When Jesus Is Gone

Maundy Thursday - Year B
April 2, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 13:1-17; 31-35 

Sometimes it feels as though Jesus is gone, like he is simply not there in our lives. Jesus has declared us to be one with him, as made evident in the last supper, and yet in John's Gospel, he does not tell about the last supper...at least not about the bread and wine being Jesus' body and blood. That has been discussed in chapter 6. In John's Gospel, the final meal Jesus had with his disciples is told primarily through the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, and commanding them to love one another as he has loved them.

This was Jesus' death bed prayer for his disciples. "Little children", he calls them. I am reminded of an image of a parent on the death bed, telling his kids that he will no longer be with them, and praying that they will stay together and love each other after he is gone.

We harm each other, as the Body of Christ; there are times when we are not overly loving to one another. Jesus' death bed prayer, however, was that when we do harm each other, we would forgive each other and love one another as he has loved us. We need each other.

There are and there will be times when we feel lost, when we feel as though Jesus is not there. In those times, Jesus' prayer is that we will turn to each other for love, strength, and support and that Jesus will be with us through each other, even when he is arrested, and crucified, and in the tomb. Amen.