Today is Maundy Thursday. ("Maundy" is probably a variation of the Latin word mandatum, which means "commandment" and refers to Jesus' "new commandment" during the Last Supper in John 13:34.) Maundy Thursday, Thursday of Holy Week, marks the Last Supper, which Jesus celebrated with his disciples. Different Christian liturgical traditions celebrate the day in different ways, but for me as a former Anglican, my favorite part of Maundy Thursday has always been the ceremonial foot washing--usually done by pastors/ministers/priests for the congregation. During the Passover feast with his disciples, Jesus washed their feet as a lesson of how they were to serve and love one another:
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not 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, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
-John 13:3-17
This Holy Week, here are some questions to prayerfully consider:
As a leader, could my actions be best compared to washing others' feet, or by trying to impress others?
Do I "wash the feet" of others only when my actions are noticeable, or do I serve others even when no one will ever know I've done so?
Have you ever refused to clean up a mess or help set up a room because "that's someone else's job"?
In what ways might God be asking me to humble myself and serve someone in a way I really don't want to?
