Divine remedies for fear and unbelief

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the First Sunday after Easter (Quasimodo geniti)

1 John 5:4-10  +  John 20:19-31

Here’s a question for you this morning: Was the resurrection of Jesus good news or bad news? Well, it was both, wasn’t it? Depending on your relationship to Jesus. For Satan and his demons, who knew that it was true, it was terrible news. For those who had been responsible for Jesus’ death, it was bad news, although they didn’t acknowledge it as true. For those who still reject His Word today and want to believe whatever they want, worship their god however they want, and live however they want, it’s still bad news, because it means that all other gods are false gods and idols, and that people will have to answer to this God whose Word they rejected. But for those who trust in Him as the One who gave His life into death to atone for our sins and to reconcile us to God, it’s the best news there is.

Here’s another question for you, for you who both believe that Jesus rose from the dead and believe in Him as your Lord and your God, as Thomas confessed: Why would you ever be afraid, of anything? Why would you ever worry, about anything? For that matter, why would you sin, ever? Why would you say those hurtful words to your brother, sister, parents, or neighbors if you know that Jesus lives and, therefore, sees and knows all that you do? Why would you worry about the future, if you know that Jesus lives and governs the future? Why would you be afraid of disease or enemies or even death, if you know that Jesus lives and only permits to happen what He knows to be best for those who love Him? The answer is, you shouldn’t—you shouldn’t be afraid, you shouldn’t worry, you shouldn’t doubt, you shouldn’t sin. But that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t, does it? Wretched people that we are, we still wrestle with a sinful flesh. We still struggle against varying degrees of shameful unbelief, leaving us to cry out to God as the man in the Gospels once did, Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief!

That’s exactly what the Lord does in today’s Gospel. He helps us with our unbelief, and with our fear, by holding before our eyes and hearts His first and His second interaction with His gathered apostles after He rose from the dead, men who had no reason to harbor any doubt or unbelief, and yet did, who had no reason to be afraid, and yet they were. Here, in today’s Scripture lessons, the Lord presents us with divine remedies for fear and unbelief, remedies which, if you’re honest, you still need to take. And often!

It wasn’t for nothing that Jesus had seen to it during Holy Week that His disciples would find a friendly home in which they could all gather after His death. He had told them how to find that upper room where they celebrated the Passover with Him and where He had instituted that new supper called the Lord’s Supper. They continued to use that room in that house over the coming weeks.

Gathering in that room together was fine, but the reason the disciples were gathered there with the doors locked on the Sunday after Good Friday was not a good one. John tells us they were afraid of the Jews. Afraid, even though Peter and John had seen the empty tomb that morning. Even though Peter had, by this time, seen Jesus. Even though the women had reported seeing Him, too. Fear is powerful, debilitating, hard to overcome. It took men who had walked and talked with Jesus for three years, and it immobilized them.

We’ve all seen what fear can do to people over the past year. It’s driven many people into their homes, many of them still afraid to leave because of even a slim chance of catching or passing on a disease. People cling to their earthly lives in fear. Now, that actually makes sense if they think death is the end, or worse, if they know, deep down, that death isn’t the end and don’t know the way, the only way, to escape eternal condemnation for their sins, if they don’t believe in a living Lord Jesus, if they don’t trust in Him to be their Mediator before the Father, if they don’t believe they’ll be with Him in Paradise when the die, if they don’t believe in a resurrection of the body at the end of the age. For the unbeliever, fear is a very natural and reasonable reaction to any bodily threat, whether from disease or from accident or from someone else’s malice.

What about for the Christian? Fear comes naturally to our flesh, and we do still carry the flesh around with us. You’ve been afraid before. So have I. But we need to recognize how foolish that fear is and how unnecessary. We know that Christ Jesus rose from the dead, and we have believed in Him as our Lord and our God. As the Psalm says, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

And so Jesus appeared to ten of His remaining eleven fearful apostles on Easter Sunday evening. And we’re told by Mark that He did rebuke their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. But it wasn’t an angry meeting. His greeting was one of peace. Peace be with you! That’s how He greeted them. Luke tells us that He had to prove He wasn’t a ghost by showing them His nail-printed hands and feet, and by letting them touch Him, and by eating some food in their presence.

And finally, they were at peace. They had all the testimonies, all the proofs they needed—at least, for the moment. Peace, because Christ had paid for their sins with His death. Peace, because their Lord and their God in whom they had trusted was truly alive. Peace in the forgiveness of their sins. Peace, in knowing that their risen Lord had kept every promise, had fulfilled every word, and would be there to oversee their earthly lives and finally to receive them in heavenly mansions.

And then the Lord gave these eyewitnesses of His resurrection, these chosen apostles, the authority and the ability to extend that peace to others, to those who would believe in this risen Savior through their preaching, or to withhold it from those who would cling to their sins in spite of the apostles’ preaching. Peace be with you. As my Father has sent me, so I also send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” God the Holy Spirit would be present with the apostles, and with all ministers who would later be called, working through the ministry of the Gospel to bring sinners to repentance and faith and to absolve them from their sins, also working through the ministry of the Gospel to hold the impenitent accountable for their sins. These words of Jesus are a proof and testimony to the world. You don’t see Jesus or hear His voice. But when you hear Christ’s ministers, you are to take it as a divine testimony. As we confess in the Small Catechism: I believe in what the called ministers of Christ do among us, by His divine command—especially when they exclude public, impenitent sinners from the Christian congregation, and when they absolve those who repent of their sins and are willing to mend their ways—that it is all as valid and certain in heaven also, as if our dear Lord Christ did it Himself.

Jesus’ appearance to His apostles, His words of peace, and His authorization of their ministry were powerful, divine remedies for their fear and unbelief. But one apostle missed out on it. Thomas wasn’t there. He seems less fearful than the others, because he was not locked in the room with them. But there is something darker about his unbelief. Ten witnesses, his brothers in the apostolic office, testified to him that Jesus was risen. But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail prints in his hands, and put my finger into the nail prints, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Yes, fear is one symptom of doubt and of unbelief, and it can be devastating. But a stubborn clinging to science and human reason is another symptom, and it can be even worse. Thomas was very reasonable, very “science” oriented, if you will. “Whatever the science tells me, that I’ll believe, and I won’t accept anyone’s scientific experiment but my own. You men tell me He showed you His hands and His feet. Not good enough. I won’t believe it until I see the evidence with my own eyes and test it with my own hands.” In other words, I don’t believe you, and nothing you say will change my mind. Only scientific proof will do.

What a dreadful pit for a Christian to fall into! God does not bind Himself to our fallible scientific methods, and He thinks very little of human reason. If you’ll only believe God when you can see His plans and test His truthfulness, then you’ve turned your God-given reason and senses in an idol. No, the Christian can use both science and human reason, but we have to make them subordinate to God’s Word and recognize them as fallible tools which God can and often does overturn and overrule, as He wishes. As He certainly did in bringing Jesus, not only back to life, but into a new and glorious life that is not bound in any way to the laws of nature.

Jesus had mercy on Thomas. He came back a week later when Thomas was there and gave him the testimonies, the scientific evidence he had demanded, thinking Jesus couldn’t hear him when he demanded it. Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put your hand here and place it into my side, and do not be unbelieving any longer, but believing. Yes, he should have believed, should have trusted Jesus, the Scriptures, the women, and the apostles, even the Holy Spirit Himself who was working through their testimony. He had almost committed the sin against the Holy Spirit in denying Jesus’ resurrection. But he was mercifully pulled back from the brink by the merciful Lord.

Finally, Thomas confessed, My Lord and my God! And Jesus replied, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. That’s you and me. But how can we believe without seeing, if the apostles themselves needed to see to believe?

In this case, blind faith, according to Jesus, is actually better than science-backed faith. If you’ve come to know Jesus through His Word, how can you say to Him, “I won’t believe You’ll do what You say until You actually do it.” Now someone who has broken his word to you before, who has broken your trust, may deserve that kind of treatment, that kind of skepticism. But when has Jesus ever done that? When has He broken His word? When has He earned your skepticism?

You know He hasn’t. You and I don’t have the nail prints or the gash in the side to see and touch. We don’t have angelic appearances or a newly emptied tomb to see. But we have testimonies of God that are powerful enough.

As John said in today’s Epistle, There are three that testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. The Holy Trinity has given His testimony about Jesus as God’s Son and Savior in the Holy Scriptures, and in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Holy Spirit still testifies on earth to the humanity and the divinity of Jesus, to His atoning death, to His glorious resurrection. He testifies through spirit, that is, through the preaching of the Word. He testifies through the water of Holy Baptism. And He testifies through the blood of the Sacrament of the Altar. Those are God’s testimonies, His proofs, and the means that He uses to bring people to believe, even though they don’t see. They may not seem like much, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Preaching and the Sacraments are the power of God for salvation to all who believe; they’re powerful to drive out fear and doubt and unbelief and to create and strengthen faith. They are the very divine remedies for fear and unbelief that have created and sustained the Christian Church for nearly 2,000 years, and they will guard you, too, against the lies of the devil, and the hatred of the world, and the weakness of your flesh.

Jesus is risen. Have no fear! And let your faith in His resurrection guide you to live as His saints here until you meet Him in person there. Amen.

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We gather here because Jesus wasn’t there

Posted on April 4, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Easter Sunday

1 Corinthians 5:6-8  +  Mark 16:1-8

Last year on Easter Sunday we gathered here in defiance of our government. We gathered here, even as we are gathered here today, with no guarantees of safety, with no promises of immunity to the plague that was spreading and has now spread throughout the world, and with no assurance that we wouldn’t be fined or even arrested for gathering together around the Word and Sacrament of Christ. We gathered here, not because we wanted to defy the governor, but because we wanted to defy the devil, because we were determined to worship the One who is King over all creation and to seek His help, for ourselves and for our neighbors, because we would not be robbed of the opportunity to celebrate and proclaim the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We gathered here then, even as we gather here today, because, when the women arrived at the tomb on the morning of that first day of the week, Jesus wasn’t there.

The Holy Spirit holds those faithful women up to us as role models for women of every age. They were absolutely devoted to Jesus and His Word. They were the ones who provided for Him during His earthly ministry from their own resources. They had also followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they were there watching as He hung from the cross on Good Friday.

They were also there when He was buried, but they didn’t have time to properly tend to His dead body on Friday, because they had been racing against sunset, when the Sabbath began. They weren’t satisfied with it; their Lord deserved better, they thought. They wanted to serve Him better, even in death. So they rested on the Sabbath, even as Jesus’ body rested in the tomb. Then they bought spices—even the hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes provided by Joseph and Nicodemus wasn’t enough, in their mind. They got everything ready, so that, the very first chance they got, as soon as the first light hit the land on Sunday morning, they would be there.

But there was a problem, one they hadn’t worked out how to fix: the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb. They had seen how large and heavy it was. And for some reason, they didn’t want to ask the men to help them with this task. They were the ones who had attended to Jesus’ needs throughout His ministry. They wanted to do this alone.

But how? How could they move the stone? How could they serve their Lord in His death? There’s an even more horrifying question, if you think about it, one which the women didn’t even consider: What would it mean for them and for their children if they found their Lord the Christ lying dead in the tomb when they got there? In the end, none of those questions mattered. Because Jesus wasn’t there.

The stone was rolled away when they got there. An angel had taken care of that, not for Jesus’ sake, but so that they could see the evidence of the great truth. The angel himself announced that simple, life-altering Easter Gospel: Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

This is one of those rare Gospel readings where we don’t meet Jesus or hear Jesus at all. But, today, that’s the point. If you see Jesus still in the tomb on the third day, then something is terribly wrong. Then He lied about His resurrection; He lied about His authority to lay down His life and take it up again. If Jesus was there in the tomb, then His death was just like any other. It wasn’t a sacrifice for sin. It has no power to justify, no power to save. There can be no forgiveness of sins, because we don’t have an Advocate or Mediator or Intercessor to plead His death on our behalf. If God’s people had found their God in the tomb that day, then you and I would be on our own  to face God’s wrath and judgment for our sins. We’d be on our own to face all this world’s hatred and corruption and cruelty. We’d be on our own against the devil. And we’d be on our own against the grave.

But, dear Christians, you’re not on your own. You’re not left to fend for yourself and perish. Because Jesus wasn’t there.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against the devil, against his many temptations, accusations, and deceptions, against his demonic influence on the world. You’re not on your own against the plague and pestilence either of disease or of false doctrine with which the devil would harass and destroy our race. You’re not on your own when death comes and hell would gladly suck you in. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, you have a living Mediator before God to defend you against all the powers of hell.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against the world, with its cares, riches, and pleasures, or against the coming persecution in all its various forms. You’re not on your own against the world’s lies and empty promises, against the government’s oppression, against society’s growing hatred of the truth and of all that is good and noble and right. You’re not on your own to spread the Gospel in the world, either, or to build or to preserve the Church. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, He will be with you, to guard and to guide, to strengthen and to uphold.

Because Jesus wasn’t there, you’re not on your own against your sinful flesh, against its passions and desires and against the condemnation you deserve for your sins. You’re not on your own to struggle against temptation, or to hold onto your precious faith, or to find your path and your place in the world. Because Jesus wasn’t there in the tomb, you have a Redeemer who lives, who was delivered up for your sins and raised to life for your justification, a Savior who didn’t just die for you, but who now lives and reigns to see you justified through faith, washed in Holy Baptism, preserved through His Word, and brought safely through this valley of tears to Himself in Paradise.

And so we gather again today on this Easter Sunday to celebrate the defeat of death and the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ—a victory that He won, not for Himself, but for us who were once doomed to die an everlasting death, but are now destined to live forever in glory. We gather here today to celebrate the real absence of Jesus’ body in the tomb, even as we celebrate the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood in the Holy Sacrament. We gather here because Jesus wasn’t there. He is still Emmanuel, God with us. He is risen indeed! Amen.

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St. John Chrysostom’s Paschal Homily

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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In place of a regular sermon for the Easter Vigil this year, the Paschal Homily attributed to St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople (AD 347-407), will be read. 

If anyone is devout and loves God,
let him take part in this noble feast of triumph.
If anyone is a good and wise servant,
let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord.
If anyone has wearied himself with fasting,
let him now receive his denarius.
If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his rightful due.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him keep the feast with thanksgiving.
If anyone has come after the sixth hour,
let him not be in doubt, for he will suffer no loss.
If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate but draw near.
If anyone has arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be fearful on account of his lateness.

For the Master is generous and welcomes the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour
in the same way as to him who has labored from the first.
And He has mercy on the last, and refreshes the first.
To the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious.
And the deeds He receives, and the thought He welcomes kindly.
And the effort He honors, and the intention He praises.

Enter, then, all of you, into the joy of our Lord.
Both the first and the second, receive alike your reward.
Rich and poor, dance together.
You sober and you slothful, honor the day.
You who have fasted and you who have not, rejoice with gladness today.
The table is full! All of you, come and enjoy the feast.
The calf is fattened! Let none go away hungry.
Come, one and all, and partake of the feast of faith, the riches of His kindness!

Let none lament his poverty;
for a kingdom has appeared that is common to all.
Let none bewail his trespasses;
for pardon has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death;
for the death of the Savior has set us free.
He quenched death, even as He was held by death.
He did injury to hell, having descended into hell.
He filled it with bitterness as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he cried and said,
“Hell was embittered when it met You below.”
It was embittered, because it was made powerless;
embittered, because it was mocked;
embittered, because it was put to death;
embittered, because it was overthrown;
embittered, because it was chained.
It took a body and encountered God.
It took earth and met heaven.
It took what it saw and fell because of what it did not see.

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?

Christ has arisen! And you, O death, have been cast down!
Christ has arisen! And the demons have fallen!
Christ has arisen! And the angels rejoice!
Christ has arisen! And life lives free!
Christ has arisen! And the tomb is barren of its dead!
For Christ, having arisen from the dead,
has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be the glory and the power, forever and ever. Amen.

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The final two words from the cross

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-53:12  +  John 18:1-19:42

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that, just before He died, Jesus cried out with a loud voice. But none of them tell us what He cried out. Isn’t that strange? They left it to John, the last Gospel writer, who was standing there at the foot of the cross as the only apostolic witness, just as we always leave it to John to guide us through our Good Friday reflection. Jesus’ loud cry was one four-syllable word in Greek, Tetelestai!, It is finished! The sixth word from the cross.

What is the “it”? “It” was His entire life of obedience in the sinner’s stead, the life that Jesus had been leading as mankind’s Substitute from the moment of His conception. “It” included His active obedience, the things He gladly and willingly did in obedience to God’s Law. “It” included also His passive obedience, the things He suffered, the things He gladly and willingly allowed to be done to Him, from the insults He took, to the beating and floggings, to the condemnation before the Jewish and Roman courts, to the nails and the crown of thorns. One righteous life had been lived, from start to finish, without a single transgression, without a single mistake. Satisfaction for the sins of men had been provided. Forgiveness for all sins had been merited; the earning of forgiveness for all sinners was complete. No one else should dare try to add anything to the life and sufferings of Jesus in order to earn his salvation, in order to make atonement for his sins, in order to earn back God’s favor, in order to earn God’s forgiveness. Heaven has been purchased by the Son of God for all the sons of men. It is finished.

Those were the words of Jesus’ dying cry, His sixth word from the cross. But they weren’t His very last words. Luke is the one who records that seventh saying for us: Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit. 

It’s “Father” again, after the tormented cry moments before, “My God, my God.” Because all is finished. The cup of God’s wrath, poured out vicariously on Jesus, on Jesus in our place, had been emptied. There wasn’t a drop left, not for Jesus, not for anyone who takes refuge in Him by faith. After all His hard work, Jesus’ Sabbath rest had finally come. His spirit would be kept safe in His Father’s hands in Paradise while His body rested in the tomb until the third day, just as the spirits of all believers are kept safe with Christ while their bodies await the resurrection at the Last Day. The dying Lord Jesus is victorious in death. He’s at peace. This is the end, but only as the planting of a seed is the end for the seed. After it’s planted in the earth, after it dies, it springs up into a new plant, into a new and much more glorious life. So, too, with Jesus. So, too, with all who trust in Him.

Now that we’ve heard all seven words of Jesus from the cross, now that we’ve watched as the Lamb of God, the great Passover Lamb was slain, we should take a moment to ponder the rest of what St. John told us about what happened there at the cross of Jesus and its connection with the Passover.

When the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

Do you remember what you heard on Sunday morning in the reading from the prophet Zechariah? They will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. And one will say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?” Then he will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

And what of this blood and water that flowed from His side? Remember the rest of what Zechariah prophesied: And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, and the LORD shall be King over all the earth. The blood and water testify to the death of the Lamb of God, who, by His death, earned the right to be exalted to the highest place and the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

But the blood and water also testify to how the Lamb’s blood would flow from Jerusalem, to be applied to the doorframes of the Israelites houses like the blood of the first Passover lambs, to be applied now to sinners’ hearts. God’s instrument for applying that blood, the blood of Christ shed on the cross, for applying the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ to sinners, would be Holy Baptism, the sacred water that washes us in the blood of the Lamb. Our instrument for receiving that blood of Christ connected with Baptism is faith. As the writer to the Hebrews says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And for those who are safe inside the house, safe inside the Church of Christ, baptized in His blood, Christ’s blood also flows to us, down through the ages, in a special way, as it did for the Israelites, in a family meal, where we feast on the Lamb and drink His blood, safe inside the house from all the destruction of sin, death, and the devil.

Give thanks today for the Lamb who was slain, who is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Rejoice in His victory! And take comfort in the fact that you have been buried with Him through Baptism into His death, that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we, too, should walk in a new life. Amen.

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Imitating the loving servant-heart of Jesus

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Holy Thursday

1 Corinthians 11:23-32  +  John 13:1-15

Every year on Maundy Thursday, we rightly commemorate the institution of that great Sacrament of the Altar, the New Testament in Jesus’ blood that He instituted and gave on this night, for us Christians to eat and to drink, proclaiming His death, and our faith in His death and resurrection, until He comes again in glory. This New Supper takes over for the old Passover meal. The Passover meal had a lamb on the table commemorating Israel’s divine deliverance from slavery in Egypt. But finally, on this Holy Thursday, the lamb on the table, together with the rest of the Old Testament symbols and pictures, fades away like a shadow, as the Christ, whom they foreshadowed, to whom they pointed, fulfills over the next 24 hours all that was written about Him.

But our Gospel this evening reminds us of another strange event that took place on Maundy Thursday either after, or more likely before, the institution of that Supper: the washing of the disciples’ feet, where we see the love and the humility and the servant-heart of Jesus on full display.

John tells us that Jesus knew His hour had come. And soon, already in this upper room in Jerusalem, His soul would be troubled and sorrowful. But before that happened, as the Old Testament Passover part of the supper came to an end, John tells us that Jesus was thinking about something else. He was thinking about how He had come from the Father, how the Father had placed all things into His hands, and how He was just about to leave this world and return to His Father. And, He was thinking about His great love for His disciples. “Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them until the end.”

He would demonstrate that love throughout the next night and day in countless ways. He would teach His disciples some final teachings. That was love. He would pray for His disciples and for us who would believe through their preaching. That was love. He would warn His disciples about falling into temptation. He would ask for them to be let go as the guards came to take Him away. He would not stop Judas from betraying Him, or defend Himself before the Jews or before Pilate. He would not save Himself and get down from the cross. That was love.

But see how John highlights this other act of love that Jesus performed on that night—something only he records in his Gospel. He got up from supper, set aside His good clothes, wrapped a towel around Himself, poured some water, got down on His knees, washed His disciples’ feet, and wiped them with the towel He was wearing around His waist. Of all the pictures we have of Jesus during Holy Week, isn’t this one strange?

It isn’t strange at all, if you think about it. As Jesus said not long before this, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus is the Servant of the Lord, as Isaiah calls the Messiah several times. He came to serve sinners, in humility and in love. His service was genuine, because His love was genuine. He really put His disciples ahead of Himself, not only in His actions, but also in His heart. When we remember that Jesus came from the Father and was returning to the Father, and that the Father had given all things into His hands, it makes His humility and His willingness to serve all the more amazing.

There is also some context to this foot-washing that John doesn’t include, but that Luke does. Luke tells us that, during this Thursday evening meal, there was also a dispute among [the disciples], as to which of them should be considered the greatest. But Jesus scolded them. He who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

That dispute may have happened before Jesus washed their feet. Or it may have happened shortly after, which would be all the more amazing and shameful on their part, and yet not so unfamiliar to us. While the disciples are arguing about who’s the greatest, reaching for the position of honor, Jesus—the very Son of God—dishonors and humiliates Himself in front of them all, not in anger, not in passive aggression, but in love, to show them the sin of their pride and how their flesh would always do this, would always shun the servant-role in favor of the worship of self. Then, as Jesus serves them, He demonstrates their need to be served by Him because of their sins, their need to be washed continually by God of their pride, forgiven continually by God for their self-serving nature, even though they have already been baptized and made into believing Christians (except for Judas, who, though baptized, was by this time unbelieving).

But Jesus’ service toward His disciples is also intended as an example, “that you should do as I have done to you.” This isn’t about washing other people’s feet once a year. It’s about Christian humility throughout the year. It’s about Christians, who claim Jesus as their Lord, behaving humbly, like their Lord, toward one another, serving one another in meekness, even as the Lord has served us in meekness.

Jesus knows that our sinful flesh doesn’t want to humble itself, and doesn’t want to play the servant. We think, by nature, that we’re above that kind of menial service, that we should be the ones being served by our fellow Christians instead of the other way around, or at very least, we think it should be 50/50. Parents grow weary of changing diapers and serving their children throughout their childhood years. Children feel entitled to the service of their parents, and complain about the chores they have to do, rather than willingly volunteering to serve their parents or their brothers and sisters. We all think we deserve to be served. Such is our ugly, fallen nature.

But here is Christ, the Lord of all, on the night in which He was betrayed, getting up, putting on a towel, and washing His disciples’ feet, teaching us, first and foremost, about our desperate need to receive His service in the washing away of our sins. And then this feet-washing serves to set a pattern for us of humble, loving service to one another.

The love of God is fully on display on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as Jesus humbles Himself further and further and further. Let His humble servant-love serve both for your comfort and for your example. And let His Holy Supper serve to forgive your failures and to add strength to your service. Amen.

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