Today is the Thursday before Good Friday, Commonly known as Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word Mandatum, or Mandate. It’s an old word that means “command.”

The command of Maundy Thursday is found in John 13:34. It comes after the disciples had eaten together, and just after Jesus washes his disciple’s feet.

Scripture says, starting in verse 31, “When he” (Judas) “had gone out, Jesus said,

"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

And dropping to verse 34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

It’s a new commandment, to love one another. Is this a new commandment? I can go way back to the time of the Exodus, in Lev 19:18, and find the command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” In fact, the Old Testament is filled with loving commands about showing mercy, about justice. Are these new?

The apostle John also talks about the Old-New nature of this command in his first epistle. In 1 John 2 John writes,

“Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.  At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.  Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” 

So, the commandment to love is an old commandment, but it is one made new in the light of the Savior’s love for us. The Savior who is Glorified, and God, who is Glorified in Him, reflecting perfectly the image of God.

This is a love that, though it comes from the One who is God above all, yet he washes the feet of His sinful disciples. Though this love comes from the righteous life giver, yet it comes from him who laid down his life for us, when we were dead in trespass and sin. This love comes from the one who goes to prepare a place for you, though he came to dwell where he had no place to lay his head.

We know what happened next on the cross - that great sacrifice, when Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. The disciples had no idea yet of the extent of the love Jesus had for them. But they knew Jesus wanted them to love each other, just as He loved them.

So on this Maundy Thursday, we remember the extent of his love, because we too have been given this old commandment made new, to love one another as he loved us.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.    Phil. 2:1-5

Paul is urging the Philippians to take on a mindset of humility. Now, humility (lowliness) was no more a virtue in Paul’s Roman world than it is in our own world. Before understanding how to define the “humility” Paul means, we need to understand what it does not mean.

We’re not talking about some kind of an “underdog” kind of lowliness that Americans love – the kind you might find in someone not expected to succeed, who rises up and conquers all his or her foes. This is not about Superman, or Spiderman, or Batman, or some other superhero, hiding their identity, while relying on their own strength to get things done.

Nor are we talking about some "obsequious sycophant" (as one commentary put it) – in other words, someone who changes to be whatever you want them to be in a self-effacing way. An example would be the cowering toady in the Disney movie 101 Dalmatians. Cruella DeVil asks, “What kind of sycophant are you?” to which the toady replies, “What kind of sycophant would you like me to be?” This is false humility, arising from fear, with no heart to do what is right.

The humility Paul tells us to pursue is the opposite of that kind of selfish ambition that, for instance, might cause someone to preach the gospel for personal advancement. Paul mentions exactly this kind of selfish ambition in the previous chapter where he says,

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Paul asks us to set our ambitions aside, and replace them with love, unity, and the respect of honoring one another even above yourself. Of all the gifts and abilities God has given you, Paul teaches you to empty yourself of all the identity you can have in those gifts, and instead employ those gifts as a servant to others.