“I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you…” (1 Cor. 11:23).
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Maundy Thursday is the entry point to the sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the holy days that draw us toward the celebration of the resurrection on Easter Day. It has two main themes: the institution of the Lord’s Supper, emphasized in the reading from First Corinthians, and the obligation of humility, emphasized in the Gospel of John, where the call to humility is exemplified in the washing of feet as a sign-act illustrating the new commandment that we love one another.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This commandment becomes a core teaching and central aspect of the identity of the early Christian community, and it is illustrated in the practice of foot-washing, which is attested in many places, though not uniformly observed. And, of course, it is a sign of what is supposed to be universally observed, which is not the washing of feet, but the love that Christians are to have for one another. This love for one another fulfills Christ's new commandment. And in doing so, it draws us deeper into the great commandment itself: to love God and our neighbors.
This teaching has to be passed on, and it is a teaching that can only be passed on through a combination of both teaching and instruction in a historical sense, hence the reading of Scripture and the significance of preaching, but it is also a core aspect of identity that has to be lived out through action. The washing of feet is an illustration. But if all we do is wash feet as a liturgical act, and it does not touch our daily lives, and we do not actually live out the new commandment that Christ gave, then it is not serving its purpose.
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,” Paul writes before recounting the institution of the Lord’s Supper and summarizing its significance (1 Cor. 11:23). This line is, and should be, significant for all Christians, because what are we called to, if not to hand on to others what we have received from the Lord? To share with others the forgiveness that we have experienced in Jesus, to share with others the love that we have known in Christ, to share with others the knowledge of God’s love enfleshed in Jesus.
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you…”
We are, all of us, as Christians, called to preach the gospel with words and with actions, to share the good news, to be able to give a reason for the joy that is within us, and to imitate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our manner of life and way of being.
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you…”
This sentiment should be especially compelling and significant for the ordained. James reminds us in his letter that not many should seek to be teachers, for they will be judged more strictly (cf. James 3:1). James’s warning reminds us of the gravity of this calling. Those whom God calls to teach are charged with handing on what they have received with particular faithfulness — an exemplification of the way all Christians ought to pass on the love received in Jesus, the salvation found in Christ, and the good news of God’s mighty acts, which we recount this week and on Sunday.
But the ordained have a particular calling. For the deacon, the emphasis is on embodying the new commandment to love through service. This emphasis is then carried into the work and life of a priest, who, in our tradition, is first ordained as a deacon and then as a presbyter. To this life of service—which exemplifies adherence to the new commandment by serving others in a loving and faithful way—is added the distinctive characteristic of the priesthood as elder: the guardianship and stewardship of the tradition. This responsibility is both sacramental, which is why we reserve the administration of the Eucharist to priests and bishops, and instructional, as it is the responsibility of the priest, the presbyter of the community, to form Christians in the faith day-to-day and week-to-week.
This role is once again intensified in the life and work of a bishop, for whom guardianship takes a more central place as part of oversight, and the authority to teach and interpret Scripture within the community, and for its well-being, is a particular task to which the bishop is called.
So again, we should all be able to say, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.” We should all be able to say that and look at our lives as Christians, seeing the ways in which we have handed on to others what we have received from the Lord. This is a communal responsibility, and Maundy Thursday reminds us of just how much we have received from Christ, and gives us the opportunity to be reminded through Scripture readings, through the act of washing of feet, where that is observed, what it means to be a follower of Christ and a servant of our fellow human beings and children of God.
Today, I encourage you to consider the commandment that Christ gave, the new commandment: “that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Just as Christ has loved us, we should love one another.
Have we handed on to others the love we received in Jesus? Have we offered others the acceptance that we found in Christ? Have we, through our life, example, faith, and daily dealings, handed on all the good we’ve received in Christ?
This is something for us to examine. But I would suggest, brothers and sisters, that if this were not at all the case, none of us would be here. If this were not at all the case, if there had not been people faithfully handing these things on to us, and if we had not handed these things on to others, there would be no community that would gather at a Maundy Thursday service or tomorrow’s Good Friday observance.
If no one had handed on what they received, then there would be no celebration of the Easter service on Sunday. But, not to spoil anything—there will be.
So yes, we are called to be more faithful, more diligent—but we will never do that if we neglect the evidence of Christ’s work that has already borne fruit in our lives. We should give thanks for it. For the people who have handed this faith on to us. Think for a moment: Who has shown you the love of God? Remember them. Give thanks for them. When you receive communion today, or at other times, consider that discerning the body, recognizing the presence of Christ, also means recognizing the other members of Christ’s body, the very people that we come to the table with, and those who’ve made it possible for us to gather round the altar, whether they are physically present or not.
For what we have received from the Lord, we also hand on: in bread and wine, in the foot-washing, in kindness and love offered to fellow Christians, to neighbors, even to enemies. This is what it means to follow Jesus tonight, tomorrow, and always. Amen.