Daily Verse | 2 Samuel 20:1
Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjamite, happened to be there.

It’s Thursday, April 1. Usually known in the U.S. as April Fool’s Day, this year it’s known in the Christian Church as Maundy Thursday. That’s the Thursday before Easter, observed in commemoration of the Last Supper. Maundy comes from the Latin word for “command,” and refers to Jesus’ commandment to his disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35).

We referenced Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in yesterday’s Broadside, which took place during the Last Supper. Jesus also instituted the practice of communion (the Eucharist), taught about the Holy Spirit and the “vine and the branches,” prayed for himself, for his disciples, and for all believers who will “believe in me through [the disciples’] message”—and this is also the moment when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

His act of servanthood started out innocently enough.

Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron.

(The Message, here and throughout)

Washing feet was the task of the lowliest servant—really, a slave—in that culture. The disciples were embarrassed because as their Lord and Teacher, such work was far below Jesus’ station in life. If anyone should be washing feet, it should be they washing his feet. Yet there he was, washing theirs.

It was scandalous.

Peter, who always started talking when things got wonky, tried to divert Jesus by putting up a fuss that, on the surface, seemed honorable.

When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”

Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”

Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”

“Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

Jesus bursts Peter’s bubble by telling him that if he doesn’t participate, he has “no part” with him. “Oh,” Peter thinks, “if that’s what this is about, then let’s go big or go home.” So he counters with the other extreme—”I’m in! Wash all of me!”

Cue the “Family Feud” buzzer.

Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.

So why did Jesus do it?

Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

There are several layers at work here, including, perhaps, an allusion to the ritual washing of the Levitical priests’ hands and feet before they entered the tabernacle (or tent of meeting) in the days of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 30:17-21). The priests were fully washed once, before they donned their priestly garments. Then, as they moved toward the tent of meeting, they were required to make a sacrifice on the altar to atone for their sin. Once that was done, they then washed their hands and feet at a bronze basin outside the entrance to the tabernacle.

“If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean.”

The application for the disciples and for us is this: if we’ve been cleansed of our sin through the power of Christ’s sacrificial death and his resurrection, then we are “clean” and need only the ongoing “cleansing” of our daily walk, which is done with an attitude of humility and love in service to one another.

Jesus gave his disciples an example to imitate both then and now. That’s no joke this April Fool’s Day.

[Image: FreeBibleImages.org]