ニューイングランドの母校から、２０１７年イースターへ向け旅の導き その5

ニューイングランドの母校から、２０１７年イースターへ向け旅の導き　その5
Gordon-Conwell's Holy Week Devotional 2017
Day 5: Maundy Thursday, April 13

The Dark Night
John 13:6-9

The traditional view is that Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin “mandatum” (commandment). It comes from Jesus’ words to his disciples, “A new commandment I give you, to love one another as I have loved you.”

This is a fitting start for Easter weekend. Christ came not to receive love—as if he lacked anything and needed us to be complete. Christ came to love, to give grace, to rescue his sheep.

Here in John, we see how easily we confuse our relationship with the Lord. Peter is not faking humility when he offers to wash Jesus’ feet. This was how the relationship of master and servant worked in the ancient world. You honor your Lord by offering him humble service—even menial service.

Jesus stands this entire power relationship on its head. Rather than using power to be served, he tells Peter to be served by him. Peter is not measured by the love he gives, but by the measure of love he receives from Jesus. Let Jesus serve you.

As often happens with Peter, he manages to stumble into the deeper truth: wash all of me! If a foot washing is good, how much more would it be to wash everything!

The mystery of Easter is the same for us as it was for Peter. Jesus came not to demand we earn his love, but to give us love freely. He desires not to wash only part of us, but to wash us from head to toe, covered in the blood he sheds on our behalf.
Ryan Reeves, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean of the Jacksonville Campus; Associate Professor of Historical Theology