you. Now that his sacrifice has been made, when you partake in the Lord’s Supper, you look back on the sacrifice that he made for you, and the forgiveness that he won by his sacrifice is brought to you in the present. As you leave the Lord’s table, you have the comfort of Jesus’ forgiveness and the assurance that you will one day feast with him in his eternal kingdom.

You may not be able to perfectly follow Jesus’ example of loving service, but through the faith that the Holy Spirit has given you through the Word and the Sacraments, he has changed your heart so that you desire to follow Jesus’ example. And when you fall short, you return to the Lord’s table to receive his forgiveness, which he freely gives to you. It is because of Jesus’ selfless love that you receive his forgiveness. It is because of Jesus’ selfless love that you are cleansed. Amen.

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(picture from painting by Giotto di Bondone, c. 1267-1337)