Maundy Thursday For You

In this Lenten series, The Greater Jonah, we trace the familiar story of the reluctant prophet and discover how it ultimately points beyond itself to Christ. We’ll explore themes of running, mercy, judgment, repentance, death, and resurrection—seeing how the sign of Jonah finds its completion in the crucified and risen Savior. This is not just a story about a prophet and a fish. It is about the God who pursues the runaway, enters the storm, descends into the depths for us, and brings life where there was only death.

To follow along each day with the companion devotional, you can purchase it here:
 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GLJ635Z3?&linkCode=sl2&tag=jessicatschne-20&linkId=5f6b03b3594566f49a84144c1e011020&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Join us as we journey into the depths—and discover the mercy that meets us there.

Transcript

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In Matthew 28, Jesus said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He calls you to be that disciple. To hear his word, to receive his promises, to repent, to believe. That Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And that by believing you have life in his name. Now here are the good news of Jesus for you. Why does the Bible show all of this here? Why does it uh slow down on this of all the nights and show us all these particulars of this evening? The Gospel of John could have moved quickly through the night. It could have summarized things and passed over the details and taken us straight to the cross. In fact, the other gospel writers do just that. But John doesn't. Instead, he slows everything down. He lingers in the upper room. He spends five chapters, five chapters on this special time with Jesus and his disciples. And he lets you see the conversations, the actions, the words, the tone of the night. He draws you into it. And that raises the question, why? John writes at the beginning of this evening, he says, having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the end. That's what tonight is about. Jesus loving these disciples. Jesus showing these twelve disciples just how much he loves them. Think about who's in that room. Judas. He will betray him. And we don't know how long Judas was there during that time in the upper room, but we know that he was there for a portion of it. Peter, by the end of this night, he will say that he didn't even know Jesus. James and John will follow with Peter into the Garden of Gethsemane, but they'll fall asleep, and so will the rest. And all of them, all of them will run away. And Jesus knows that. He knows all of it. He knows exactly what is coming. He knows their shortcomings and their failings. And still he loves them. Still, he invites them to spend this evening, the Passover meal, his last evening, with him. And he begins in kind of a strange way. He takes a towel and he kneels down and he begins to wash their feet. Their dirty, disgusting feet. Feet that have walked roads and have carried the weight of the day. What a strange way to start the evening. And Peter speaks up, of course he does. He says, Lord, do you wash my feet? You can hear that in his voice, the tone. That this isn't right. This isn't how it's supposed to work. You're the teacher, I'm the disciple. And he's right. Jesus is their Lord. They should be the ones serving him. And so Peter speaks up. You will never wash my feet. Now that's a pretty bold position to take. And it sounds noble. Again, it even sounds right to a certain extent. But Peter, he's got it all wrong. And that's why Jesus says, unless I wash you, you have no share with me. In other words, this isn't optional. It's necessary. And so then Peter changes his tune and he does it really quickly. He says, Well, then, not just my feet, but my hands and my head, my shoulders, knees, and toes. In that case, let's make sure everything is clean. When Jesus washes these disciples' feet, he sets the tone. He sets the tone for what this evening is all about. Jesus is beginning to show his disciples just how much he does truly love them. And everything that follows is about these gifts that happen because Jesus loves these disciples. He promises to send the helper, the Holy Spirit. Why? Because he knows that even after they share this time together, the whole evening together, they will become distracted. They will drift. It will be difficult for them to remain in him. You can already see it happening on this night. They hear his words and yet it's all confusing and they don't understand it. They make promises to Jesus that they will follow him and then they will fail. They will go back on those promises. They will fall asleep when Jesus asked them just to pray with him for a little while. And it would be reasonable, expected even, for Jesus to say, Come on, guys, try a little harder. Hold on to me with everything you have just for a little bit. But instead, he doesn't. He says, You won't be able to do it. And so I'll send you a helper. And then on the same night in this same room, he says, I will go and prepare a place for you that where I am, you will be also. And think about why they needed to hear that promise. Because everything they had hoped for was about to fall apart. They left everything, everything to follow Jesus. And they believed he was the Messiah, the promised one. They thought they knew how this was going to go and where this was going to go. And within a matter of hours, it would all come crashing down. Arrest, the trial, the conviction, the crucifixion, and then silence. And that would feel like the end. Like they had been wrong, like they had lost. Like there was no future and no hope. And Jesus knows that. So before any of it takes place, he tells them, he promises them, there's still a future, there's still a hope. There's still a place, and that place is still going to be with me. And then if that wasn't enough, on this same night with all that is in front of him, all that's about to take place, the cross is approaching, and betrayal is coming, and suffering is about to happen. What does Jesus do? He prays not for himself, he prays for them. Even in the moment where he has every reason to be consumed with what is about to take place, Jesus is thinking about them. The whole night starts with Peter objecting. Objecting that Jesus would wash his feet. We're not so different from Peter. When someone washes your feet, they see one of the most disgusting parts of you. The sweat, the dirt, the buildup. The things that you've been carrying around all day. And we don't want people to see that disgusting stuff. Of course, we're not just talking about feet, are we? We're talking about the other disgusting parts of ourselves. The parts that we don't want anyone to see. We're talking about that version of you that comes out when you're tired and your patience is thin because you've had a long day. And the smallest thing, that's just enough to set you off. We're talking about the way that you speak differently, depending on who's in the room. You're kind and measured in one place. And then in the other way, you're short and you're dismissive to other people. The conversations that you replay later in your mind about what you should have said, not because you would have said something different so that it would be more peaceful with that person, but that you would have said something different so that you would have won the argument. The way that you quietly keep score in your marriage with your kids, with your family, with your coworkers, who gave more, who didn't, who owes you something? The things that you scroll past on your phone without a second thought. Even though you know that by looking at those things, by looking at that house that someone else has, or the car that they drive, or by looking at that person that looks better than your spouse, more attractive than your spouse, or the person who's got their life all together, and you wish you had your life all together like they did. And you know that just by looking at those things, that that's shaping what you now want. And it's shaping what you expect, what you desire, what you value. The way you can look at someone and you immediately know whether they matter to you or not, or whether that person is worth your time or not. The subtle ways you avoid people don't answer that text, don't take that call, don't respond to that email, and then you just don't have to worry about them or their problems. And then there's the good stuff. The good stuff that you put off that you should do. You could exercise more because, again, Jesus gave you this body and he says that it's meant to be a temple, so we should treat it as such. You could go on dates with your spouse or your significant other and prioritize that relationship above others. You could spend more time with your kids instead of in the office. You could volunteer more, you could give from the blessings that God has given to you, and you could give out of those blessings to the food bank or to the homeless shelter or to the church so that it could spread the gospel more, but you don't. And then there are other things that no one else knows about and no one else sees, but you know about them because those things happen in private, where you cut corners and you make small compromises at work or at home or at school. And those cutting corners and those small compromises, they begin to define who you really are when no one else is watching. And then you hear those words that Jesus loved them to the end. And maybe you think that can't possibly be talking about me. Or you see these gifts that Jesus continues to give to these disciples on the night that he is betrayed, and you think, oh, I don't deserve those gifts. Those gifts can't be for me. Jesus loved them to the end. What does that mean? He loved them to the end of the night when he'll be taken away and they will abandon him. He loved them to the end of their strength because they will be too weak to pray and too weak to follow him beyond the garden and all the way to the cross. He loves them to the end of their ability to hold on to him when he needs it the most. He loves you to that same end. And he kneels to wash you and to clean you up. And he does that by faith. He makes you new and he sends the Holy Spirit so that in those moments when you struggle to hold on to him, he holds on to you. And he goes to prepare a place for you so that someday he'll take you to be with him. And he prays for you. He intercedes for you at the side of the Father. And then there's the table, which is what we most of the time think about when we think about Monty Thursday, where Jesus takes bread and he says, This is my body given for you. And then he takes the cup and says, This is my blood shed for you. And his forgiveness, his life is placed into your hands. Why would Jesus do that? Because he loves you. And because sin doesn't just stay on the surface, it clings. It follows you. It follows you into your thoughts, into your words, into your relationships. And no matter how hard you try, you just can't scrub it off. You can't clean it off all by yourself. And so Jesus does what Peter can't and what the disciples can't do. And Jesus does what you can't. He kneels, he washes, he gives himself for you. I was on a youth trip once, and at the end of the week, we decided that we were going to wash all of the students' feet. And as we went around the room, one of them looked down at me, and as I got to him, and he says, Pastor Chris, you don't have to do this. You don't. You really don't have to do this. And then he said, as I persisted, he said, I'm sorry. And then he just kept saying it over and over again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I think that's what Peter's getting at here. And if we're honest, that's us too. Jesus, you don't have to do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But his answer is the same. This isn't optional. It's necessary. Why? Because he loves you to the end. And everything he does on this night and the next, he does for you.