"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
Today is Maundy Thursday. I always thought "maundy" was an old English form of a word for "mourning"--but it's not.
Maundy comes from the Latin word, "mandatum," which means...command or mandate. So, on Maundy Thursday, we're not gearing up for the drama of Good Friday like hired mourners, we're remembering that on this night, Jesus gave his disciples a "new command" to love one another as servants.
While we're looking back at the time that Jesus preparing for his death, Jesus was thinking ahead to the time when he would no longer be with us physically and how this raggedy, dusty group of working class guys would go on the following day. Only he knew then it was his last night here. Only he knew he would soon be arrested and killed.
The action that he put a priority on at that moment was to get up from the supper table, wrap a towel around his waist, pour water in a bowl, and wash his disciples feet....their rough heels, hammertoes, bunions, and blisters.
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.... 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."
Maundy Thursday. It's not what we think.
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