The Really Crazy Thing We Do On Maundy Thursday

Last updated on: March 24, 2016 at 12:42 pm by Lori Erickson

The Really Crazy Thing We Do On Maundy Thursday 2016-03-24T12:42:52-06:00 Lori Erickson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus_washing_Peter's_feet

Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet by Ford Madox Brown (Wikimedia Commons image)

For Christians, today is Maundy Thursday, the Holy Week service that begins with foot-washing.

Oh, my, that sounds very peculiar, doesn’t it? Why in the world would people wash their feet in church?

The answer lies in that old-fashioned word “Maundy.” It comes from the Latin mandatum, which relates to our word for mandate.

On Maundy Thursday, the church recalls the command that Jesus gave his disciples just before his death. The apostles, who had been bickering on and off for a long time about who was most honored among them, almost as if they were competing to see who could be the most clueless, got their final answer on what followers of Jesus are to do.

During their last meal together, Jesus gets up from the table, takes a basin of water, and begins to wash the disciples’ feet. This would normally be done by the humblest of slaves, but there he is, kneeling on the floor, washing off the dust and grime from those gnarled and calloused feet (and in a dusty desert country, I’m sure they were mighty dirty).

After he’s done, he tells them they should do likewise (that’s the mandate part). “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,” he says, “you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Let’s all agree that whatever you think of Christianity, this man has a flair for the dramatic.

The disciples, who had been hoping for something more along the line of a promise of golden thrones in heaven, or at least some glory and perks in this life, probably stood there feeling pretty bummed out. This is what they were signing up for? Foot duty?

But of course Jesus was actually telling them that the best way to follow him was to serve others.

Tonight at church we will act out this little drama. People will be self-conscious, because most of us have funny-looking feet, with bunions and bits of lint between our toes.

And when it’s your turn to wash someone else’s feet, it’s weird to kneel in front of them and take their equally funny-looking feet in your hands, pouring water over them and then drying them with a towel.

When you do that, you think, man, you have to be really committed or really crazy to do something like this.

But it’s also quite lovely, for foot-washing is a reminder of what’s most important about this man’s message.

When it came time to give his followers his last sermon—-the one thing he wanted them to remember most—-he got down on his knees and taught them by his example that service to others is the best worship there is.

Holy Week

Maundy Thursday

Previous Post

March 21, 2016

On the Via Dolorosa, Where the Sacred Hides in Plain Sight

Next Post

March 28, 2016 Little Women and the Word: What Would Alcott Think?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aging & Spirituality Amish Anabaptists Animals Apocalypse Archeological sites Art and Spirituality Awards Belgian Holy Sites birds Blessings Books Buddhism Business & Spirituality Callings Cats Celtic Cemeteries Children Christianity church Colorado Creation Death Desert Spirituality Easter Economics Education & Spirituality Egypt Episcopal Church Faith Fear Films First Nations Food Forgiveness Germany God Good & Evil Good Friday Grace Gratitude Happiness Healing Hildegard of Bingen Hinduism History Holy Rover blog Holy Sites Holy Week Horses Iceland Illness Images of God Indigenous Spiritualilty Interfaith Interfaith Dialogue Iowa Islam Israel Japan Judaism LDS Church Lent Machu Picchu Martin Luther Media Meditation Monasteries Museums Music Music and Spirituality Musings Mysticism Native American Nature New Age New Zealand Norse History/Culture/Spirituality Orthodox Paradox Paranormal Peru Philosophy Pilgrimage Poetry Politics Pop Culture Pilgrimage Sites Prayers sermons Silence Social Media Spiritual writers Spirituality and Food Spirituality and Social Media Stone Circles Thomas Merton Turkey Uncategorized Unconventional Holy Sites Utopian communities Videos Virgin Mary Wicca Work World War I Writing Zen

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which creature deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Lion Serpent Frog Raven