read John 13:1-17, 31b-35
commentary | Rev. Danielle Shroyer
Sometimes it is so hard to let Jesus love us. It’s the love we need most in the world, and yet, sometimes within us resides a roadblock, a kind of joy barrier. And only love can wash that away.
On Maundy Thursday, we remember when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. He takes the time to do this in a week that will include his own arrest, betrayal, and death. It is this important to him to spend time with his students and closest friends in this way.
Priest and theologian Rev. Sam Wells says that “with” is the most important word in the Gospels.10 It is this “with” that, above all, marks the unique character of Divine Love. Jesus wants to be with us: not above us, not over us, not even in charge of us. With us. And on this night, he shows what it means to “love his disciples to the end” (John 13:13) by being with them as he washes their feet.
And yet, this same act of service and vulnerable love feels completely unacceptable to Peter. How can an offer of such love be so unwillingly received? It can be so hard to let Jesus love us. Is it because it will ask so much of us to follow in his example? Is it because this love will ask us to wash someone else’s feet, even when our love for them is lacking?
On this night where water is poured out like attending love, and betrayal awaits in the shadows, Jesus tells his friends to love one another. He tells them this knowing he will love them to the end, and beyond. Jesus asks those of us who follow him to serve the world in love and with love.
What does it look like for Jesus to wash your feet this Lenten season? Will you let him? And…will you seek to be the kind of person who washes the feet of others, loving one another as Jesus asks?
Reflect: What does it look like for Jesus to wash your feet this Lenten season? Will you let him?
10 Wells, Samuel. Incarnational Ministry: Being with the Church. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017)
reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art
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