This is always a “tough night.” And no, I am not talking about the foot washing…the meal…the stripping…or the commandment.
It is a tough “evening” because we know what is coming. We know what lies ahead. We know what later on tonight and tomorrow morning brings…
For us – there is no escaping the reality of the next couple of hours or the next couple of days. It comes as it does every year. It comes with a vengeance. It comes and still surprises us. It catches us off guard. It steals our breath away.
But that is still coming….still out there…
Today is today…and the concerns and cares of today are more than enough.
Poor Jesus…A last meal…A last gathering…
The last couple of teachings to pass on…a new commandment to give…
Knowing full well, that one of those closest to you, one of those “with you” will betray you, will forsake you…and will abandon you…
And to do it, for money…for the love of God, he is going to do it for “a sum of money…”
Knowing of course, that it can all “come down” (like a house of cards) at any time…or at any moment.
Knowing that the other boot can drop whenever – and there will be a proverbial knock at the door…
Or, to quote the scriptures themselves, “the hand writing is “on” the wall.”
Knowing that they will come for you like for a common thief, with clubs and spears and torches at the ready…
Knowing that what lies ahead – is not going to make these moments together any easier…
This is the stuff that can torment you and weigh heavy on your mind and on your heart. This is the stuff of cold sweats and of night terrors.
So how do you teach when you know that this may be “the last teaching?”
How do you continue to love and to respect others with all your heart when “betrayal” feels like it is all around you?
What we have before us this evening could only come from the Gospel of John.
John has this way of writing – he has a way of conveying his message. He is good, he is very good.
John chapter 13 begins with Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. It then includes that terrible-bone-chilling-moment when Jesus is indicating just who will betray him – even while – he is still serving them.
We watch, we are like voyeurs, who see as Judas leaves to go out and to do his dirty deed- “done dirt cheap” while we remain (in terms of the text and narrative) with Jesus and the faithful disciples.
What is so cool about this – is the way that it is written – so that the reader too, is counted “among the faithful.”
You see the way John writes his gospel…
We too, stay with Jesus.
We do not abandon him.
We do not flee into the outer darkness.
We commit no heinous deeds. We may not understand all of his words or their meanings…
We may not always “get” his teachings…or his messages…
But we do not “betray” him, either. We stay by his side. Come what may, we are “with” him…
“Our faith,” like that of some of the other disciples – may be waning from time to time, we may have our “ups” and our “downs,” but we are still here…
We are still in the room.
We have not gone anywhere!
Our presence says a great deal, it speaks volumes…
John’s Gospel for Maundy Thursday does not include the disciples going out into the night with Jesus.
So, we stay in the “Upper Room” with him. We wait with him. We know what is coming…and we are still here.
We do not abandon him…even though others have…
We are part of them – who have to decipher and figure out for ourselves – just what he meant to say when he said, “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
What does it mean to love in the face of betrayal”
What does it mean to love in the face of hatred?
What does it mean to love – when love is not returned to us?
What does it mean to love – as Jesus loves us?