Utter Foolishness
John 13:1-17
Maundy Thursday
April 13, 2006
Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg
I am enamored by Emperor Penguins. A week ago, I knew next to nothing about these strange birds and the pattern of their lives, but now I am a fan, an admirer of these penguins and their devotion to their offspring. I also happen to like the way they walk. All of this started when I watched March of the Penguins, a documentary that introduces us to a clan of penguins that is about to embark on a harrowing journey, a journey that will cost some of them their lives. On this journey, in an act of sacrificial love, the penguins walk over 70 miles and protect an egg through the long Antarctic winter waiting for their young to hatch. The narrator of the film tells us that this journey is a love story and then he says, “Like most love stories, it begins with an act of utter foolishness.”
In the text before us tonight we’re told that, “Having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1). I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ actions on the final night of his life, and although I have tried, I just cannot comprehend his sacrificial love. If we found ourselves in Jesus’ position on the night of his arrest, we would have walked away and worried about our own needs, but after loving his own, Jesus does the exact opposite of what we would do; he loves us to the end. Given the fearfulness, ignorance, pride, and inconsistency of his disciples, why on earth would Jesus love us?
This is an act of utter foolishness. Please don’t misunderstand me when I use the word foolishness to describe Jesus and his love. I do not mean that Jesus is stupid, silly or thoughtless. What I mean is that we lack any ability to grasp a love so freely given. One commentator notes that, “The reason God loves us is that he loves us. Beyond that his love is unexplainable.”[1]
Tonight, I want to invite you to rest in the full extent of Jesus’ love. Jesus’ life is a love story of utter foolishness, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength (1 Corinthians 1:25). The most amazing thing about this love story is that the utter foolishness of Jesus’ love has a point, a purpose: you. Jesus loves you to the end of his own life, to the end of your life, through the end of time.[2] How foolish, and now I do mean stupid, silly, and thoughtless, how foolish we are to ignore and spurn such sacrificial love.
We’re told that Jesus loved us to the full extent of his love. We could also translate this phrase from the Greek to English to say that Jesus loved us to the end. What does this mean? First, it means that Jesus loved us to the end of his earthly life. On this last night of his life, Jesus was surrounded by those he loved. He knew that his time had come and as he looked around the table at these twelve disciples, he saw men who were in desperate need. Oh, these men thought they knew how their needs could be met, but they could never imagine the depth of their need or the price that would be paid for their freedom, but Jesus knew, and he didn’t shy away from it. He embraced it and showed these men his love.
Right there in their midst he sheds his clothes and wearing only a loin cloth washes the dirt from their feet. Is this how we imagine the savior of the world coming to us, almost naked, washing dirty, stinking feet? This is foolishness. This is utter humiliation: the King of Kings and Lord of Lords on his knees washing the feet of fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots. This is the foolishness of the one of whom it was said that, “being in very nature God, [he] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Can you see Jesus there on his hands and knees washing the disciples’ feet and loving them even as his life on earth was coming to an end? The approaching end of Jesus’ life did not bring an end to his sacrificial love, for his love seems to grow higher and deeper. Jesus, our King, suffers humiliation after humiliation on our behalf. How foolish it would be for us to ignore such sacrificial love.
Jesus also loved his disciples to the end of their lives. With the exception of Judas, those whose feet had been washed by Jesus went out into the world and preached the Good News. All of them died, and Christ’s love was with them each step of the way. As Jesus washes Peter’s feet we see and hear of Christ’s love for his disciples. Peter is thinking in concrete physical terms during this washing. He is embarrassed that the Lord would be washing his feet, for he realizes that their positions should be inverted: He should be washing Jesus’ feet, yet the Lord is on his knees at Peter’s feet with a towel in his hands. Peter is so embarrassed that he tells Jesus this shouldn’t be happening. Jesus is thinking beyond the purely physical realm though. He is pointing to the fact that Peter’s cleanliness comes not from this washing of his body, but from the washing of repentance and forgiveness of sins found in Christ, for all those who believe in and follow Christ are clean; there is no stain of sin to be found upon them; they are Christ’s disciples and friends, and they have been welcomed in to the family of God. As Jesus washes Peter’s feet, Jesus reminds Peter that he has been washed clean.
There is such great freedom in the lives of those who know that Jesus has made them clean. In baptism we are given a picture of this washing and cleansing that Jesus accomplishes in our hearts, and when we are convinced that we are free from the stain of sin, our lives come to be lived in the name of Christ, the one who loves us to the end of our lives. How amazing it is that in this picture of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, a picture of utter humiliation for Jesus, we find such an encouraging sign of our salvation.
Jesus serves his disciples in this simple yet poignant moment of washing and then he serves them a meal which continued to show them his devotion and sacrificial love, for this meal pointed to what was about to happen to him on the cross: “This bread is my body which is for you. And this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” This meal carries his disciples through their lives.
Jesus’ love for us is so great that he promised that we would not be left alone wondering if his love was enough for us. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit to seal us in baptism and to strengthen us through the Lord’s Supper. The Holy Spirit is the counselor and the Spirit of Truth, and he dwells in the hearts of those who believe that Jesus is Lord. What a wonderful gift he is: proof that Jesus loves us to the end of our lives. How foolish it would be for us to ignore such sacrificial love.
For those who follow Christ, there is comfort in the fact that he loves us to the end of our lives. We are not alone, nor do we have to stand alone on our own merits. When we’re told that Jesus loves us to the end, we should also understand that beyond his life and our lives Jesus loves us through the end of time.
So often we speak of eternity as some pie in the sky hope full of angels’ wings and sappy poems. Such foolishness has nothing to do with the promise of the resurrection of our bodies, for in the twinkling of an eye our bodies will change from that which dies to that which lives forever and we will dwell with Christ and all things will be made new, and there will be no more death or pain, or sorrow. We are full of joy, for as Christ establishes his Kingdom, he loves us to the end. How foolish it would be for us to ignore such sacrificial love.
Are you resting in the full extent of Jesus’ love, knowing that he loves us to the end of his own life, to the end of our lives, and to the very end of time? If you don’t know this love, there is still time for you to embrace it, and what better time to do so than on this night when we remember that Jesus loves us to the end. Don’t wait friends; respond to this love that has been poured out for you.
Those who follow Christ as his disciples can see that the communion table has been prepared for them. This table is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for those who have embraced the foolishness of Christ; this table is the power of God at work in the world, proclaiming that Jesus will come again. Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus celebrated this meal with his disciples for the first time, and right before he did so, he showed them the full extent of his love. As you prepare to remember Jesus’ crucifixion tomorrow, be strengthened by this meal tonight, for Jesus’ sacrificial love for you is as authentic today as it was 2,000 years ago.
Thanks be to God for his utter foolishness.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.