It was their last supper together. Jesus and the twelve.
This time together breaking bread was different.
Jesus gets up right smack dab in the middle of the meal –
Takes off his outer garments.
Wraps a towel around His waist.
Fills a basin with water.
And begins to wash his disciple’s feet.
Even the disciple that would betray Him.
At the end of that final meal, the last meal he’d ever have with any of his children before he comes back to get us and take us home, he leaves them with these words, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
On this Maundy Thursday I have to ask my heart this question, “Am I loving this way? Do people see Jesus in me because of how I love them. Even those who have betrayed me? Misjudged me? Ridiculed me? Cancelled me? Or am I loving well those who I would want to cancel? Misjudge?”
Is the world missing Jesus because the church has forgotten this new commandment Jesus left? What if on this Maundy Thursday we spend time remembering? Asking Jesus, “What does loving well look like here? In this moment? With these people?” It doesn’t always look the same.
Loving well sometimes looks like serving never expecting a thing in return.
Loving well sometimes looks like a boundary in love.
Loving well sometimes is the truth spoken in love.
Loving well is sometimes not saying anything.
Loving well is sometimes being okay if you don’t get your way, if you’re never understood and if you’re never loved in return.
Loving well is given to strangers and friends and spouses and children and even those who are most unloving.
Loving well doesn’t keep a score card because Jesus said forgiving is too high to count.
Loving well is wrapping a towel around our waist and serving, even those that would never serve us back. This is the Gospel of Christ. Loving well is a response to an extravagant love our hearts received without ever deserving it at all. This is the gift of Maundy Thursday. The moment the King of Kings and Lord of Lords became the servant so that we could learn what loving well looks like.
