Sermon 14th April 2022 – Maundy Thursday
Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 –
From darkness to light
Maundy Thursday begins our
journey through the darkness of Good Friday to the light of Easter Sunday. Maundy
Thursday is itself a night of sadness. When we celebrate Holy Communion which
was first celebrated on that first Maundy Thursday the words preparing the
bread and wine begin with the words – Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when
we was betrayed…
We sometimes gloss over those
words as a historical marker – telling us when it happened without actually
placing too much emphasis on it. But our Gospel reading shows just how dark
that evening was also: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that
his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved
his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already
put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.
But even the reason that Jesus
was meeting with his disciples is filled with origins of darkness that led to
light. They were meeting to commemorate the Passover and that very first
Passover is explained in our Old Testament reading:
It is the Passover of the
Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike
down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on
all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: but when I see the blood of the
lamb you sacrifice and paint on your door frames - when I see the blood, I will
pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
For me this highlights the
reality of the Christian story – that this is not a made up event but a reality
playing out of Jesus battle against the forces of evil and the forces of
darkness that surrounded him and continue to surround us
If this were made up I’m sure
it would not be surrounded by the harsh details of the devil entering into the
heart of one of Jesus’ friends or the gruesome image of the destroying angel of
God killing every firstborn child and animal. But in this gruesome depiction
Jesus is leading us on a journey from dark to light. It might sound gruesome
but Jesus needs to reveal the extent of the darkness so he can reveal the full
power of his light as John points out in the very beginning of his Gospel at
Chapter one: In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it and cannot
overcome it.
What we see leading up to the
light of Easter Sunday is the full extent of darkness in the life of humankind
including betrayal and death. And that’s why in Baptisms the first question we
ask is – do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. But
Jesus establishes his light and it begins and ends with acts of love.
First he enacts love by
washing his disciples feet to show them that love is not about dominating
others.
Love is about servanthood –
serving one another by loving one another. Again it is Peter who struggles with
this path. Previously he said to Jesus about his suffering and death – never
Lord, this will never happen to you.
And now when Jesus wants to
wash his feel to show him how love is revealed he responds – You will never
wash my feet.
But this is only the beginning
of how light overcomes darkness. Next Jesus will show them the ultimate
revelation of his light overcoming darkness by giving of his own life for them.
So before he is arrested and executed he gives to them his body and blood that
is about to be taken away and be crucified. And in an unbelievable act of love
he even invites the one who will betray him to join them at his table.
This is now our greatest challenge
that Jesus will leave with us as he gives us his new commandment to love one
another as I have loved you. And that love is exampled by unconditional love –
even of the one who betrayed him. And the challenge Jesus leaves with us is to
example that love in our own lives even to love those we don’t love. And let’s
be honest, even as Christians we might have people in our minds that we
struggle with.
They might be people in our
lives – people we work with, people we come across regularly – people we see on
the news but have never met – How could
God possibly expect me to love that person. But he does as he says that a
servant is not greater than his master.
And as Jesus loved even the
one who betrayed him – the one who denied him – the ones who abandoned him and
later even the ones who nailed his hands and feet to the cross – forgive them
Father – this is how we overcome darkness. We overcome darkness by not
participating in darkness and allowing light to reveal and overcome it. This is
how light overcomes darkness – by revealing it.Which is why Jesus says to us –
YOU are the light of the world. Let your light shine that. they may see your
good works, and. glorify your Father in heaven.
Our journey to the light
begins tonight and as dark as it is with betrayal by one of his own disciples
it’s going to get darker. But as the saying goes – it is always the darkest
before the dawn. And the dawn is coming when Mary will go out to Jesus tomb
while it was still dark and discover that Jesus body was not stolen but had
risen from the dead. Our lives also go through many dark moments but we are all
on the same journey to our heavenly home. And until we are there Jesus has left
us with his Body and Blood to strengthen our faith and to keep us moving
forward out of darkness and into his light.
The journey begins tonight and
we eat this bread and drink this cup, proclaiming the Lord’s death until he
comes in his glory to finally and forever overcome the darkness of this world
through our life in heaven where neither the sun or the moon will not
shine because the glory of God gives it
light.
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