Here are some ideas for learning and teaching a few of the great principles in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 13. And while you’re here, I recommend you check out my free online course, “Seeking Jesus.”
Short Clips from Seeking Jesus
I’ve pulled out short clips from the “Seeking Jesus Course” connected to this week’s readings that you could use as a morning devotional or spiritual thought.
Especially Recommended! The Anointing Woman in Mark
Especially Recommended! The Secret to Happiness
Jesus’s New and Final Commandment
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Ideas for Learning More About Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 13
***You’ll Be Happy If…***
In John’s account of the Last Supper there is no mention of the Sacrament. Instead, the main event is Jesus washing the disciples feet. Of course in Christ’s time people wore sandals and walked on dirt paths. Sanitation wasn’t what it is today and people might have walked in things worse than dirt! Washing somebody’s feet wasn’t a pleasant task—but Jesus did it. At the end of a day, the feet were the dirtiest part of the body. Perhaps one application for us from this moment is that Christ is willing to reach out and touch even messiest parts of our lives.
After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet….If ye know these things, [meaning that you should provide this type of selfless service] happy are ye if ye do them.” (see John 13:3-5, 12-14, 17, NRSV).
If I were teaching about the Last Supper this week, I would try to arrange for a service opportunity that we could do right then. This is a little challenging to do in a Sunday School class, but as we study these event at home, we can have a discussion about what type of selfless service we could provide right now and then do it!
See the video The Secret to Happiness for more thoughts on this topic.
***Your Shalmeno***
Ask learners if they’ve ever had any humorous experiences that came from misunderstanding song lyrics (or share some from this article or this one).
After the foot washing Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
You probably know that this verse is the basis for the lyrics of a hymn. When I was a child, I was confused by this hymn because I misheard the lyrics. I heard, “by this shalmeno” and I thought a shalmeno was some type of object and one day I would get a shalmeno, and that’s how people would know I was a disciple. That’s not what Christ was teaching. Don’t expect to receive a shalmeno anytime soon.
Jesus is saying that people will know we are his disciples if we love each other. Jesus says this is a new commandment and the “new” part is in how we are supposed to love. The old commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself—but what if I don’t love myself very much? Then I’m not going to love my neighbor very much. But Jesus is saying it’s not about how much you love yourself. He wants us to love others as He loves us. That raises the bar.
According to John, this is not only a new commandment, it is also the last commandment that Jesus gives to his disciples. In John 15:12-13 Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And then in verse 17 he says, “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:17). These are the final commands Christ gives in mortality. Jesus clearly describes and demonstrates the type of love he has for us and then calls us to that kind of love.
This isn’t the kind of teaching we can just learn about. We have to do something with it. In a family or class setting, take a few minutes to discuss, “How will we respond to this commandment–today?” And then have people report back. If they did a good job, maybe you could give them a shalmeno as a reward.
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I hope these resources are helpful to you in your learning and teaching this week!
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