In John 13, Jesus realized His time with His apostles was growing short. Though He came to earth for this one purpose, time would not permit Him to finish all the teaching He needed to do for His followers. They were not ready to hear those things yet, so He would have to send someone He trusted to finish His teachings after He was gone.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:12-13 ESV).
But before He uttered these words, Jesus took the precious little time He had left to teach His disciples something, not with words but with actions. As they gathered to eat the Passover, Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus told the apostles He earnestly desired to eat it with them before He had to suffer (Luke 22:15). They were blissfully ignorant of the things that brought Him great distress.
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” (John 12:27 ESV).
As they gathered for this Last Supper, as we affectionately call it, none of the twelve were aware this was the last one. None of them understood that after this routine observance, their lives would change in a way they could never imagine. But Jesus knew. He knew how not only His life would change, but how theirs would change as well.
He didn’t have the time to finish the things He needed to teach them. So, He used the precious few moments He had left to teach a lesson with actions that would affect them in a way words alone would not. Without saying a word, the Master rose, girded a towel around His waist, and taught a lesson they would never forget.
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.” (John 13:3-4 ESV).
Imagine the scene. I wonder what was going through the disciples’ mind as they saw their Rabbi rise from the table and remove His outer garment. This act alone was one of humility. He stripped Himself in the same way a servant would approach His master. It was an act of humility beneath the King of the universe.
Yet, humility was the clothes the Son of God came to earth to wear. But the disciples still didn’t understand this. They were still bickering about which of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Once He laid aside His outer garments, the Master girded a towel around His waist.
Something was about to happen that made more of an impact upon these men than words alone could ever make. It is my prayer that watching Jesus do what He did will also make more of an impact upon us than words alone could ever make.
“Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:5 ESV).
This was not supposed to happen. The Creator and sustainer of all things should not stoop to this level of humility. But stoop He did. He bent down and took the dirty, grimy feet of each man and washed them clean. The One whom angels worshipped in Heaven since the day they were created was stooped over and washed the feet of men who were not worthy to be in His presence.
How many times do we read this story and focus on Peter’s reaction to what he was watching Jesus do?
“Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8 ESV).
Truth be told, we probably see a lot of ourselves in Peter, don’t we? Think about it; how would we feel if our Creator stooped over and washed our feet in the presence of others? What would our reaction be if, in Heaven, Jesus slipped off of His throne, set His crown aside, took off His robe, and kneeled before all to wash our feet?
I suspect we’d say something similar to what Peter said. Why? Because we know who Jesus is and we know intimately who we are. Because we’re honest about that, we cannot abide the gross imbalance of this much grace and service being lavished upon us. We are the clay and He is our Potter.
Yet, Jesus did this to teach a lesson He desperately wanted them to learn, and this object lesson would affect them far more than mere words. When He was done, He wanted to ensure they understood this message. Instead of them arguing over who was to be the greatest in the Kingdom, Jesus puts a fine point on this crucial lesson of kingdom living.
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?” (John 13:12 ESV).
Do you get the imagery? When He finished, Jesus put His outer garments back on and “resumed his place.” He went from Master, to Servant, and back to Master. Having resumed His place, He asked them the question we must all answer. Do we understand what He had done to them? What He does to us?
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:13-15 ESV).
Jesus left us an example and none of us can rightly claim that we do not have to serve our fellow brothers, can we? None of us are more worthy than the Son of Man Who came in the clouds to take His rightful place upon His throne at the right hand of the Ancient of Days.
We see that. And many of us try to be better servants. We often see our inadequacies when we fail in this area of kingdom living as we try to emulate the Master’s example. But how many times do we see the depth of Jesus’ message? Are we really ready to fully follow Him in His example?
Look how John starts off this chapter:
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,” (John 13:1-2 ESV).
Jesus knew His hour had come, and He knew that the man who would betray Him would be with Him when He taught this object lesson on serving others. Among the dirty, grimy feet Jesus would stoop to wash were the feet of His betrayer.
I suppose Jesus could have waited until Judas left before teaching this lesson. I suppose He could have stopped short of washing Judas’ feet and no one would have said a word to Him. I mean, Judas wasn’t a man who made a slip of the tongue or wished he had done something differently. This was a man who would betray the Son of God. Later, Jesus didn’t spare any details of what He thought about Judas’ act of betrayal:
“For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” (Mark 14:21 ESV).
Make no mistake, what Judas was about to do was so bad that His Creator said it would have been better for him had he not been born. Yet, when it was time to teach His object lesson about serving others, Jesus removed His outer garment, girded a towel around His waist, and washed His betrayer’s feet along with the feet of the other eleven. Isn’t that something?
What message are we to learn from what Jesus did? If Jesus washed Judas’ feet, then is there anyone we will ever come across in our lives that we can legitimately say, “I cannot wash his or her feet?” Is there anyone who has sinned against us so badly that we feel justified passing over them in our service?
Take stock of your relationships. Whose feet would you find it difficult to wash? Has someone sinned against you or a loved one and has yet to repent or apologize? When Jesus washed Judas’ feet, Judas not only hadn’t apologized, but he was still committed to carrying out this act of betrayal, and Jesus knew it.
What does this mean to us? Does the gravity of the sin against us play into our justification on who to serve and who not to serve? Does the repentance, sorrow, and apologies determine who we serve and who we don’t serve?
“But,” we say, “you don’t know what that person did to me. You don’t know what they did to my family”
Perhaps. But I know what Judas did to Jesus. And Jesus, knowing his heart, knew exactly what Judas was about to do. With a simple kiss, Judas would set into motion the most excruciating pain Jesus would have to endure.
“While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,
but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47-48 ESV).
Yet, He kneeled before Judas and washed his feet right along with everyone else’s feet. When He resumed his place, Jesus asked the disciples the same question He asked each of us today:
“Do you understand what I have done to you?”
Is there anyone whose feet we refuse to wash? Is there anyone who we cannot forgive? Is there anyone who we will refuse to serve until they make things right or repent of their sins against us? Perhaps we need to think about His question a bit more.
After all, when Jesus committed the greatest act of service to you and me, we were not repentant, were we? We were not worthy or very lovable. In fact,
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10 ESV).
“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:15 ESV).
This morning, I have been studying for our Bible class at the Campbell Road Church of Christ. I am one of three teachers, along with Matt Jones (one of our elders) and Conrad Feagin. We are teaching a class called, “Follow Me- 90 Days In Jesus’ Footsteps.”
This class is one of our small group classes designed to break out and really dig into the lessons. We examine the passages and then have an intimate discussion on the application of what we studied.
The first lesson will span two weeks: “Love Like Jesus.” We consider this the foundation of our entire quarter. The interesting thing about this class is that the “teachers” will not deliver a traditional lesson. Instead, we will facilitate a guided discussion with the small group.
Though this is the first time I will take part in a small group class at Campbell Road, our congregation has done these classes in the past. We design them to be highly participatory and encourage everyone to contribute to the conversation.
I have eight prompts for us if we need them, but I’m hoping that the organic flow of discussion taps into the collective wisdom of the group. Please pray for all three small groups as we guide our brothers and sisters into a discussion on how we can better follow Jesus and walk in His footsteps for the next 90 days.
Today, we are closer than ever to meeting King Jesus. Are we ready?
Can you imagine what it will be like when Judgment Day is over? Judgement Day may arguably be the single most stressful day of our existence.
Even to those whom Jesus will extend eternal life to will likely deal with stress. Listen to these servants as they hear the King welcome them into eternal life:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:34-40 ESV).
But when that day is done, what an experience to see with our eyes the marvelous home Jesus is preparing for us as we speak.
I cannot wait to see what He has in store for us. A home prepared by God has to be something so great, our mortal minds can scarcely imagine.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:2-3 ESV).
He is returning.
H/T to Wes McAdams for this week’s Radically Christian podcast with Travis Bookout for the inspiration of this post.
Matthew chronicles the birth of Jesus and his flight to Egypt when Harold killed all the children in order to stop the prophecy of the promised King and Messiah.
When Herod died, an angel told Joseph to bring Jesus and his mother back home. Matthew says,
“and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:15 ESV).
This is a quote from Hosea 11:1:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hosea 11:1 ESV).
The problem is, when you read the rest of Hosea, the son called out of Egypt wasn’t so good. He was a disobedient son, and this doesn’t describe Jesus at all.
How can this be a Messianic prophecy if the son in Hosea is a disobedient son?
Well, Israel was called out of Egypt, but ended up falling into temptation and sin in the wilderness for 40 years, before a new generation inherited land promised to them by God.
When Jesus was called out of Egypt, He grew as the only person to live a perfectly obedient life to the Father. He did what Israel could not do.
When Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, He did not fall into temptation. In fact, when offered all the kingdoms of the world by the devil, He refused.
While Israel had a mountain moment where they received a Law from God, Jesus went from the wilderness to a mount and preached about Kingdom living to people He invited to be part of His kingdom. He didn’t need to accept Satan’s offer, because this perfect Son was setting up an enduring kingdom far beyond anything Satan could give Him.
Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecy in Hosea by being the Son called out of Egypt, but unlike Israel, He was the obedient Son Who did what the Israelites could not do. He perfectly fulfilled what Israel could not fulfill.
Now, He is our King, seated at the right hand of the Ancient of Days. He reigns in perfect judgement, perfect mercy, and perfect grace. He is the Son called out of Egypt that we had been waiting for.
Best advice that’s changed my prayer life:
In my friend’s book, Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer, Edwin Crozier gives the advice to honor prayer requests immediately.
How many times have we told someone we’d pray for them, only to let it slip our minds until we meet them at church the next week, and then we find ourselves scrambling to say a quick prayer?
We have wonderful intentions, but it’s easy to let these requests slip our minds. Edwin says it only takes a moment to fulfill prayer requests immediately.
When I get emails for prayer requests, or someone asks me to pray for them, I do immediately. It has changed the way I pray for others.
I offer Edwin’s prayer-changing advice to you for consideration. I’ve included a link to his book, if you’re interested. I highly recommend it to you.
https://a.co/d/iBv3SpV
I cannot imagine the pain of parents waking up every morning to the reality that their child is missing.
This is the reality of thousands upon thousands of parents. Most go through life with the masses blissfully ignorant of their pain.
No doubt, these parents would do anything possible to find their missing children.
This is exactly what God experiences with humanity.
We were lost.
We were made slaves of sin.
We were suffering with no hope.
Yet, God loved us so much, He was willing to do anything to find us.
So, He sent His Son to seek and save the lost.
He loved us too much to let us remain lost. He left the safe 99 to find the one lost.
Our missing person status grieved the Father so much, He’d do anything to find us.
He loved us so much that He gave His only Son.
And He’s waiting at the window for us to come home, ready to kill the fattened calf and put shoes on our feet and a ring on our finger.
The angels are ready to celebrate when one more picture can be removed from the side of a milk carton.
May each of us be found and come home.
Satan’s critical mistake was underestimating the deep love God had for man and the length to which Jesus would go to redeem us.
Let us never think we aren’t worth anything. We are worth divine blood being spilled for us.
I am in the book of Ezekiel in my daily Bible reading. In one of the most interesting visions in the Bible, God shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones.
God asks Ezekiel an odd question. Notice the prophet’s answer:
“And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” (Ezekiel 37:3 ESV).
I love Ezekiel’s response. It should always be the response we have toward God. When we approach God with doubt and uncertainty about how He can help us, we do not give Him the credit Ezekiel gives Him.
It doesn’t matter how bleak our circumstance is, when it comes to His ability to help us, we should say, “O Lord GOD, you know.”
We don’t have to understand or figure out how God will do something. We just need to have the faith that with God, nothing is impossible.
It is not a matter of “Can God do something?” but “Will God, in His sovereignty, choose to do something?”
May we all approach God with the same faith in Him found in Ezekiel.