Maundy Thursday - John 13:1-17, 31b-35

He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands.

What do you get for the guy who has everything?

That’s the familiar birthday question, of course, and also the standard question of

religion.

But the question changes on death day, and with Christianity: What do you get

from the guy who has everything?

You get your feet washed.

You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand, Jesus tells Peter,

whose mind is blown and whose dearly held religion is deeply offended by the

sight of Messiah kneeling at his feet with a towel like a faceless slave.

The one to whom God gave all things, the man with the whole world in his hands, sets

them aside and lifts a pitcher of water and a friend’s foot.

It is a foot that has been walking all day on rocky, dusty roads in crude sandals.

It is weary and dirty and hairy and smelly.

It is calloused and caked with dried sweat and maybe blood.

Nasty mysteries lurk between the toes.

It is raw and tender and tired and grotesque, like the deep insides of a human heart.

Why would someone with the whole world in his hands wrap those hands around

someone else’s skanky feet?

You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.

It is still hard for us to understand this 2,000 years later, and impos