Mandate of the Master: Obedience Amidst the Terrors of Present Agony

If the Master comes in the midst of this pandemic, will you be found obeying or complaining?

The Enhanced Community Quarantine observed in various cities and municipalities might be extended together with the ongoing lockdown of Luzon to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. There are 3,660 confirmed cases, 73 recorded recoveries and 163 documented deaths in our country as of April 6, 2020 according to Worldometer. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said on his National Address last April 5, 2020 that the 100 billion for one month or the 270 billion for two months is not enough. He himself does not know until when we will have to stay inside our homes.

It’s easy for us to get discouraged about the unpleasant circumstance we are facing today. We might find ourselves complaining due to the discomfort we are experiencing – draining savings, running out food supplies, boring quarantine days and tiring quarantine routine. We all want our normal lives back.

Thursday, before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, known as the Last Supper. Two important events took place on that day. First, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and thereby instituted the Lord’s Supper which we call today as the Communion (Luke 22:19-20). Second, Jesus’ washed the disciples’ feet as an act of humility and service, thereby setting an example that we should love and serve one another in humility (John 13:3-17).

The Maundy in Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin root mandatum, or commandment, taken from Jesus’ words in John 13:34: 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. But before Jesus spoke those words, he modelled love and service in humility to his disciples by washing their feet. Although Maundy Thursday points to a sacrifice of eternal significance, it also speaks of a new mandate of sacrificial love.

Jesus’ humble act of foot washing is an act of lowering himself into the position of a lowly slave, he served like a slave, washed the disciples’ feet like the lowest slave. If the Master modelled such love and service in humility, we as His disciples ought to follow what He did. Our obedience to the Master’s mandate of loving and serving one another in humility serves as an expression of our love for Him.

Great occasions for serving come seldom, but little ones surround us daily. The abundance of God’s blessing you share, prayers you say and encouragements you extend to those who are hopeless can be your demonstration of obedience amidst the terror of present agony. The increasing darkness brought by the pandemic makes the lamp of grace shine brighter through expressing love in humble service. Your obedience to the command Jesus gave on that Thursday night will be a fragrance that will draw others to Him. Morley said, “The height of our love for God is indicated by the depth of our love for one another”.

Each passing day is not going to be easy. We too are tempted to complain because we find the relief goods, financial aid and security measures insufficient to combat the pandemic. The strong unguarded words we say can be damaging to those around us. And although it is better to bite our tongue than make a biting remark, we know for sure that we have to give God the reins of our hearts to bridle our tongue. May we, like the psalmist, ask God that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be pleasing in His sight (Psalm 19:4).

God can work through us in many ways we don’t expect. In the midst of this pandemic, may we be found obedient to the Master’s mandate.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to those things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).