Sermons

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 13:3-5)

Washing feet was an important part of life in first century Palestine – the roads were unmade and so were either very dusty or full of mud. People wore sandals and so their feet would get very dirty. Washing feet was a job that was done by servants for their master. However it is unlikely that the disciples would have had servants and it was probably a job that they took turns in doing. Even though the disciples had probably been washing each other's feet it seems to have been looked upon as a chore. Jesus was telling them that it was a privilege to serve one another and this is how God's kingdom works. He was teaching them Kingdom values. Jesus seems not to have washed the feet of the disciples before and Peter for one did not think he should be doing it now!

I wonder why it was only Peter that had a problem with Jesus washing his feet. Did the others understand that Jesus was showing them the way of God’s Kingdom by doing such a menial task himself? Or did they just think that it was his turn? We can only speculate about that but what can we learn from Peter’s reaction? He was quite certain that his master should not wash his feet, it was a basic task and it was totally inappropriate that the Teacher should do it. Part of his embarrassment may have been that Jesus had taken on the role because the feet needed to be washed and no one else had offered. For whatever reason they all felt that it was someone else’s turn. Perhaps Peter was waiting for one of the other disciples to offer and was mortified when it was Jesus who ended up with the role. Whatever the background he had great problems in graciously receiving Christ’s loving service. When challenged by Jesus he demanded a full washing from head to toe, something that he should already have done before coming to the meal. Finally he accepted that Jesus chose to serve his disciples in this way and he allowed Jesus to wash his feet as well.

As Christians we are called to serve one another and we try to do this. However sometimes we are not as gracious at accepting the service of others towards us. It is easy to be like Peter and reject the service on the basis of our unworthiness. Yes, we are unworthy on one level, but Jesus served others and he uses others to serve us in the same way. It is a sign of care and love that we serve one another and is something to be treasured by both the server and the served. The foot washing was the prelude to the last twenty-four hours of Jesus’ life. It was followed by a meal which became known as the Last Supper. For the details of this we need to turn to the Epistle that we heard which neatly slots into the gap left in our Gospel reading.

Paul was writing a few decades before John’s Gospel was written and shows us that early on in the Christian faith the Lord’s Supper was established and sacred. For the early Christians, many of whom were Jews brought up with the idea of the Covenant established between them and God, the Eucharistic meal reminded them that with Jesus came in the New Covenant which was very different. It was not based on following the Law but instead on accepting God’s grace through Christ. It is a Covenant of love. And accepting the washing of their feet by Jesus was an introduction to the idea of the New Covenant.

The meal that was, and is, celebrated reminded those early Christians, and us, of Christ’s death because it brings Christ’s death into the present. It is not just a historical act that happened once but it is fixed in eternity. And it also speaks of all of us partaking in that experience, of sharing one bread which represents, and is changed, so that it becomes the body of Christ. The cup that is blessed at the Eucharist is also a cup that is shared and which is the blood of Christ shed for us. And so the sacrificial Passover lamb has been rendered ‘null and void’ by the new Passover Lamb who died on Good Friday.

The Eucharist is a very special experience, when we have that intimate association with Christ. Perhaps we take it for granted and do not revere it as we should. But one of the amazing things about the Eucharist is how it can speak to people even when they do not really understand what it represents. In a book called ‘Take this bread’ Sara Miles writes this:

I still can’t explain my first communion. It made no sense. I was in tears and physically unbalanced: I felt as if I had just stepped off a curb or been knocked over, painlessly, from behind. The disconnect between what I thought was happening – I was eating a piece of bread; what I heard someone else say was happening – the piece of bread was the “body” of “Christ”, a patently untrue or at best metaphorical statement; and what I knew was happening – God, named “Christ” or “Jesus”, was real, and in my mouth – utterly short-circuited my ability to do anything but cry.

Sara didn’t know anything about theology, she hardly knew anything about Christianity, but she did know that the bread and the wine at that meal were special and life-changing. And that first experience of communion drew her back to church week after week. Gradually as she did so she began to understand something of the Christian faith. God speaks to us in so many different and exciting ways.

But now let us return to our gospel reading. Judas and Jesus have had a short conversation and Judas has left the table. As yet the other disciples do not know where he has gone but Jesus doesn’t talk about Judas. He carries on preparing the disciples for what is going to happen and he gives them a specific instruction:

“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.”

He was talking about the love that took him all the way to the Cross. Over the next twenty-four hours we will be reminded again that to experience that love first hand we must walk the way of the Cross with him. We must spend time at the foot of that Cross, learning from him, learning to love one another and the whole of humanity for whom he died. That amazing and transforming love is ours for the taking – we have only to ask and learn from our incredible Saviour to be filled with that love for him and for one another. Jesus left us with the special meal that we call the Eucharist so that we can eat and drink in remembrance of him and be filled with his love anew as we do so. That Love transforms us and situations in a way that nothing else is able to do.

As we celebrate the Eucharist … we enter most profoundly into the vision of a world redeemed by the grace and mercy of God in Jesus; and we participate in the life-giving transformation of ourselves.

Jesus taught his disciples to accept the service of others given in love, gracefully. And he left us with the Eucharist as a memorial of his sacrificial love so that we might be transformed into his likeness.
Amen