Isaiah 43: 16–21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3: 4b–14; John
12: 1–8
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, April 07th, 2019.
“THE
MARKS OF SERVICE AND SERVANTHOOD”
(Homily text: John 12: 1-8)
Life
in Christ is a call to service, service to the Lord and service to others in
the Lord’s name.
Our
Lord Himself reminds us of this key aspect of His coming among us, when He
said, “I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22: 27)
In
John’s Gospel account, foot washing takes on a unique significance: It is a sign of a person’s servanthood – or
as the Greek’s double meaning of the root word might indicate – a person’s
status as a slave.
Two
incidents of foot washing bring this understanding to light: The more prominent
one, and the one we might think of most often, is Jesus’ washing of His
disciples’ feet during the Last Supper. John narrates this act for us in 13: 3–17.
But
prior to the Last Supper, Mary takes expensive ointment and anoints Jesus’ feet
with it. In so doing, she models what perfect servanthood looks like.
In
order to understand this action a bit more clearly, we ought to back up one
chapter in John’s account, to chapter eleven and to the account of the raising
of Lazarus from the tomb, after he had been dead four days.
It
was the Lord who called Mary out of the privacy of her house to join Him at the
grave of her brother. There, she experiences a proof of the Lord’s power over
death, as her brother rises from the tomb. Mary and her sister Martha
experience a down payment on the resurrection.
So
perhaps it would be reasonable to assume that Mary and her sister Martha were
full of gratitude for what Jesus had done in restoring their brother to life
again.
In
gratitude, perhaps, Mary anoints the Lord’s feet with this expensive ointment.
She acknowledges her debt of gratitude to the Lord, in effect acknowledging
that, as the Lord had served her and her sister, she now offers a gift of
service to the Lord for His goodness and for the gift of the restoration of her
brother to her and to her sister. Perhaps she intends to tell the Lord and
those gathered in the house that she is the Lord’s servant.
Jesus
links this act to His coming death and burial. And in the next chapter of
John’s account, He takes up a towel and proceeds to wash His disciples’ feet.
In the culture of the day, washing someone’s feet was the work of a servant or
a slave. (Remember that the Greek word can mean both.) And in case the meaning
isn’t clear as to what He intended to tell His disciples, He says to them, “Do
you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you
are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet, For I have given you an
example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I
say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent him.” (John 13: 12b–16)
Mary’s
act and Jesus’ interpretation of its meaning and application point forward to
the Lord’s supreme expression of servanthood:
His suffering and death.
We
will walk this way with Him in Holy Week, observing the washing of feet on
Maundy Thursday, by which we acknowledge our service to the Lord and our
service to one another, and observing with silence and with somber hues the
events of Good Friday. We will recall the Lord’s words which make clear the
meaning of these events, as He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 13)
AMEN.
