Humbling Ourselves (Maundy Thursday)

A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Thursday, April 17, 2025, which is Maundy Thursday (RCL All Years).

Primary Bible Reading

(Click on April 17, 2025, to see all of the Lectionary Texts)

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Now before the festival of the 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 Judas 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 now 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 have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only 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, 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 one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Humbling Ourselves

By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA

We join Jesus and his disciples on this Holy Thursday, mere hours before Jesus would be arrested, tried, tortured, and finally executed on the cross. He knows that it is his Last Supper. But to the rest, it was just another Supper -- an important meal because tomorrow night is the first night of Passover, but still just another supper. 

They had been welcomed into the home of a follower in Jerusalem. The meal had been prepared. They all gathered together and prepared to recline around the table. In Jesus’ culture, tables were very low to the ground, and people lay on the floor on their left shoulders so that they could eat food with their right hands. You always kept your feet far from the table because everyone wore sandals and the streets were dusty and dirty. You don’t want feet and food to mix. So usually, when you enter someone’s home for a big supper like this, someone is designated to wash the guests’ feet as a sign of hospitality. So, the fact that the story includes foot washing is relatively normal.

What makes it weird is who is washing feet. Usually, the host assigns a child, servant, or slave to wash the guests’ feet. It’s a dirty, lowly job that is beneath the dignity of traveling rabbis, preachers, healers, and soon-to-be bishops like the Twelve Apostles. We don’t know why everyone’s feet were not already washed. Maybe the hosts were elderly and couldn’t do it themselves or afford to pay someone else to do it. But we know for sure that none of the Twelve volunteered. Why would they? It’s really not appropriate. They had been with Jesus for three years, so they are pretty popular and important people. Someone else is going to take care of it for us; it would be their honor. 

That’s right. It’s been three years and they still don’t get it. The Twelve continue to let their closeness to Jesus get to their heads instead of their hearts. Their egos got the better of them again. They just didn’t understand that greatness in God’s eyes is measured in mercy, love, and service, not power, prestige, and privilege.

So Jesus had to teach them again: “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” (John 13:4-5). Jesus taught them servant leadership. The most powerful and well-respected person in the room did the lowliest, grossest, most embarrassing job simply because it was the kind thing to do. Jesus was not too proud; he didn’t think he was better than this task. And he wants us to have the same attitude. 

Sometimes I wish Jesus just did the thing and didn’t explain it. But the Twelve really needed the explanation because they, like us, were pretty stubborn. (There are several examples in Acts of the disciples forgetting this lesson and acting too haughty; we can talk about those later.) So, Jesus explained, “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 one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. … If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. … I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:12-15, 17, 34-35).

Jesus’ message is clear: love and serve one another. Just like the Twelve Apostles, we struggle so hard to internalize this simple truth. We struggle to let go of our egos and our pride. We struggle to be humble as Christ was humble. Because that display of humility wasn’t just a one-off event. Yes, Jesus humbled himself on Maundy Thursday by kneeling on the ground to wash his students’ feet. He also humbled himself on Good Friday by succumbing to pain, humiliation, and death on the cross. Even when he rose from the grave on Easter Day, he humbled himself enough to return to life on this broken earth to save us from the powers of sin and death. 

In a few minutes, we are going to re-enact a piece of what happened on the original Maundy Thursday. We are going to practice washing one another’s feet, just as Jesus Christ our Lord and Teacher washed his disciples’ feet. Honestly, it’s not glamorous. It’s not necessarily fun. It might gross you out to touch someone else’s feet. It might gross you out to let someone else touch your feet. But that’s the point. Following Jesus is not about doing what is comfortable; it’s about learning to love and serve even when it is uncomfortable or icky or unpopular or whatever. It’s about learning to care for people even when we would rather not. So we are inviting you to take advantage of this symbolic opportunity to love one another as Christ loved us. As the hymn says, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love; Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love” (Peter Scholtes, “They’ll Know We Are Christians”, see, e.g., The Celebration Hymnal #429). Washing feet tonight isn’t going to change the world, but it might prepare you for the next opportunity God gives you to love someone. Amen.