This message was adapted from the CPH Lenten Series The Hand of the Lord for delivery to the people of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Adell, WI.

The Hand of the Lord Who Serves and Feeds Us

Text: John 13:1-17, 31-35

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be

acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.

          Last Wednesday in our Gospel reading we heard from John the Baptist that “the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.” Jesus has all things in His hand. He has our very lives in His hands. And as we were reminded, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.

Tonight, the hour has now come. John writes, “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.” Jesus knew that everything was in His hands. He knew that He was the only Son from the Father. He knew that He was fully God and fully man. He knew that He was going back to the Father. He knew it all. He knew that He was about to be betrayed. This was the very night when He was about to be delivered into the hands of sinful men.

On that night, what did He do with His hands? Did He hold them up, saying, “Stop, stop!” knowing that if He had wanted to He could have put an end to all of it? Did He clinch His fists, ready to fight for His own life? No. He “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.”

Jesus’ hands were capable of great power. Capable of all types of miracles. And yet, this is what He does with His divine and holy hands of God? He dressed as a servant and went about washing filthy, dirty feet. Foot washing was an act of service for people who spent their days walking on dusty and dirty roads. The person who typically did this job was a slave. It was the job that no one really wanted to do. Yet our Lord took up this task! He brought Himself low. Literally, all the way to the ground. He took those fatigued and filthy feet into His hands. All things have been given into His hands, even the feet of His disciples. And He washes them.

And Jesus makes a point to say, “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.” The lives of His disciples are to model this way of life because Jesus has given us the model of what real love and service is.

Though washing feet had great cultural meaning for the disciples during that time, it doesn’t carry the same kind of weight for us today. There are some churches who, at this very moment, are engaging in foot washing ceremonies. We could do that next year if you’d like, but Jesus is not telling you today that you literally have to wash people’s feet. Jesus didn’t wash feet to institute a sacrament that forgives sins. However, this act shows us the Lord’s heart for, and service to, His people. The Lord has given each of us many gifts for the sake of serving our neighbors. Why has the Lord given you this or that talent, time, or treasure? It’s so it might be used for the sake of others! But that service doesn’t make you more or less worthy before God because of what you do or can do. It is not about us. It is not about our positions, money, status, or education. Nor should we think along the lines of “That form of service is below me. I’ll serve on my terms in the things that I like and want to do.” Your life as a disciple who follows Jesus is in loving one another.

If there was ever anyone on this earth who deserved to be served, it’s Jesus! “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made!” But He has done what only He could do, for He’s not merely our example. He is above all our Savior! And what He’s done is to go all the way to the cross! He gave His very life for you! He suffered. He shed His blood. He died on that cross. All to forgive you of your sins. All to carry our selfish, greedy, and arrogant sin, which deserves only eternal punishment, to the tree of death, where He defeated it! He conquered it. By His death, He destroyed death. Jesus “came not to be served but to serve and give His life for the ransom of many.” He did it all for you. He did it out of love for you.

As Paul reminds us, our Lord served His disciples in another way with His hands on Holy Thursday. Paul is speaking to a divided people of God who thought their purpose was to be served. He draws them back to the service of Jesus for them. And it’s that service of Jesus that’s also for us. He gave thanks, took into His hands bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take, eat, this is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And then with those same hands, “He took the cup, after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” This is Jesus’ last will and testament before His death. These words remain true forever. He served His disciples then. He serves His disciples today.

Now this, this is the Sacrament. Instituted by Jesus, uniting Jesus’ words with the elements of bread and wine, and delivering this forgiveness of sins! This gift continues. This is the gift of the Lord’s service to you that is being offered tonight. Jesus is feeding you with His very body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

So, we merely take Jesus at His word. “This is My body” means “this IS My body.” “This . . . is . . . My blood” means “this IS My blood.” This meal isn’t about what we’re doing but about what He’s doing for us! His body and His blood being handed to you is His service to you. It’s His love for you. As you hear those words tonight, “The body of Christ given for you” and “the blood of Christ shed for you,” remember that as even as He giving His body and shedding His blood you were on His mind, and your sins were the ones that He was suffering for.

This love of God in Christ Jesus leads you out from this table to follow Jesus’ new commandment to love one another. Having been filled with Jesus, you will go out from here and love your neighbors, especially the household of faith. Use your hands to serve them, to love them, to bring Jesus to them. They need to hear what you know today. Jesus loves them as well. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

And don’t forget that your love for others is not about you. Having all things in His hand, Jesus served and loved you first. He serves and loves you still. And He will continue to serve and love you for all time. His love never ends. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.