the season of lent comes to a close this weekend - a season starting with the ashes of contrition followed by weeks of contemplation and self-denial to prepare ourselves for remembering today, good friday, and rejoicing in the risen christ on easter. in preparing for services this week (maundy thursday, good friday and easter) i have again spent time pondering the meaning of the cross. now there are many different themes in which one could understand the cross. for me, this season, i am considering what it means in terms of christ's self-sacrifice.
what really brought it home to me was the maundy thursday service... a day that isn't always celebrated, and when it is, the lord's supper is usually the focus. but this year i spent time thinking about what jesus did prior to breaking the bread and pouring the cup. he got down and washed his disciples' feet. it wasn't a servant. it wasn't one of the disciples. it was jesus, their teacher, their master...god. he took off his robe, tied a towel around his waist and went to work. he laid aside who he was and lovingly washed his disciples' feet. he could have insisted that one of the disciples do it. after all he was their teacher. but no, he did it to them.
i think about this in a culture in which we constantly thinks of ourselves. what about my rights? what's in it for me? i deserve better! even in the name of jesus christ people insist that they get their due... even at the cost of others... and it kinda makes me sad. jesus could have insisted on his rights. jesus could have said no to the cross, but he didn't. he didn't deserve it, and yet he bore our sins and was beaten and crucified. jesus lived out what he taught, "no one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."
we talk a lot about jesus' love... that we should love one another... that we should even love our enemies. jesus calls us to love as he has loved us. that love is sacrificial love, laying aside his rights, his divinity, his life... in this day and age, are we really up to that challenge?
