Master and Servant

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Thursday afternoon, the 2nd of April, 2026 - Maundy Thursday.  This service included observance of Holy Communion with our Lord.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

This afternoon I’d like us to travel back in time to the first century, to early April in 33 AD.  We’re in the great Jewish city of Jerusalem, the Holy City, where the permanent population has more than tripled as devout Jews from all over the known world come together to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Passover Observance.  Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in the same age as the Gospel writers, put the Passover population at over 2,000,000!  The streets and the marketplace are filled with pilgrims and the air is electric with excitement.  Especially today, now that the One some are calling the King, the Son of David, has come to town.

All manner of domestic and exotic goods are being sold in the marketplace and in stalls and from carts dotting the streets.  Up until this past Sunday, you could have purchased doves and grain and incense and other things used for sacrifices right there on the Temple grounds.  You could, until Jesus rode in.

You’ve heard of Jesus, haven’t you – the great Healer and Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth?  He calls Himself “the Son of Man”.  He rode in with a whole crowd of followers, and all the people came out shouting “Hosanna” and throwing their cloaks and some palm branches onto the street for them all to walk on.  And get this – He came riding in on a donkey!  A little, lowly donkey!  What kind of king rides into Jerusalem on a donkey?!?  Anyway, He went right into the Temple and drove off everyone who was trying to profit off the pilgrims who’d come here to worship, turning over their tables and kicking their chairs.

Well, that was Sunday and now it’s Thursday, the day of preparation for the Feast of Passover, which begins tomorrow evening at sunset.  Come with me and let’s join this Jesus and His followers for supper.

Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle John described some of what happened this evening, in chapter 13 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 17 and verses 31 through 35, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He showed them the full extent of His love. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. 4 So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.

6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

8 “No,” Peter protested, “You will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to Me.”

9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 After washing their feet, He put on His robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

31 As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory, and God will be glorified because of Him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son, He will give His own glory to the Son, and He will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for Me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.”

--John 13:1-17, 31-35 (NLT)

Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we step back in time to one day nearly 2000 years ago, a day that only holds meaning for believers.  This day and the next were long and painful for Your Son Jesus, and now painful emotionally, spiritually, for us as well.  So much happened those two days, and it was all for our benefit, we poor sinners.  Speak to us, Father, speak into our hearts, that we might relive that dark time and understand its true meaning and full impact on us, both in this life and especially for the next.  Speak to us that we might know the truth of our ways.  Convict us of our sin and forgive us of our disobedience.  This we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen

Today is Maundy Thursday.  The word, “Maundy”, comes from the Latin word meaning command or commandment.  At His last supper with His disciples, Jesus commanded us to “Do this in remembrance of Me”.  He also gave us the commandment to love each other, just as much as He loves us.

In a few minutes we will share the elements of our Lord’s body and blood, just as He shared the bread and the wine with His disciples that night.  We will renew the covenant God made with us, sealed by the precious blood of Jesus.  But first, let’s look a little more closely at what took place that Thursday so long ago.

At the start of this passage, John notes that Jesus knew that His time was at hand even before the Passover celebration began.  He knew that this was it, that He would soon be leaving this mortal plane and returning to His Father in heaven.  He knew what the next few days held for Him.  And He knew that He was about to be betrayed, that very night.  But He loved His disciples and I bet He experienced just a twinge of regret that He would soon be leaving them behind.

Did they truly understand what was about to happen, and why?  Were they ready to carry on without Him?  These concerns had to have weighed heavily on His heart.  So He decided to give them one final lesson, show them one last example of how they should live.  He took on what we might consider the lowest form of servitude and washed His friends feet.

When it became Simon Peter’s turn, the usually emotionally charged disciple almost indignantly asked, “You’re going to wash my feet?”  In my head, I can hear his next remark: “I should be washing Yours!”  And if you think about it, this scene is somewhat reminiscent of the moment when Jesus came to His kinsman John to be baptized in the Jordan.

Jesus replied that, while this might not make any sense now, it will later.  Let it sink in awhile.  Soon, you’ll understand, after the upcoming events unfold and you get a little more experience leading the church.

And of course Peter, ever the hot-head, protested, “You will never wash my feet!”  Now, on the face of it, Peter’s reaction was in direct disregard to what Jesus was trying to show.  It bordered on insubordination.  Peter openly called Jesus “Lord” and “Master”, yet here he was questioning his Master and denying what He was doing.  But Jesus took it in stride and simply said, “OK, if that’s how you want it; but you will not belong to me unless you let Me do this for you.”  And Peter immediately relented.

In the ensuing exchange, Jesus acknowledges that not all of His disciples are “clean”, knowing who will soon betray Him.  But then He explains to Peter and the rest that He had just given them an example to follow.  Since He, as their Master and Teacher has stooped into the lowly role of servant to wash their feet, they ought to do likewise.  And it’s not about washing feet.  It’s about serving others, humbling serving others, not looking for recognition or reward.

After Judas left the group to go prepare his betrayal, Jesus let His followers, His friends, know that the time had come when He would be leaving them.  So He gave them, and us, a new command, to love one another.  Just as He loves us, we are to love one another.  In this way, the world will know we are Christians, by our love.  And we can show our love by following Jesus’ example of humbly serving others.

We know that tomorrow, Friday, after being betrayed, denied, and abandoned, Jesus will be nailed to a rough-hewn cross, there to yield up His mortal life.  But tonight we dine, we fellowship, and we share.  “Do this in remembrance of Me”, Jesus said.  It was as much a plea as a command.

“Don’t forget Me.  Let the bread and the wine remind you of the sacrifice I made on your behalf, the offering I made for your sin, the covenant established between you and God confirmed and sealed by My blood.  Remember Me.”

In just a few moments we will come to the table of our Lord, to do just as He commanded.  We will share His last meal with Him at our side.  We will eat the bread and drink of the cup, in remembrance of Him.  The Apostle Paul warns that we must be right with God before doing so.  Otherwise, we share the guilt of His execution, of His death, with those who committed the act.

Now is the time to get right with God.  If you are feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you are weighed down by the guilt of your disobedience, if you are holding a grudge against a fellow believer, if there is anything in your life that God would see as sinful, lay it all at the foot of our Lord’s cross, repent, and seek forgiveness.  Get right with God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, this afternoon we reflect back on a time when Your Son showed He was not only our Master, but also Your Servant.  On that day so long ago Your only Son, whom You sent to offer us salvation, was betrayed and led off to be tried and then crucified.  Instead of being received as Lord, Jesus was rejected and scorned.  And even today, Father, we often betray and deny Him because we are too timid to testify for Him, too fearful of what others may think or say.  Forgive us, Father, when we let our fear and hesitation keep us from doing what we know is right.

Father, we pray that You show us not only the error of our ways, but also how to do what is right in Your eyes.  You gave us the faith to believe in Your Son Jesus, and then He gave of Himself to wash us clean of our sin.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much!  Please help us understand how everything we do while bearing the name of Jesus, reflects back on Your Son.  Please let others know Your love through our love, through our words and deeds.

Lord Jesus, You gave so much of Yourself on our behalf.  You took our punishment, You bore our stripes, You died so we could avoid the final and permanent death just by believing in You and accepting You as Lord.  You loved us to the very end.  

Forgive us, Lord, when we deny You by our inaction.  Forgive us our times of doubt and confusion.  Forgive those who refuse to believe, who reject Your authority.  Forgive us when we could stand up for You against the doubters and disbelievers, but we are just too timid, too afraid, to do so.  Forgive us when we can’t let go of the world, refusing to put all our faith and trust in You and our Father God.  Help us, please Jesus, to not be so concerned with what others may think about us, or with anything this world might offer.  Give us the strength of our convictions, the fullness of our faith, so that we can serve You by serving others.  Help us be good and faithful servants.

This we pray in Your sweet name, Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.