Mark 10:45 with the following words placed on the lips of Jesus For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” sets the scene for us as begin thinking about Maundy Thursday. In context, Jesus is talking about how to exercise power, after James and John had come to him asking to have thrones next to him.

Instead of claiming the right to rule, Jesus claimed the right to serve. One of the earliest Christian poems preserved by Saint Paul picks up on this.

Christ Jesus,6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of human beings. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-8).

Biblical Text – John 13: 1-5

1It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end. 2Even before the evening meal started, the devil had made Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, decide to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. 4So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples’ feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.

Questions

1. This passage is unique to John. How different would our faith be if the major symbol was not a Cross but a bowl and a towel?
2. What would it feel like if Jesus came to you and offered to wash your feet? Why would you think he was washing your feet?
3. John writes that Jesus knew had ‘complete power’. Is washing feet an example of how power should be exercised in the Church and world?

Reflection for Maundy Thursday

This is our God, the Servant King
he calls us now to follow him
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King
(c) Graham Kendrick

Washing feet

Washing feet, touching the divine
Touching the divine, healing wounds
Healing wounds, with self-emptying love
Self-emptying love, a pattern both human and divine
Human and divine patterns offering a shape
A shape for us to love and grow
To love and grow as we wash feet
To see in each the presence of the divine