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 decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
John 13:1-17, 31-35
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
My sermon from Maundy Thursday (April 2, 2026) on John 13:1-17, 31-35.
So at the start of tonight’s sermon, I wonder what’s the question you’re bringing into this moment. Maybe you’re wondering how to apply something you just heard in the text to your everyday life or maybe something in your everyday life is making it really hard to worship right now. The question you have is a question worthy of being asked and I’m sure others would find it meaningful, faithful and very important. But the question I’m holding onto right now is probably not as reverent as yours. We are at the very beginning of the great three days at the heart of our church year. This is the moment when we see how far God’s love always goes. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday is when the church feels its most mature since a large rabbit carrying painted eggs can’t overwhelm the Cross. These three days aren’t necessarily easy to face since we have to confront the truth about who we are while, at the same time, also having to deal with the next thing on our never ending to do list. Taking a moment to worship on a Thursday evening isn’t easy and we want this moment to be worth coming out for. And yet the question that bubbled up for me while listening to our reading from the gospel according to John was trying to imagine which of the disciples giggled first when Jesus reached for their feet.
Now we, correctly, recognize how sombre and serious Jesus’ last meal with his friends before his betrayal, trial, and arrest is meant to be. Our attempt at ending Jesus’ story and his friends abandoning him during his time of need shows why we need Jesus in the first place. Jesus’ work, though, didn’t happen in a vacuum. He engaged with real people living in a very real world. And in this world, some of us are pretty ticklish. Scientists aren’t sure why we react to tickling the way we do. It’s most likely an unconscious act that triggers our fight and flight response since being handled by someone else isn’t always safe. Even if we laugh while being ticked, what we experience might feel more like pain than joy. But when someone we care about lightly brushes our skin, a whirlwind of emotions can be captured by a giggle. Jesus and his disciples probably knew what this giggle was like since they were used to people touching their feet. It was very common for a person to wash their feet whenever they entered someone’s home. The open toed sandals they wore while walking along dusty trails and through city streets with very limited public sanitation meant their feet were dirty and smelly. It was important to leave the outside – outside – yet this washing wasn’t done by the guest themselves. It was the responsibility of someone in the host’s household to physically lower themselves before their guest and then scrub their toes. The act of lowering oneself reflected one’s social status and so those at the bottom of the ladder – the enslaved, servants, women, and even children – were tasked to wash the feet of anyone who came through their door. The act of washing feet and having our feet washed was full of all kinds of cultural, social, and physical expectations. And so when Jesus, the One who the disciples assumed would make David’s throne his own, wrapped a towel around his waist and bent down at their feet, Jesus’ friends weren’t quite sure what to do. Not only was it very unexpected to have their teacher sitting below them; their fight and flight response was also triggered the moment Jesus reached out for their feet.
Which is why, I think, Peter acted the way he did. His immediate response to Jesus’ strange act was to put all his anxiety, fear, and worry into words. Others in that room probably reacted like he did or kept their thoughts to themselves. I imagine it took all their energy to stay with Jesus and not pull away from him when he came near. But at some point, all that tension in that space was broken by a sound the person who uttered it didn’t even want to make. As Jesus reached towards someone’s feet, a giggle was probably heard by all. I’m sure that disciple was pretty embarrassed when a joyous sound erupted from their lips during what was a very meaningful, faithful, and confusing moment. Yet their action might have, inadvertently, reminded everyone about who their Jesus chooses to be. A few chapters before this meal, Jesus’ own feet was anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister. And while others pushed back against what she did, Jesus embraced her as a true and worthy friend. She knew, on a very personal level, that every part of her story was wrapped up in a Jesus who was already for her. All her doubt, questions, tears, joy, and laughter had been lived with the Son of God. She had experienced what it was like to call God out, to have prayers go unanswered, and then be met by a God who chose to reach out to her. And the reality of being seen, known, supported, and valued invited her to be for Jesus too. For a community that would witness the destruction of their hopes and expectations, what they needed was to trust the foundation of love Jesus had already built with them. Jesus promised that even though they would leave him, deny him, and imagine something other than God had won, these disciples already had everything they needed. Their sorrow, pain, broken dreams, as well as their joy, laughter, and even giggles were held by a God who wouldn’t let Good Friday be the end of the story. The Jesus who sat at their feet would help them see how being at each other’s feet was how our lives and our world would be changed. And while this work would be difficult, tiring, and break so many of their expectations, a God who is big enough to hold all our anxiety and all our giggles is a God big enough to always carry us through.
Amen.