Day 29 of my Lenten journey 2012 brings me to the story of Jesus' washing the disciples' feet as recorded in John 13. I'm actually amazed at the scarcity of detail in John's account. He doesn't provide any of the backdrop for the location or preparation of the meal. He provides very specific vignettes. Snapshots, if you will, of parts of the evening that stand out to him in retrospect.
From other writers' information, we know that it was Thursday evening, which, once sundown arrived, was the beginning of their Friday. John reminds us that it was Passover week. That's important to remember throughout this section of His story. John telegraphs so much information to us that he didn't figure out until later. I want to skip past that for a moment and try to view that night as they would have seen it then.
It was Passover. They were in the middle of eating the traditional Passover meal, a tradition that had begun with the exodus from Egypt approximately 1400 years earlier. (There are differing views of precise dates, but a general number suits my purposes for pointing out that this celebration had been faithfully happening annually for a very long time!)
The Hebrew day began at sundown, so while their celebration started on a Thursday, it was definitely Friday for them by this point in their evening - meaning it was the beginning of the last day of Jesus' life on earth - the day He would die for our sins...but there I go, telegraphing like John did....
It was unusual to do what Jesus did in the middle of dinner. Very out of context. But, then, when Mary came in to the dinner just a few nights earlier and anointed his feet with the ointment of nard, and wiped His feet with her hair, that was unusual, too.... I wouldn't be at all surprised if that came to their minds in that moment as Jesus, the Master, the Teacher, the One they had come to believe was the Messiah - - the One sent from G-d took off his outer garments, tied a towel around his waist, fetched an empty basin from its place by the door, and began filling it with water. And then - unbelievably, He knelt before each of them in turn and washed their feet! He demonstrated the role they were to mimic: to be true followers, they had to be servants to others. No egos or self-aggrandizing self-worth. They were to serve. Washing feet was a servant's job.
When Jesus got to Peter, Peter emphatically declined. He knew this act was was topsy-turvy. Jesus should not be washing their feet. He was the Lord of Glory! But when Jesus told Peter that if He didn't wash His feet, Peter had no part of Him, Peter wanted the full meal deal. He wanted everything exposed to be washed - his feet, his hands, his head. Jesus explained that one who is bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet...and then he declared "...you are clean, but not every one of you." The disciples didn't have a clue what that meant at the time.
Judas Iscariot had his feet washed by Jesus that night. That brings tears to my eyes.
And then Jesus teaches them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? (No - they didn't!) You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (Another clear claim that He was One with God!) 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.... Wow! Did He ever!
Then Jesus tells them that 'he who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' (A quote from Psalm 41:9.) "I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he."
And then He tells them, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." He was passing the baton - commissioning them to be His salt and light to a hurting world. They just didn't realize it yet. But what powerful words to ruminate on later once the night was relived in their minds as future days unfolded.
In that moment, however, the pain of what was to come was overwhelming. John reports that Jesus' spirit was troubled. Then He clearly told them, "...one of you will betray me." Peter asked John to ask Jesus who that might be, and Jesus' response was, "It is he to whom I give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." Jesus dipped the bread, handed it to Judas, and with His eyes piercing Judas' very soul, He told him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."
Judas...who was greedy for money, who held the purse for the disciples so he could dip into it for his own selfish use, who was angry that Mary didn't sell the expensive ointment of nard 'to give it to the poor' knowing that the money would have gone through his hands as keeper of the purse - - and was money he might have had available to him - Judas...who had made a God of mammon instead of the Lord who was present with them, went out from among the celebratory Passover gathering. John's words in verse 30 are very telling: And it was night. Not just the darkness that was the beginning of every Jewish day. It was night in the most horrific sense. There was a darkness so thick it was palpable. Jesus definitely felt that darkness...so did Judas.
To be continued....
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Last night I was privileged to be present when a man of God was honored with the gift of being proclaimed 'Minister of the Gospel'. It was an honor not sought, but gifted. He is a man with a servant heart - and he lives it. He is a man who defers acclaim and who serves the Lord well. When I think about reaching heaven's portal I will be fortunate just to hear, "You made it - not on your own merit, but on my mercy." But this is a man who will definitely hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord." He defers all praise and honor to the Lord and keeps none of it for himself. He lives and breathes what he believes. I am blessed just to know him....and in deference to him will not name him, because I know he would not want the personal attention directed to him. He would want it diverted as praise to God. Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful man who models Your sacrificial servant life! I pray that his model of servanthood will inspire others to selflessly serve. Thank you for the privilege and inspiration of knowing him and for so visibly seeing the fruits of Your Spirit lived out in his life.
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