Maundy Thursday

     We can never forget the radical love of Jesus.  Join Aimee Copley Mulder as we take one more step toward the cross to remember Jesus' actions and the special way he serves his disciples with radical love.  Never forget!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All glory to God. This is Amy Cockley Mulder. It's Holy Week. And so I'm so glad you chose to join me. Please continue to listen to my podcast every single day this week as we walk the last week of Jesus together. The last week where Jesus was on the earth before he was crucified. This Holy Week is a time for us to set aside moments where we really think about what Jesus did for us. Holy Week. Join me here at all glory to God.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, doesn't matter if you're young or alive. All that matters is you answer the door when Jesus comes to change your life. And it's about time we give it up to God. All the glory to die. All the glory to die.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

It is Monday, Thursday of Holy Week. I'm Amy Copley Mulder, and I'm so glad that you decided to join me for this edition of our Holy Week podcast. Every day we I have done a reflection on what Jesus was doing and kind of what that means. Thank you for joining me. And I hope that you go back and listen to the ones you've missed, or stay tuned for Good Friday and Silent Saturday and Easter Sunday, because this is a week that we're supposed to give some time to thinking about the steps that Jesus has walked. Now, Monday Thursday, it's not called Holy Thursday. Monday Thursday, the Monde, which is not a normal word that we use in life. Monday is a Christian commandment that means to love one another. So it's it's from a Latin termontum, which is a Christian commandment. Love one another is the whole of the scripture around this Passover table. And what I really want to reflect on as we open up the scripture to John chapter 13, Jesus' radical love for us. Because if Monday is about loving one another, we and Jesus does this beautiful meal in front of his disciples. Every event has meaning and purpose and has, you know, even weight, gravitas. And here is Jesus saying, I want you to remember this. And what he gives us to remember are the are the actions of someone who is not searching for power, who is not acting like the King of Kings. Jesus is serving his disciples. And he's really showing this radical love. And that's the thing I want you to never forget. As we get closer to reflecting upon the tragic circumstances of the cross, as we wait for him in the tomb and then he raises again on Sunday. All of that journey is about remembering Jesus' love. I don't know about you, but when I'm thinking about somebody from the past that has loved me well, that is no longer there, that is, that is gone on ahead to heaven. When I think about them, I think about those moments where I was just in their presence and we were laughing, and there it was, we were happy to be together. I remember this moment I was with my dad, and we were just laughing so hard in the truck. We were always in his truck. I cannot remember what we were laughing about, but I remember having that moment looking over at him and thinking, man, I love you, Dad. And he went over, he reached for my hand. Because I think he felt it too. And he's been gone for some years now, and I still just remember this moment of love. This moment I just enjoy being in your presence. And so let's turn or listen to John chapter 13 as Jesus washes the disciples' feet over the shared meal for Passover. John chapter 13, we're going to read verses 1 through 20. Now before the festival of 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. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judah, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him. And during supper, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus answered, You do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand. Peter said to him, You will never wash my feet, Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you will have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus 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, for he knew who was to betray him. For this reason he said, Not all of you are clean. After he had washed their feet, he had put had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash another's feet, for I have set you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their masters, nor are messengers greater than the ones who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but it is to fulfill the scripture the one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. Very truly I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. That's a little wordy in the New Revise Standard Version. But if I was gonna tell you in the message, I'm just gonna say what Jesus said in that last verse 20 in the message, just so you kind of get it. I'm telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens, you will believe that I am who I say I am. Make sure you get this right. Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the one who sent me. So it's a little clearer, but it's still Jesus is just basically accept all in my name. So we have this picture of Jesus, this beautiful image on Monday, Thursday, the day we're supposed to love one another, um Jesus getting up from the table, the big ceremonial table. The Passover feast has been given. And um, if you have a Seder meal, there's all these questions. And the Passover meal itself is remembering the love of God in delivering the people of Israel from Egypt, delivering them out of slavery. And so then Jesus is around the table and he gets up to wash their feet. No one can believe it. The disciples are sitting there going, Are you serious? The one that we've been following, the one we listen to, you can't be a servant. And that's why everyone's just so aghast. And then Peter, you gotta love Peter, and just you know, puts his foot in his mouth, and there's that whole thing. And here it is, this moment where Jesus is bowing to them and washing their feet. Radical love. And we get a lot of information about Judas, the one that the devil entered, and Jesus knows it, and he does an outum at the table. And you know, we talked on Spy Wednesday about Judas, but I want you to imagine this moment where Jesus is just before his guides, the guys that have walked with him for three years. I want you to imagine that Jesus is with this guy, it's the guys that he's walked with for three years. And those guys are getting served by the King of Kings. And he's saying to them, Listen, I'm not doing this action of washing your feet by accident. I am washing your feet so that you know that this is how your posture should always be. This is my radical love. I was there at creation, I am fully human, fully God. I have been a part of creating you, and now I am washing your feet. You know, it's not that Jesus is being humble, and it's not even that he's humbling himself. I mean, it's the essence of Philippians 2, that even Jesus did not consider a quality with God, something to be grasped, but made him self nothing. Nothing. So here's my question for you. As we look at this, Jesus that washes feet and he says, Listen, you need to do what my example is, and remember, I am here, I know all things, I'm here. I am fully God, fully human. I am here. But this moment in time is a moment we are not going to forget. You see, there's an enemy of your heart and souls that wants you to forget those moments when you were in God's presence and he came to you and he reached over and held your hand, and you just enjoyed being with God. There's an enemy of your heart and souls that wants to convince you that God has done nothing for you if he doesn't act the way you think he should. There's an enemy of your heart and souls that whispers into your ear, you know, being a Christian isn't anything much. Jesus was just a guy in history. Why are you striving to be like Jesus? But don't listen to that enemy. Listen to this voice of Jesus, this beautiful moment where Jesus just says, I wash your feet because you were supposed to wash others' feet. And listen, a messenger is not uh to be applauded within themselves. A messenger is those who sent me. You don't need to think of yourself more highly than you should. If God has filled you, you need to give the message of God's filling, but it ain't about you. If it isn't about me, it ain't about you. Maybe that's how you rephrase that last verse 20 of John 13. Here is Jesus humbling himself, and so my question for you is have you honored Jesus's radical love for humanity, but for you, how have you failed to love you with the radical love of Jesus? How have you failed to love others like Jesus? When have you missed an opportunity to serve others to wash feet? Think about that. Now I'm not trying to bring you down here on this Monday Thursday, but this image of God Himself washing feet and getting stinky and just humbling himself completely, going to the lowest of the low. The servant that had to wash the feet was the lowest of the low. That should change something within us. It should be like a sounding symbol of hey, are you loving people with that radical love? Are you? We are going toward the cross, we're journeying toward the cross. And this last supper has so much to it. You have the disciples gathering around the table and they're remembering God's deliverance in in Exodus, the deliverance out of Egypt. And then they go through this ritual, they know it well, and then Jesus gets up and washes their feet, and then he talks about how everybody is going to betray me. Someone's gonna betray me, and everyone goes, not me. And Peter goes, I would never, and he's like, Look, dude, you are gonna deny me before the rooster grows three times. And it's a surprise to Peter when he denies them. You know, Peter's more surprised than anybody because he thought that he would serve Jesus to his last breath, and he let Jesus and himself down through his denials. But before we take Peter to the woodshed, I still have those questions that you need to think about. What ways have I failed to honor Jesus' love for me? Have I failed to love myself? Have I failed to love others the way Jesus did? And have I missed any opportunities to serve those less fortunate than me? See, you and I are created in the image of God, we have God's breath within us. That is an incredible identity, an incredible heritage. It's something we should never forget. But what that radical love of Jesus should do to the tip of our toes and to the end of our hair, what that radical love should do is inspire us to love everyone with that radical love and not worry about status or what it looks like or if we're good enough to do this. We should just get up, get the talon basin, and start washing feet. Never forget Jesus' sacrifice that started on Monday, Thursday, and we are commanded to love one another. My dad um died of Alzheimer's. The same dad that held my hand in his truck. I I know you don't die of Alzheimer's, but he had Alzheimer's by the time he died. And my dad is one of those people that like I don't know who I would be if it wasn't for Chet Cockley in my life. He profoundly made me feel safe and secure. And he just delighted in me. He got a kick out of me. And I I know it's hard to tell from this podcast, but sometimes people think I'm a little much or I'm a little too loud. I'm a little too something. My dad just was such a safe place for me. And he delighted in me, and he was so sharp and so witty, and he was funny, and he like was really sh intelligent. And when all these things started to go away, it was so tough. He repeated himself all the time. He did these weird mouth noises. And you know, I was losing him bit by bit by bit. The grief was long. And I was going through something at church that I couldn't tell anybody about. It was one of those things that hadn't unpacked yet. And I had just found out about this horrible thing. And I went to my dad's memory care facility and I just sat in his presence and I told him the whole story. Now he didn't respond or understand at that point, he didn't know. But the same presence of the man who held my hand and made me feel so safe, just being Amy, you know, he was still there for me just in his presence in that moment of love. And I just needed to tell somebody the radical love of Jesus that is displayed so beautifully in this moment where he washes the disciples' feet is more than just something that you acquire, it is calling to you to radically love you and everyone around you. And the good news is you can't do it with your own strength or power. So may the bread of life fill you, and may you never forget, as we do one more step toward the cross, that Jesus radically loves you. All glory to God. This is Amy Coughley Mulder. Join me for Good Friday. God's blessings to you on this Monday, Thursday!

SPEAKER_00 18:42

All the glory, it's like that's done. So it's done. It's the back time to get up. So that's the glory to God.