Today is April 1st, or April Fools’ Day and you better believe I cycled through all kinds of ideas to write on. Instead of engaging in playful misdirection for a hopefully comical payoff at the end, I thought I’d go for the fool’s angle . . .
Today is also “Maundy Thursday” which I’ve heard of before. Turns out it’s a day to commemorate the Lord Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Personally I’d echo Peter’s reaction, I should be washing your feet Lord! The God-man, for whom everything was made, commandeered a monotonous personal hygiene practice to make a point. Nothing is too disgusting or too ordinary or too personal for his love. We see our Lord clean twenty four feet, despite protest.
Now, consider the cross. Here he outdoes himself in every way, he’s cleaning our very hearts! What is more unclean, a man’s feet or a man’s heart? With his constantly cleansing love, we are shown how to love others in the same vein. From our confidence in God’s love for us, we can give of ourselves with reckless abandon.To the natural way of thinking, this is foolishness! Luckily, it’s April Fools’ Day, so go love someone in some meaningful way at cost to yourself, you know, like a “fool.”
Jonathan Duncan