In a World of Denial and Betrayal

Maundy Thursday, so much happens on this day. The day commemorates the dramatic rising action of Jesus' betrayal and death.

The Gospel of John provides the most artful narrative of events of the day. The contrast between Jesus' action of washing his disciple's feet and the disciple's action of denial and betrayal is striking.

The Lord of Glory embraces the role of a servant while his disciples, still petty and small, jostle one another for positions of power and prestige. But it is not just the disciples. All the actions that take place this day are actions of petty and small actors who jostle one another for positions of power and prestige.

The Sanhedrin, the High Priest, Pontius Pilate, Roman soldiers, Temple guards, even the crowd who clammers for Barabbas -- all make choices out of a desire to exercise power, to feel powerful, to demonstrate power over others.

Jesus alone kneels before those who will deny him and betray him and expresses vulnerability. Jesus alone tells the truth about the human experience.

We are living through a season of naked power-wielding, I think. The chaos we are witnessing today in high places is the chaos of power seeking advantage.

But power is a false promise. We all know this cannot end well.

At the end of the day, all of us together, and each of us one by one are crucified on a cross of human fragility. No one of us gets out of this alive.

And so on Maundy Thursday, Jesus strips down to a loincloth and takes up a towel as a common house slave to wash our feet. With his head down, massaging our feet with clean, warm water, Jesus gives us a new commandment, a "novum mandatum". (Mandatum is the source of "maundy" in Maundy Thursday.)

"

A new commandment I give you," Jesus says. "That you love one another, even as I have loved you."

In a world of naked power wielders, I'm all in.