In Jerusalem this week, there is sheer bedlam. The narrow streets are crowded, full of people hurrying along, pushing and shoving, bargaining for Passover provisions, getting ready for the holiest day of the Jewish year. The bleating of lambs and the stench of other animals fill the air. Jesus and the disciples, as good Jews, are also making preparations.
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus directs two of the disciples to go into the city to locate a man carrying a jar of water. With these crowds, what a task! Like finding a needle in a haystack. Mysteriously, Jesus instructs the disciples to follow a man he has chosen to an unspecified house. The disciples are to tell the owner of the house that the Teacher needs a guest room. And so it happens, just as Jesus said it would.
What is going through the minds of the disciples as they enter that special room? Do they know that this will be the last meal, with their Beloved Teacher, before his arrest? They are unsettled. They are rattled by events of the last few days. Jesus himself has been more emotional than they have ever seen him, sometimes confident, sometimes troubled in spirit.
The disciples have many questions, many concerns. Jesus wept over the death of his dear friend Lazarus. But then he raised him from the dead.
Why did he weep when he knew he had such power? Why, when he calls himself the resurrection and the life, does he keep mentioning his own impending death? Why, when there were so many witnesses to this Lazarus miracle do so many still not believe? Why do the Pharisees want Jesus dead? What is the meaning of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem when an exuberant crowd spread palms in his path, worshipped him as the long-awaited Messiah, shouted, “Hosanna to the King of Israel?”
We know the disciples are quite ordinary people, a little above average perhaps, but not a philosopher or theologian among them. Peter stands out for his impulsiveness, grabbing the spotlight at key moments, but there is little to show that he understands Jesus and his mission any more clearly than the others.
As they take their places at table, the disciples are still wondering,
“Who is their teacher, really? What do all the signs and miracles add up to? Jesus has yet to fulfill the promise of a Messiah who will redeem Israel militarily. What is his end game? What will be their fate in his end game?”
The meal begins. There is some small talk, but mostly the disciples are wrapped up in their own thoughts. There is a sense of mystery and palpable tension. The disciples are edgy.
Suddenly, Jesus rises, leaves the table, removes his outer robe, wraps a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin, begins to wash the feet of the disciples, and wipe them with the towel. The beloved Teacher has taken on one of the most menial tasks for which his culture provides.
Foot-washing, at that time, done by a servant, was often part of a host’s welcoming ceremony, certainly done before a meal. In John’s account, this meal with Jesus and his disciples begins without foot-washing. Why this change in custom?
We know there was tension among the twelve as to who was the greatest, who would sit next to Christ in glory. We can imagine that none of the twelve is willing to take the towel and kneel before their fellows. They consider it beneath them. They cast haughty looks at each other. Shouldn’t it be the youngest? The oldest? Shouldn’t it be the one leaning on Jesus’ breast? Or Peter or James, to whom Jesus has also shown special favor?
Perhaps Jesus is waiting to see if his teaching about service to others has been truly learned, written on his disciples’ hearts. When none of them steps forward, Jesus takes on the role of servant himself as he has always known he would. The disciples look on his action with surprise and shame.
As usual, Peter probably speaks for them all when he strongly objects to Jesus washing his feet. Jesus tries one last time to make them understand and accept that in God’s Kingdom, for all time, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
He rebukes Peter: “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.”
Then, an embarrassed and chastened Peter begs Jesus to wash, not only his feet, but also his hands and his head.
This cleansing has presumably already been done at Peter’s baptism. But this foot-washing, on this night, has a different significance, which Peter does not grasp. It is to demonstrate the call to be a servant. A servant of the servant, a servant of our servant Lord, a servant even unto death.
After the feet of all the disciples have been washed, including those of Judas Iscariot, Jesus retrieves his robe and takes his place again at table. He asks, have you understood what has just happened? There is deafening silence.
So Jesus explains,
“If I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you.”
But Jesus has more to teach.
This is the eve of his death. This is his last opportunity to enlighten his disciples this side of the grave. After Judas the betrayer has gone to earn his thirty pieces of silver, Jesus says farewell to his disciples. He calls them “little children.” He tells them that where he is going, they cannot come.
All this is preparation for a new commandment: In Jesus’ words,
“that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
So the disciples are not only to serve each other, they are to love each other, as Christ has loved them, completely and without end. In this way, they are to demonstrate their discipleship, witnessing to the way of Love.
The night is dark, John tells us. But in the Upper Room, in the glow of lamp light, the Light of the World prepares his disciples for the time between his death and his coming again. He sets them an example of humility and service to others, that they love one another as he loves them.
This commandment is also for us, that we love one another as Jesus loves us. Completely and without end.
Amen.
