John 13:1-17,
31b-35
“Do
you know what I have done to you?”
What
a strange question for Jesus to ask. Why did he not ask?
“Do
you know what I have done for you?”
Or
“Do
you understand what I did just now? Do you get it? Do you see how I treated
you?”
But
no, Jesus asked,
“Do
you know what I have done to you?”
What
is it that he did? On this night, a night that is named Commandment Thursday,
we remember what Jesus commanded. We remember the greatest commandment that he
could make: to love one another.
But
he did not ask,
“Do you see the
way that I have shown love for you?”
He asked,
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
You see, this was
not just a clever illustration or a tidy object lesson on Jesus’ part. He was
not merely demonstrating one possible way to show love. He was doing love to
them. He was loving them. From the moment he tied a towel around his waist,
from the second he knelt before each of them, and washed their feet as a servant
would, he was loving them.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
Jesus loved them.
He loved them from the beginning and he loved them to the end. If they wanted
to love as he loved, then this was how they must do it. This was his
commandment. They must willingly humble themselves. They must serve others.
They must perform even the most menial tasks in service to another. They must put
others first and themselves last. They must do to others, not as they would
want done to themselves, but as Jesus did to them. They must do love. Jesus,
their Rabbi, their Teacher, knelt before each one of them and washed their
feet. Jesus loved them. He loved them beyond words, beyond grand declarations.
He not only bestowed love and kindness on them. He wrapped them in love with
the touch of his hand, with the water he poured on their feet. He did love to
them. He did love to them. He loved them.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?’
Who was it that
Jesus loved that night? It was the disciples, yes; those followers who had been
with him from the beginning. But among them was the one who would betray him.
Jesus did love to him. And there was the one who would deny him. Jesus did love
to him as well. He did not withhold his love even for those who would hurt him
most. Jesus washed the feet of each one.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
I have loved you,
and I give you a new commandment, to do as I have done. You too must do love to
others.
It is a
commandment that the disciples surely failed, at least sometimes. It is a
commandment that we fail as well. To wash someone’s feet is humbling. It is
hard. But I can readily do it for those that I love. But could I wash the feet
of my betrayer? Could I wash the feet of my enemy? Could I do love even to
someone I do not like? It seems like an impossible task, an impossible love.
But Jesus was not setting up the disciples to fail. Jesus does not set us up to
fail either. Jesus knows that we will not always get it right, but still we are
commanded, still we are called to do love to others. Still we are commanded to
do love to those we love and those we do not. Still we are called to do love to
God’s children.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
A writer once told
a story about her mother. Her mother and the minister’s wife were not the best
of friends. The minister’s wife was difficult and aloof. She was demanding, and
she made it hard for others to like her, much less love her. But her husband,
the minister, admitted that he had had a relationship with another parishioner;
several relationships. The minister’s wife was home, humiliated and alone.
This writer’s
mother took her to see the minister’s wife. They did not bring casseroles or
candy. Instead they came into the house, and her mother took a bowl of water
and a towel and she washed the wife’s feet. She washed and the other woman
wept. She washed and the warm water was both comfort and grace, blessing and
benevolence. She did love to that woman, that broken woman. She did love to
her.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
From this moment
on, it will seem as though the darkness will win. It will seem as though the
powers and principalities will have the final word and the last laugh. But
Jesus did not stop doing love when he was finished washing their feet. Jesus
did love all the way to the cross. Jesus did love, even to those who betrayed
and denied him. Jesus did love, even to those who crucified him. Jesus did love
all the way to the cross.
Jesus does love to
us, though we fail him, though we betray him, though we deny him. Jesus does
love to us, in spite of ourselves. Jesus does love to us because that is what
he came to do. For God so loved the world. For God so loved the world.
“Do you know what
I have done to you?”
Amen and amen.
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