Today’s
Text: John 13:34
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
Words of Devotion
The Thursday before Easter
is called Maundy Thursday. The word maundy means
“command,” and this day commemorates the command Jesus gave to His disciples on
the night He was betrayed. They had just eaten a Passover meal together, which
we call “the Last Supper.”
Jesus knew that He was
about to leave His disciples. The Bible tells us “He now showed them the full extent of His
love” (John 13:1). How? He poured water into a basin and began to
wash their feet.
This job was usually
performed by the lowliest of servants. Israelites wore sandals and their feet
were dirty from dry, dusty roads when they entered a house. One of the servants
would wash the guest's feet before they ate.
But Jesus and His
disciples were borrowing a place for their Passover meal. Imagine this group of
guys eagerly digging into the meal with no thought of washing up beforehand! It
wouldn't be the first time. Earlier some Pharisees and teachers of the law had
come to Jesus asking, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the
elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" (Matthew 15:1)
A basin and towels were
provided with the room, but who was willing to be the servant? Jesus explained
that He was giving them an example: they should show their love by humbly
serving one another, just as He was doing.
Jesus was humble, but He was not weak
or powerless. Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant”
(Philippians 2:6-7).
Jesus served His disciples
because He loved them. He commands us to love and humbly serve the way He did.
The only way we can do this is by knowing His love in us and extending it to
others, serving them.
GOING DEEPER:
Read John 13:1-17, the
story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. What was Peter's reaction? Why
didn’t Peter need a “bath”? (Compare Hebrews 10:10-11 with 1 John
1:8-10)
Why do you think Jesus
washed Judas' feet? (John 13:18-30)
Why is it significant that
Jesus gave His new command to the disciples after Judas left? (John 13:34)
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