Maundy Thursday of Holy Week.
It's been a long, busy day...well, for that matter a long, busy week. Finally sitting down on Thursday evening, and weariness overwhelms me. Tired feet, tired body, tired mind.
And then it hits me--Holy Week. This very evening would be the night of the last supper. Jesus washing the disciples filthy feet and telling them of His great love. The singing of a hymn together before they headed out to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus pouring out his anguished heart to His Heavenly Father and yet submitting peacefully to His Abba's perfect will. And then, of course, all the terrible events of the late night-watches ahead--Judas' betrayal, the arrest, the ridiculous trial, the beatings, humiliating, and scourging.
Oh Lord Jesus, how could I have forgotten for even a moment? How could I be self-absorbed with my own weariness and not remember Your infinitely greater exhaustion, pain, and sorrow? My tired and aching feet remind me of Your feet walking resolutely to the cross...accepting the nails...bearing the weight of sin...for the likes of me. Thank You, Lord, thank You.
I wonder: as you washed those feet--including the feet of one who would deny You and another who would betray You, did You contemplate what Your feet would be agonizingly enduring within only a few hours?
If I knew that I'd be abandoned by all my loved ones, tortured mercilessly, humiliated and then executed in the most terrible way imaginable, I'd be unable to think of anything else. I'd be thinking of nothing but myself and my pain. I'd be incapable of considering anyone or anything else.
And yet, on Maundy Thursday, Jesus does just the opposite. He willingly takes on the job of the most menial servant and washes feet. He eats with His beloved disciples. He loves. He encourages. He teaches. He sings. He prays. And He gives a new command.
You see, the word "maundy" comes from the Latin meaning "mandate" or "command." And at the Last Supper--which was also the first Communion--Jesus gave His disciples, and us, a new command: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)
So after a long, busy week and after a wearying day, Jesus spends this last night with his beloved friends. And just hours before bearing unimaginable pain and the weight of all sin for all time, Jesus gives them--and us--this command to love. Love as He's loved us. Love one another that the world may know we belong to Him. Simply love.
Somehow, as I sit here in my comfortable chair in my comfortable home and think about my Savior commanding me to love as He loves, my weariness fades. My self-absorption vanishes in light of the One Who loved so extravagantly and at so infinite a cost.
I'm facing no nails later tonight. I'm confronting no betrayers or mocking soldiers or screaming crowds. But He did...for me and for you. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You and forgive me for my selfishness and pride that helped to put You on that cross.
I'm reminded of that old black woman during the bus boycott in the midst of the civil rights struggles. Because of the boycott, she couldn't take the bus but instead had to walk miles and miles to her work, but her comment was "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested."
Lord, some of us have mighty tired "feets"...or discouraged hearts...or weary bodies. But when we look to Jesus, our souls are rested. For in Him, we have salvation, eternal life, joy, hope, peace. So as long as You choose to leave us here on this hot pavement, help us to love, to truly love as You love. Love You and love others. That's why we're here. Keep our feets and our hearts serving and loving, Father until You call us home.
Tired feets...but thankful heart on this Maundy Thursday.
To God be the glory.
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