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Today is the 5th day of Holy Week, a day we call Maundy Thursday. The word “Maundy” is a Latin word for “Commandment.” The commandment is a reference to Jesus’ commandment that he gave during the sharing of the Last Supper in the gospel of John:
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”
Jesus goes on to demonstrate what kind of love he is talking about, when, as the disciples enter the upper room, he insists on washing each of the disciples’ feet.
This is such a wonderful and touching act by Jesus. Think about it. He is about to go to his death on the cross. He will be strung up on a cross to die just 24 hours later. And at that time, he will realize that every one of these disciples will abandon him. That he will be left to die on that cross utterly alone. And yet, almost as an act of pre-forgiveness, he washes each of their feet. Here he is not only demonstrating the kind of love he professes... servant love... but here he is saying to each of them, “I know that you won’t be able to be there for me, but I want you to know that I forgive you for it.”
When we gather around the bread and the cup for holy communion, we are reminded of Jesus words at the Last Supper: “take and eat (drink) this, and as often as you eat (drink) this, remember me.” What Jesus is asking his disciples to remember, is that act of foot washing. That act in which Jesus washes each of the disciples’ feet, and proclaim them clean, forgiven, and made new.
Think about your life for just a moment. None of us have lived a clean life. We’ve all “nicked” someone by a mistake, a misplaced harsh word, or a hardened heart. And we’ve all been “nicked” by someone else’s mistake, or misplaced harsh word, or hardened heart. What might happen to us is we not only allow Jesus to wash our feet today, but also the feet of those who have hurt or harmed us?
Who might I forgive today? How might I allow God’s forgiveness to enter deeper into my heart today?
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