“The new commandment”

Meditation on John 13

Maundy Thursday 2014

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     “Now 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, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’

        After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ 

       Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ 

     Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, Judas immediately went out. And it was night.

    When Judas had gone out, 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.’” John 13 (selected verses)

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      His hour has come. Soon, Jesus will depart from this world and go to the Father.

       Jesus is spending his final moments in intimate conversation with the people who have followed him, loved him, and supported his ministry through good times and bad.  Jesus isn’t finished his work, yet, but he is nearing his most important task; the work of the cross lies ahead.  His disciples still have more to learn if they are going to be able to continue on with Christ’s healing, reconciling ministry when he is no longer clothed in human flesh, standing in their midst.

     The one lesson they have yet to learn is how to love. He loves them—as we read in John 13:1—as his “own”—and he will love them “to the end”—even though those whom he has called to take up their crosses and follow him, will deny him and desert him in the end.

     Jesus teaches by word and example that love is more than words! In the foot washing scene we find only in John, Jesus shows that love means humble service—not holding back, not being afraid to be vulnerable. That love is being willing to work, suffer and make sacrifices for the wellbeing of others. 

      Jesus says, “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.” 

      This intimate act of humble servitude, in which Jesus wipes away the filth of the world that clings to their bodies with every step, foreshadows when he will humbly give up his life in loving service to the Father, cleanse us of sin, and make what is unrighteous holy and acceptable to God.

    Through this passage, Jesus teaches us that accepting and receiving His love and work for our sakes is necessary! When Peter says to Jesus, “You will never wash my feet,” Jesus answers, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”  Christ also teaches us to love our enemies when he demonstrates love and kindness to Judas, the disciple who betrays him.

      All four gospels describe Judas’ betrayal– and how the Lord knew about it before hand, and how it was part of God’s plan. In Matthew, just before the eve of the Passover, Judas makes a deal with the chief priests, asking, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They pay him 30 pieces of silver. From that moment on, Judas waits for his opportunity.

      In Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples about his betrayer while they are eating with him. He says that the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with him will betray him. And all of them have dipped their hands into the bowl!

      The disciples respond with sorrow—each one fearing that they might be the betrayer! Each asks Jesus, “Surely Lord, not I?” When Judas asks, Jesus acknowledges that he is the one. But then Jesus does not withhold his love. Judas is still at the table with Jesus as the Lord takes bread, blesses and breaks it, saying, “Take; eat; this is my body.” And when He takes the cup and tells them, “Drink from it, ALL of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

      In Mark, Judas makes a deal with the chief priests, who are “greatly pleased” and promise him an unspecified amount of money. Again, Jesus announces the betrayer while he is eating with the disciples, before he blesses the bread and gives it to them, saying, “Take; this is my body.” And before he gives them the cup, saying, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” When the disciples hear that one of them will betray him, they are “distressed,” and, like Matthew’s account, each worries that they could be the betrayer. Each one asks the Lord, “Surely not I?”

     In Luke, Jesus announces the betrayer after He offers the bread as his body, given for them, and the cup poured out for them, the “new covenant” in his blood. After Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” he tells them that the one who betrays him is “with him,” and “his hand is on the table.” This time the disciples don’t suspect themselves. They look at one another and ask “which one of them it could be who would do this!”

     In John, when Jesus announces his betrayer to the disciples, they react first by looking at each other uncertainly. Then Peter beckons to the disciple closest to Jesus, “the one whom Jesus loved.” Peter says, “Tell us who Jesus is talking about!”  So the disciple closest to Jesus asks him, “Lord, who is it?”

      Never in John or any other gospel does Jesus point a finger at Judas and say accusingly, “It’s him!” He says in John only that it is the one that he will give the morsel of bread in his hand after he has dipped it in the wine. Not in any gospel does Jesus withhold from Judas what has become our sacrament of “Communion”—the spiritual partaking of Christ’s body and blood through the shared bread and cup.

      In John, Jesus seems to encourage Judas to do what he has been destined to do. After Judas receives the piece of bread, Satan enters into him. And Jesus says to Judas, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ 

     Friends, God had a plan from the very beginning! The Lord knew He would have to make a way for our salvation when we fell into sin. God knew we could not be reconciled with Him—unless the Lord did the work for us!

       In Christ, we have been made holy and acceptable to God. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that all who believe on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And when we accept Christ’s suffering work on the cross for our sakes, in gratitude, we vow to love and serve the Lord by being obedient to His Word and Spirit.

     After Judas goes out into the night, Christ reveals his new commandment. This teaching is for his followers in every time and place!  It’s for us!

     Jesus says, “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.’

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for washing us clean, wiping away all of our unrighteousness through the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Thank you for leading us to this moment when we would again retell His story and remember his last words to his disciples, his instructions for the Church of every age, his instructions for us today.  Lord, please help us honor and obey Christ’s “new commandment.”  Help us to love one another as you have loved us through words and acts of kindness and compassion.  Teach us to love and forgive as you love and forgive so the world will know that we are His disciples—that we belong to Him!  In Christ we pray.  Amen.