Do As I Have Done :: John 13:1-15, 34-35
Tonight, in fellowship with all Christians everywhere, we’re assembled to proclaim the death of our Lord Jesus Christ ... for as often as we eat and drink his body and blood, that’s exactly what we do. We’re assembled to receive the forgiveness of sins and share with one another the power of our Lord’s presence with us as he presents himself to us. We’re assembled to observe the night of his betrayal, when God passed over the sins of the people. This is the hour of his Holy Supper, a feast of thanksgiving by which we proclaim his death until he comes again in glory.
But on the night that Jesus gathered with the Twelve to celebrate Passover, we also observe a most unusual act. After supper, Jesus took a basin of water and a towel and washed the feet of his disciples. And he asked a question ... a question he might well ask each of us. Do you know what I have done to you (v 12)?
Do you? Do you know what Jesus does to you tonight? Not for you ... to you? Do you know what he does to you in Joseph’s garden? Do you know what Jesus did to you in baptism? Do you know what Jesus does to you every time you come to his holy table?
We always try to be precise with words when we define our doctrine, and doing so is a salutary exercise. But we’re certainly in error if we think that all the mysteries of God are canned, contained, and sealed in human language. We’re in error if we suppose that all the questions can be asked and all the answers given in our catechism or even a 15-minute sermon. Sometimes we’ve been guilty of that error in our understanding of the blessed sacrament, always to our loss. Sometimes, we think this meal is about something we are doing. Sometimes we forget why we are here, not just on this special night during Holy Week ... but every time we do as the Lord commanded. We can never comprehend the length, the breadth, the height, the depth of grace and strength our Lord invested in this Holy Supper for us, but we can grow in that understanding.
So tonight we ask:
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE TO YOU?
This is our theme.
Our Lord’s intention in these final hours before his bloody sacrifice was to strengthen not just the twelve, but the entire Christian church. It was not just to celebrate the Passover, to create a new memorial meal, a meal in which we remember him, although we can do that. Its purpose is to comfort us all, not to make us comfortable. Its purpose isn’t about fuzzy feelings. Its purpose is to remind us to be the servants of the Master in the service of the world and in service to each other. Our Lord has given us purpose tonight. Jesus, having known that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he came from God and was going to God, rose from supper, set aside his garments, having wrapped a towel around himself, he threw water into a basin and began to wash feet ... even the feet of those who objected.
1. This is why he was here: He didn’t come to be served; he came to serve (Mt 20:28).
Therefore, if I ... the Lord and teacher ... have washed your feet, you also are obligated to wash one another’s feet (v 14).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is showing us how to bend low in service to each other ... showing us that no servant is greater than his master ... showing us that he is the one who comes to us, though we are not worthy of such love ... that he is the one who cleanses us and forgives us ... and that we should now do this to each other ... that we should embrace the forgiveness he delivers as often as we can. This is what he always longs to do to you.
Our Christian faith is often puzzling, unbelievable, in fact. We are constantly thinking we have to earn forgiveness. But God has another plan ... his plan. Why does he act this way? Why does he bend so low that we can scarcely recognize him? Why do we object to God serving us? Why do we object to God cleansing us? And feeding us? And nurturing us?
On this night, we find him washing feet ... not just as a servant but as a slave. We deserve something better than this, we say to ourselves. We are just like Peter: You shall never wash my feet, Lord! We’re supposed to make ourselves holy! We’re supposed to be the ones serving him!
But do we? Do we really think we serve him simply by coming to worship? Do we really think we serve him at all? Ever? Do we really think we can ever enumerate all of our sins? Or prepare ourselves properly? Do we really think we can ever remember what we are doing here ... to ourselves? You shall never wash my feet, Peter declares. We, in turn, chime in ... Lord, don’t you see me dedicating my life to you! Don’t you see how I’ve given my life to you? Don’t you see how much I have given to you? Don’t you see how I have turned my life around for you?
Now we have our finger on the sore spot.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we ready yet to accept the service of the suffering Servant? Are we ready to admit that we need his service to us?
As Jesus says: If I do not wash you, you can have no part in me.
2. Like Peter, we all suffer from a lack of understanding what Jesus is doing to you.
We think this service is about us, and our attitude, and our setting ourselves right before we come to the supper. We think we are the ones remembering Jesus. But in washing their feet, the Lord had also washed our hearts ... cleansing their hearts ... giving them a new heart. You are clean, Jesus says.
This is what he has done to you. He has washed you in the waters of baptism. He has given you faith in him. He has saved you. And he is making you whole. By this simple deed, he turned a company of jealous men into a company of humble, united followers who were prepared to go to the end of that earth teaching everyone to do the same, proclaiming the Gospel in word and sacrament. This is what he was doing to them!
This was not a simple, humble act on Jesus’ part from which we learn to be more humble. This was part of his entire mission of salvation ... God at man’s disposal ... God as a suffering servant ... God beneath the burden of our misery ... God in flesh and blood ... God giving his flesh and blood so that we have life and salvation. He does every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. He does this in service to us.
Do you know what I have done to you, he asks. I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. This example of the Suffering Servant’s mission cannot be isolated from the night of his betrayal and the institution of the Holy Supper. All of it together is one great massive masterpiece of love for us.
3. Now do as I have done for you, he instructs us.
It’s difficult to understand why we neglect and scorn this treasure by the sneaky little calculations that the Holy Supper can become a habit if we receive it too often or lose its power if we don’t receive it often enough. But if we have emphasized repeatedly what Christ does for us in the Lord’s supper, perhaps we ought to emphasize these questions too: Do you know what I have done to you?
When Jesus allows us to take hold of him in his communion with us, we can be sure Jesus takes hold of us. When Christ presents himself to us as a sacrifice for sin ... the perfect Lamb of God ... on Passover ... for the Day of Atonement ... we can be sure that he binds us to him in that same spirit of self-sacrifice. When he offers here his broken body given into death, we can be sure that he will take the body of our sinful flesh and break it too, and crucify it with him. And he will make us members of his body in the world today, change our direction, and give us a servant’s role. We will learn to do to one another as he has done to us ... submit ourselves as servants and in the humble attitude of servants prepare to be consumed for others.
Do you know what I have done for you? I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them (Jn 13:17). If you know that you have come from God and that you go to God, that Christ has cast you in the servant’s role, and that you have no will but his ... and if you know that a servant is not greater than his master ... if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Now do you get the point?