John 13:31-35 | Anne-Marie Finsaas | Eastertide | May 19, 2019

This week's passage is probably quite familiar - John 13:31-35, where Jesus gives the "new commandment" that we're to love one another, and that this is the mark by which others will recognize us as Jesus-followers. As Anne-Marie was preparing for this talk, she was caught by the shocking ordinariness of how Jesus showed His friends the full extent of His love: He washed their feet. This task was so common in that culture - people were always washing their feet; but it was an utterly menial task for servants or slaves, certainly not a rabbi, who would have held a position of honor. Jesus' kind of self-emptying, of serving another, giving preference and honor to another in these ordinary, familiar places, is quite radical and upside-down. Holy Spirit, work among us. Help us learn this Love.