“Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father…“
One of the distinctive features of John’s Gospel is that we always meet a Jesus who is fully aware of what’s going on around him. Many times in this book, we see that Jesus knows very well people’s hearts and their intentions, he is also fully aware of his vocation and even aware of his divinity. It can be a bit unsettling for some readers, as sometimes Jesus does not seem to struggle that much with the same emotions and anxieties as the common of mortals, and yet, we are also invited (and this is actually one of John’s main intentions) to dwell in the peace Jesus wants to share with us, his comfort, his reassurance.
And this is certainly this sense of peace, comfort and reassurance we find in our passage tonight as John relates the last hours Jesus spent on earth. Looking at the way someone faces death can certainly tell us a lot about their character and the way they have lived, about what they value the most, what really counts in the end. What would you do, if you had only a few hours left? We all spend a lot of time everyday doing things we don’t really enjoy or don’t think are that important, but we do them because we have to, like it or not. But if you knew you were going to die, what would you choose to do, and wouldn’t this choice say a lot about what really matters to you?
So, according to John, what is it that really matters to Jesus? Tonight, we have read this passage of the last meal, but John goes on in several chapters after that where Jesus tells his disciples all he needs to tell them (We call it “The farewell discourse”). What I gather from that is that Jesus spends his last hours on earth:
– Talking to his disciples, not just to making conversation but sharing what’s deep in his heart, his faith, his hopes for them and for the world (See following chapters)
– Jesus gathers the disciples around a meal and makes memories with them, he finds a way to be present to them after he is gone, asking them to share the bread and wine in remembrance of him (Institution of the Eucharist)
– And then, more intimately, Jesus makes contact with each one of them by washing their feet, serving them and honoring them.
This picture John makes of Jesus really touches me, because it seems to me that it is all what the most wonderful people would do when they are about to die (if they have the time and the opportunity): They want to spend time with you, they tell you their secrets, share a meal, make memories, they give you something to hold on to, words of encouragement or a special gift, they hug you and kiss you, they show you how important you are to them, they show you how much you matter to them, because, of course, this is all what it’s about in the end. And, so far from being unemotional, to me this picture of Jesus is very humane.
What is it that really matters to Jesus? Well, what matters are those for whom he does all of that, his disciples, and in John’s words, his friends: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.(Chapter 15:15)
And from now on, John, who is also the most philosophical of all the evangelists, will only talk about love. Jesus says at least thirty times the word love in those last hours he spends on earth. Before he dies, Jesus shows his love to his friends and show them what his love is all about.
And we should take time to meditate on that you know. Most people would agree that love is important, or even maybe that love is the most important thing in the world. But we don’t really agree on what love is, we don‘t understand and certainly most of us don’t know how to love well. So much of our affections are weighed down by our fears, selfishness, desire for control and insecurities. But Jesus, as he shows his friends a love that is really humane, shows them also a love that is very divine.
So how does this love look like?
Well, I think we touched on that for most of Lent as we have spent time talking about compassion: kind, selfless love that seek others’ happiness and spiritual growth. Jesus shows his friends during the last meal that love is about sharing what we have and also sharing, giving away who we are not because we are worthless, as Rowan Williams points out, but because we are so precious. Love is about putting the others first, encouraging them, serving them, honoring them. Most spiritual leaders will use their position to seek gratification and prestige, but Jesus does exactly the opposite: He chooses the most humble act of service because he cares for his friends so much more than he cares for himself. And this love he showed them on that night is still with us tonight, for each one of us, as we receive the Eucharist, a remembrance of him, a remembrance of his love, not just a memory but his very presence with us tonight. And as we wash each others’ feet, we are reminded that Christian love, Christ’s love, is this kind of love that is not arrogant, proud, or self seeking, as Paul puts it so vividly in his Epistle, Christian love is all about being a friend to each other and being a friend to God. In this most humble act of service, we proclaim what matters the most.