The
first reading is one I really like. While similar stories appear in other gospels,
in this case, Mary the sister of Lazarus anoints Jesus six days before Passover.
Mary
has recognised who Jesus is, and what is going to happen.
She
uses what she has in a simple, generous, thoughtful act.
But
this story is also scandalous!
Women
did not touch men they were not related to.
Yet
Mary takes perfume, worth about a year’s wages, and pours it over his feet.
Not
only does Mary touch Jesus but dries his feet with her hair?!
Imagine
that in your mind.
An
act of love and adoration, a very personal tribute to a friend and saviour.
Then
we read in the beginning of chapter 13 of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.
Travelling on dusty roads with minimal footwear, meant dirty feet.
People
reclined when they ate, so your feet, your dirty feet, were near food and other
people. As you arrived for a meal, your host would have water ready to pour
over your feet, and someone to dry them for you. if you had a servant, this was
one of their tasks.
Here
Jesus is doing the work of a servant.
This morning, if I said I was
going to wash your feet, how would you feel?
Would you volunteer to have
your feet washed?
At
college one year, just before Easter we did foot washing. One of the students
in my year refused to take his shoes off, he could not imagine anyone washing
his feet.
John
does not record a ‘last supper’ scene, with broken bread and wine passed around.[i]
John
includes the washing of the feet and is the only gospel writer to do so.
John
does not have Jesus saying eat and drink and remember me.
John
has Jesus saying: “if
your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each
other. I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly
what I have done for you.”
“The primary act of radical,
self-giving, poured-out love that plays out on Jesus’ last night isn’t in
broken bread but in Jesus washing the dusty, sweaty feet of his own.”[ii]
What does this say to us
about Jesus?
What does this say to us
about love?
Jesus
who let a woman touch him
Jesus
who broke down barriers of life and death
Jesus
who broke down barriers between male and female
Jesus
who broke down barriers between heaven and earth.
Jesus
who loved to the end.
Love
that is not about roses and chocolates,
Love
that serves
In
these passages we see Jesus accepting a gift from a
woman, giving her status and power.
We
see Jesus letting go of power, by taking on the role of a servant
We
see Jesus accepting the generosity of another
We
see Jesus setting an example of service.
Jesus
asks the disciples: Do you understand what I have done?
I
wonder how often we don’t understand the words and actions of Jesus. We might like to think we know what Jesus meant,
but I wonder if that is true.
I
think that we might be closer to God, and each other, if we stopped pretending
we know the answer to everything.
If
we accepted that faith is an experience, a journeying, a relationship. Faith isn’t
about knowing all the answers, and sometimes even with faith we will not have
any answers.
Sometimes
all we have is faith that Jesus sits with us in the midst of questions that
have no answers.
Jesus
asks the disciples: Do you understand what I have done?
I
am confident that the disciples knew Jesus had just washed their feet, but what
did it mean, to Jesus and to the disciples?
John
is the one who records the new commandment, a little later in chapter 13:
John
13:34-35
“But
I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have
loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my
disciples.”
Sometimes
I think we take the Bible and Jesus too simply, we take a lot if it at face
value and miss the beauty and wonder, the amazing truth contained in the scriptures.
And
sometimes I wonder if we try and make it all so complicated, trying to avoid
the parts we don’t like.
What
if Jesus is saying, accept the love that is freely given to you,
Accept
that I love you, enough to wash your feet, enough to die for you
What
if Jesus is saying something as simple, yet profound, as you are loved.
How
will you respond with love to Jesus?
How
will you show love as a disciple of Jesus?
[i]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3405
[ii]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3405
