{"id":26113,"date":"2026-03-30T14:41:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=26113"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:41:25","slug":"john-131-17-31b-35-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/john-131-17-31b-35-2\/","title":{"rendered":"John 13:1\u201317, 31b\u201335"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maundy Thursday<\/strong> | 02.04.2026 | John 13:1\u201317, 31b\u201335 | Ryan Mills |<\/h3>\n

John 13:1-17, 31b-35<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

1<\/sup>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. 2<\/sup>The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3<\/sup>Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4<\/sup>got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5<\/sup>Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples\u2019 feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6<\/sup>He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, \u201cLord, are you going to wash my feet?\u201d 7<\/sup>Jesus answered, \u201cYou do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.\u201d 8<\/sup>Peter said to him, \u201cYou will never wash my feet.\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cUnless I wash you, you have no share with me.\u201d 9<\/sup>Simon Peter said to him, \u201cLord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!\u201d 10<\/sup>Jesus said to him, \u201cOne 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.\u201d 11<\/sup>For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, \u201cNot all of you are clean.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u200312<\/sup>After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, \u201cDo you know what I have done to you? 13<\/sup>You call me Teacher and Lord\u2014and you are right, for that is what I am. 14<\/sup>So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another\u2019s feet. 15<\/sup>For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16<\/sup>Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17<\/sup>If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u200331b<\/sup>\u201cNow the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32<\/sup>If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33<\/sup>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, \u2018Where I am going, you cannot come.\u2019 34<\/sup>I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35<\/sup>By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another\u201d (NRSV).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cLove one another.\u00a0 Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tonight, on this night in which he was betrayed, tonight amidst all the hatred and violence of this world, tonight amidst the hardness of our own hearts, Jesus lays it all out for us in words so beautiful, in his commandment that is so breath-taking: \u201cI give you a new commandment: Love!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

What could be more simple?!\u00a0 What could sound any easier?!\u00a0 \u201cAll you need is love,\u201d the song says, and Jesus says, \u201cJust as I have loved you, you also should love one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love is how the world will know you belong to me, Jesus says, love is the proof of your Christian faith, in a world where so many people know nothing about our faith, in a church where so many people are terrified they are not worthy, the only sermon most people will ever hear or understand is, \u201cif you<\/em> have love <\/em>for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

But love is actually hard, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Our love, the way we love, is rarely patient, rarely kind, we\u2019re doing good if we just tolerate each other, but love? Our love, on its own, is not enough.\u00a0 Because love isn\u2019t just a word or a feeling, but love is action, love is commitment, love is doing, love is a verb.<\/p>\n

And so on this night, the night when he was betrayed with a kiss, and judged by the guilty, and led away to suffer and die because of you and me, on this night Jesus loved you and me<\/em> to the very end.<\/p>\n

And so during his last supper tonight, he got up from his seat of honor, and stripped down, and knelt down and with a towel and bowl of water, began to wash the disciples\u2019 feet\u2014he began to lovingly wash those who in a matter of minutes would betray him, deny him, and leave him for dead.<\/p>\n

He who is wrapped in heaven, wraps himself in a towel tonight.\u00a0 He who poured the waters into the oceans and seas, pours water into a bowl.\u00a0 And he, before whom every knee will bow, bows down to wash the feet of his disciples\u2014he kneels down to wash you and me.<\/p>\n

He knows you and me tonight, he knows what\u2019s in our hearts, he knows our pasts, he knows all the ways we\u2019ve betrayed and denied him by the way we\u2019ve betrayed each other, but he kneels at our feet anyway and washes us in love.\u00a0 He cleanses us.\u00a0 He scrubs us, even our smelliest and most embarrassing and worst parts, he washes it away, he forgives the unforgivable. Peter did not want to be washed tonight, something in each of us resists Christ kneeling down to us, Christ forgiving us\u2014\u201cNo, you can\u2019t do this, Lord!<\/em>\u201d–but let him wash you tonight, be honest about your real need, and let his real forgiveness wash over your real self\u2014come and receive absolution, his forgiveness just for you, for unless he washes you, you have no share with him.<\/p>\n

And because Jesus knew we would need his love again and again, every day, every moment, every hour–because he knew that our love is weak and would have to be renewed, because he knew that we would need his rich forgiveness again and again in our lives, because he knew that love is ultimately the total and complete gift of yourself\u2014at that same supper, Jesus took bread and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, \u201cTake and eat, this is my body, given for you, do this for the remembrance of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is my body!\u00a0 What is more loving, what is greater, what is more complete than to give your whole body, your own flesh and blood? All that he is is given for you tonight, \u201cI hold nothing back,\u201d Jesus says, \u201cI love you! And I am yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christ gives us his body, sealed in his blood\u2014that blood of forgiveness, that blood that makes death pass over, that blood that makes the foulest clean\u2014Christ gives you that, transfuses his lifeblood into you, everything that he is, he gives in love to you this this night.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor I give you a new commandment,\u201d says your Lord to you tonight\u2014\u201cLove one another.\u00a0 Just as I have loved you, you also ought to love one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.<\/p>\n

\n

The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills
\nNew Haven, Connecticut<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maundy Thursday | 02.04.2026 | John 13:1\u201317, 31b\u201335 | Ryan Mills | John 13:1-17, 31b-35 1Now 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. 2The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,727,157,853,108,110,708,284,349,3,109,212],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-26113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-archiv","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-gruendonnerstag","category-kapitel-13-chapter-13-johannes","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten","category-ryan-mills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26116,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26113\/revisions\/26116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=26113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}