The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.

Maundy Thursday

John 13:5-11

"Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

It is interesting to note the interaction between Jesus and Simon Peter in the upper room - ‘the supper-room’ – on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, particularly when Jesus “poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet” (v.5). It is even more interesting to draw a parallel with our receiving of the Lord’s Supper – the meal of the new covenant which he instituted that night.

First, let us focus on the foot-washing.

In Peter’s reaction we first get a sense of the unavoidable. “It seems this is going to happen whether I like it or not.” The Lord had already “begun to wash his disciples’ feet.” It was clear that it was the Lord’s intention to wash the feet of all of his disciples. It was only a matter of time before Peter’s turn would come.

Then we get a sense of Peter’s unworthiness. Jesus ‘came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"’ “Jesus, you’re the Lord and master. You shouldn’t be the servant. I am unworthy of what you are doing here. I am a sinner!” "No, you shall never wash my feet" (v.8). Peter had said to Jesus on another occasion, “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

Then we get a sense of the unfathomable. There is something mysterious happening here that is beyond human comprehension, at least for the here and now. Jesus told Peter, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand" (v.7).

Then there is the Lord’s great “unless”. Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me" (v.8). Opening your life up to God’s gracious action - as unfathomable as it seems - is necessary if you are to have a part in the saving work of Christ, now and forever.

Then we get a sense of the unquenchable. Now Peter’s desire for the Lord’s washing is unquenchable. "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"(v. 9). Peter now has a desire, not just to be part of the Saviour’s servant love, but to be completely awash with it; to be totally immersed in it and cleansed by it.

Finally we get a sense of the undeniable – the undeniable truth that Peter was already clean, by faith in Christ. Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you" (v.10-11). Jesus shifts from talking about outward cleanliness to the cleanliness of the heart which comes as a gift to those who trust him; a cleanliness which goes deeper than the outward washing of the body. That is why Judas, although he too had received the foot-washing, was not clean.

We could ask a similar question to Simon Peter’s in regard to the Lord’s Supper, “Lord, are you going to give me your body and blood in this bread and wine? Are you going to serve me and wash me with the assurance of your forgiving love?”

In our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we also get a sense of the unavoidable. Jesus has come among us. We remind each other, “The Lord is with you!” He’s here among us. He has spoken his intention in the words of institution. He has spoken his invitation through his servant, “Come, everything is ready.” If we are here, it is the Lord’s desire and intention to serve us with his body and blood. His real presence is unavoidable.

We get a sense, like Peter, of our own unworthiness. We are the sinners; he is the Lord. We are unholy and he is holy. Logic tells us that we ought to be serving Him, not him serving us! We are not worthy to receive him as our Servant Saviour. And yet that is what he offers us in the Supper.

In the Lord’s Supper we also get a sense of the unfathomable. As it was for Peter, it is also a mystery to us. There is something mysterious happening here that is beyond human comprehension, at least for the here and now. As the hymn-writer reflects concerning the Holy Supper, “Search not how this takes place, not whether it can be; God can accomplish vastly more than what seems plain to me.”[LH 291 v.6]

When we receive what Jesus offers us in his Holy Supper, by his servant sacrifice, we also hear the Lord’s great “unless”, just like Peter did at the foot-washing. Jesus also said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will have no life in you” (John 6:53). Opening your life up to God’s gracious action in Jesus his Son is absolutely necessary if you are to have a part in the saving work of Christ, now and forever.

Our response to what Jesus offers by his grace, also in bread and wine, is to be like that of Peter at the foot-washing. God wants our hunger and thirst for the cleansing of our Saviour’s righteousness to become unquenchable. It is our Lord’s will that we are overcome by the desire to be completely “awash”, drenched, cleansed and filled to the brim with our Saviour’s demonstration of his saving love, especially as he brings it to us in his Holy Word and Sacraments.

Finally, we can learn from our Lord, as he assures us of his forgiveness, as he promises to strengthen us in body and soul to life eternal and as he bids us ‘go in peace’; that undeniable truth that we are “already clean” – as Peter was - inwardly and constantly by faith in Jesus.

It is not our outward acts or our good works that make us clean, but the cleansing grace of Christ that comes to us and remains with us through faith in what Jesus has done. By giving himself in bread and wine, Jesus wants to outwardly demonstrate and strengthen us in that undeniable truth.

So let us be like Peter and willingly receive what Christ offers, promising to live in it and by it, rather than like Judas who received our Lord’s gracious action outwardly but did not receive it inwardly or choose to live by it.

As you approach the Lord’s Table, today/tonight and ‘often’, may you do so in the knowledge that, like Simon Peter:

  • It is unavoidable that the Lord wants to serve you with his grace,
  • You receive him with a sense of your own unworthiness,
  • You believe his promise, though it is an unfathomable mystery,
  • That you hear your Lord’s great “unless” calling you not to miss out on the demonstration of his Divine love,
  • That your hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, through Jesus’ love, becomes completely unquenchable,
  • And that you live with and are strengthened by the undeniable truth that, by faith in what Jesus has done for you, “you are already clean.” Amen!

The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guardour hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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