Stay awake with Jesus in these Three Days, and learn to follow to the life God brings to you and to the world.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
Maundy Thursday
Texts: John 13:1-17, 31b-35; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; all seen through the lens of Matthew 26:36-46, Jesus in Gethsemane.
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
All Jesus asked was “ stay awake”.
On the Mount of Olives outside of Jerusalem, late Thursday night, he took Peter, James, and John into the trees, where he prayed. He hoped they’d stay awake with him. They didn’t.
But we could stay awake with Jesus tonight. We only hear the Gethsemane story on Passion Sunday, not tonight, the night it happened. But the time in those olive trees later this evening reveals how we might walk with Jesus through the next few days, and even the rest of our lives.
So for a moment let’s go to Gethsemane:
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” 39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again Jesus went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 Again Jesus came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Now the hour is at hand, and the Son-of-Humanity is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going. Look, my betrayer is at hand.” (Matthew 26:36-46)
Tonight Jesus returns to the beginning.
He began his ministry with “follow me.” But those words are now central to everything happening tonight and the next days. Jesus called people to follow the way of God’s love. He said it would mean taking up a burden like a cross. It would mean the loss of things dear to them but also the gain of God’s peace and joy. And in these Three Days the implications of “follow me” become clear.
If you follow Jesus, it means going to the Upper Room and learning to do what he did there. It means going to Gethsemane and learning what cup will be yours to endure. It means going to that forsaken hill of death outside Jerusalem and learning how it is your hill. And it also means going to a garden early Sunday morning to see what God is doing.
If you stay awake, you’ll see a path of servanthood for you in the Upper Room.
Watch closely this moment that centers our worship tonight, when Jesus strips off his robe and, dressed as a slave, kneels and washes the feet of his followers.
In doing this, Jesus is absolutely clear: I need you to follow me in doing this. To be willing to kneel down in love and do the most menial task for another person. To love one another as I have loved you.
If you stay awake for this hour in the Upper Room, you see what following Jesus looks like for you. It means being a servant in your love, just as Jesus was a servant in his.
Keep awake, though, because you’ll see something during this Meal, too.
When Jesus dramatically changed the Passover ritual, it had to have been shocking. Mary, Joanna, Peter, Thomas, what did they think? The Passover bread is shared, but he says, “Take this and eat it, it is my body given for you.” The Passover wine is shared, but he says, “Take this and drink it, it is my blood poured out for you.” What on earth is he doing?
If you stay awake, you’ll see he’s saying this: “following me means taking my whole life into you, my sacrificial love and suffering. When you eat this bread and drink this wine you are joined into what I am going to do tomorrow. You become part of my suffering and death. You become my body and my blood.”
So in this Meal, Christ takes you and breaks you open, and hands you to the world, saying, “Take this one, she is my body given for you.” “Take this one, he is my blood shed for you.” This is following Jesus: your body and blood broken, poured out, in your sacrificial love, for God’s healing of the world.
This is going to be hard. So stay awake in Gethsemane, too.
There Jesus spoke with the Father, inside the mystery of the Triune Life, about this cup he was to drink. This sacrifice of God’s own life and love for the world.
And he didn’t know if he could follow this path. That’s why he wanted them awake, why he wants you awake. To see how hard it was for Jesus.
If you’re still awake and following Jesus this far, you’ve already realized it’s going to be very hard. But now you see you’re following someone who knows how hard it is, who agonized over this path like you do. But who found the strength in God’s Spirit to be God’s life for the world. And now offers that strength to you.
And please notice something about what Jesus asks tonight.
What he commanded you, and me, was to serve the person in front of us. One person at a time, before whom we kneel and wash feet. One person at a time, to love as you have been loved. One person at a time, where you will sacrifice yourself out of love.
Don’t fret tonight about following this path “for the sake of the world.” Let Jesus handle the whole world. Just follow for the sake of that one person you’re with right now. And keep doing it for everyone you meet. It will mean Gethsemane moments of prayer and you’ll need the help of the Holy Spirit. But just serve and follow where you are.
And stay awake. Watch Jesus and learn. Pray for God’s strength to follow. Because in the early morning darkness very soon, you’ll see something even more astonishing about God’s love and life that will change everything.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
