IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
John 13: 1-17, 31b-35
Maundy Thursday, Year A
Analysis by Paul G. Theiss
1Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then 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. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
31b “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
From Wikimedia Commons
“Jesus gifts his love to his disciples for them to embody – a gift that will change the world.”
Author’s note: “ELW” in the hymn references stands for Evangelical Lutheran Worship. The hymns also appear in many other hymnals.
DIAGNOSIS: Faulting, Failing Relationships
Our relationships have trouble holding up under the weight of our desire to control them – including our relationship with God.
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – The Break-up of our Fellowship
Grounding: “Judas Iscariot would betray Jesus” (v. 2). The small group of Jesus’ followers gathers as family for the Passover meal. But their holiday meal is doomed. Prompted by the power of evil, Judas has decided to betray Jesus and implicate the others. Sin has overcome their fellowship.
Tracking: Our world is coming unglued. Healthy relationships are slipping away. Families, friends, the body politic, nations, the environment: people are at odds with each other, with their world and even with God. Our ability to join together for good is being taken away from us. It’s as though we are in the grip of the power of evil.
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Loss of Love
Grounding: “You will never wash my feet” (v. 8). Peter refuses Jesus’ gift of unconditional love.
Tracking: We are fearful of losing control, even when we’ve already lost it. We cry out in frustration. We know we lack the ability to love as we should. Deep down we are even skeptical of love’s power. But we won’t admit it, and our relationships suffer as a result. In the bitter words of the late great Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it? What’s love but a second-hand emotion? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – The Cost of Denial
Grounding: “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Jesus comes as a servant to do a servant’s work. He challenges the relationship the disciples have not only with him but with God.
Tracking: Jesus does not only challenge our lack of faith in him. He calls out to us: “Will you let me be your servant?” (ELW 659). But we do not ask nor want him to serve us this way. We’d rather have him serve us in our way, with our sense of control – as if we can dictate the terms of our relationship with him and with God. He makes it clear: the cost of our denial of his service is a cost we cannot pay. His servant love challenges us to the core. Refusing to let him serve us leaves us to live on our own. This condemns us.
PROGNOSIS: New Relationship Through Christ
Jesus takes the crushing burden of sin onto himself, dies with it, rises again, and gives us the glory of his love to embody and to share. He gives life to our relationships: his life.
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – The Saving-Servant on the Cross
Grounding: “Now the Son of Man has been glorified.” This is the glory of his cross.
Crossing: But Jesus persists. His self-abasement, his servile love, his glory in the cross is for our good. He dies the death of a slave, serving us and all of humanity. He takes sin, death, and the power of evil upon himself and dies with it. He is raised up twice: once on a cross of shame, and again lifted up from the grave. Both risings are gifts of love to us and to the world. Both risings confound the power of evil. His love conquers our sin and death.
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Trusting in Christ’s Love
Grounding: “Slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”
Crossing: Another miracle happens. Jesus’ astounding gift of love awakens faith in us. We trust the one who serves us so deeply and completely. We discover that he has planted his love within us, so that it grows by the power of his Spirit. We dare to believe that he can rise within us.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Loving People Together
Grounding: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus gifts his love to his disciples for them to embody – a gift that will change the world.
Crossing: A wounded community is healed by a love which is not its own. The fellowship comes together again, “strong at the broken places.” We can give what he gives us. The power of his grace, forgiveness, and love conquers the power of sin, death, and evil. Others see this in our words and actions. Some will respond in fear and hate, as they did to him. Still others will receive his gift, and live. We sing, “Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you,” (ELW 708).
