Well, it's been a while... Life has been busy, but I figured now was as good a time as any to return to fourth Gospel.
13 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. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 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,
13:1 is so important because it turns Christ from an unwilling scapegoat into a willing sacrifice... "His hour had come to depart... having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." He knew His death was at hand, and yet, in His love for us He willingly went into the grave. There is no greater love than this. (15:13)
The time is Passover. So, let's make sure that we've got our calendars down... the Passover will begin this year the evening of March 27. It will end on the evening of April 4.
So, recently I preached about the significance of this date in relation to Christmas. The early Church believed that Christ's Immaculate Conception fell on the same calendar date as His death (Good Friday). The only begotten Son of God, entering into our world, destined to die. More importantly, destined to rise again.
So, you move ahead 9 months from the end of March and you get to a birthdate at the end of December/early January -- hence, why we celebrate Christmas when we do.
The Church also has a history of tying the crucifixion to Christmas in artwork. Many early depictions of Christmas included the cross hanging above the Christ-child. Morbid, maybe? But Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter were/are inextricable. Without Good Friday and Easter, Christmas is just an empty promise.
The child in swaddling cloths is the man in grave cloths. His stable (normally depicted as a barn, but more likely a cave) foreshadows His tomb. The Christ-child is laid in a manger, the feeding trough of animals... His body and blood will become food and drink for all the world.
And here we are, with Jesus in the upper room, as He institutes the New Covenant in His blood. We eat and drink fully of the Lamb of God, by which we experience a passing over from death to life eternal.
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 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.
In any context, this is an unusual thing that Jesus does.
In this historical and cultural context, it is unthinkable. The Master and Teacher would never wash the feet of His followers. This helps us make sense of Simon Peter's resistance; it was an unthinkable act of humility.
I have to imagine this was a moment none of the disciples ever forgot, even as some of them faced exile and death.
For us today, we must recognize that for those called by Christ Jesus, no act of service is too far above us or below us.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 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.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
From Isaiah 52, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" Jesus has made them and their feet clean, and theirs will be the feet that will proclaim peace to the world, good tidings, and salvation.
"If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." -- This is the point I believe needs to be emphasized. It is not by Peter's words or demonstrations, his holiness or wisdom, but by receiving the washing that only Jesus can give. And I feel it necessary to emphasize again, this is NOT about the feet. It is about a willingness to humble yourself to receive something only God can do.
12 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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
A willing humbling by Christ, but not just in washing the feet of a few men. He left His place with the Father, to walk among us, suffer as one of us, to live the life of a servant, so that through His life others may live.
And so, there can be no task, no act of service, no calling that is above or below us, as the body of Christ.
"...you also ought to wash one another's feet." As silly as this seems to point out, this is not a literal directive to ceremoniously wash people's feet. There is no Sacrament of feet-washing.
In all our striving to serve God, to honor Him with great acts of service or charity, we miss chances to "wash one another's feet" daily. To serve the least is to serve Christ. To do something as seemingly insignificant as WASHING FEET, which are clean for a moment and then dirty again, is to serve Jesus Christ. This kind of service defies all notions of scale. It simply invites to do what you can, when you can.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
Verse 16 cuts deep, "a servant is not greater than his master," a life of service... all of us are called to serve the people around us. It is inescapable in the call to discipleship.
Also, we are forced to wrestle the concept of election, predestination, etc. What does it mean when Jesus chooses some but not others, especially when it is followed by an explanation that this is done so that "Scripture will be fulfilled,"?
Was Judas always destined to be a traitor? Was damnation always his only outcome? Is that the entire purpose of his very existence? Did his choices in life mean anything, at all? By extension of that question, do OUR choices in life mean anything?
I'm not sure I have a perfect answer. I'm certain I was never meant to have all the answers. Judas, I believe, was the sum of his own choices. I believe, he beheld the fullness of God's glory Incarnate in Christ Jesus, he witnessed numerous miracles, heard the Gospel uttered from Christ's very lips, and yet he chose the world. And Christ knew that He would, and so He never had any full part in Christ.
I don't know if that helped, so email me if you'd like to ask more questions.
21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
Jesus has a very human reaction, as He considers all that awaits Him in the coming hours. His time has truly come.
I've often treated Judas as some cliché villain, always plotting, scheming, twirling his mustache... but, perhaps, it is important to remember that he was with these men, with Jesus for years. He was one of the twelve; he was -- I imagine -- a beloved friend of theirs. That kind of betrayal cuts much deeper, and it goes to show why they had such a degree of uncertainty they had in verse 22. "Who in this group would betray Jesus?" From our perspective, the answer is obvious, but not so from theirs. In fact, in the other Gospels, they ask Jesus if they will be the one to betray.
John is next to Jesus, on one side of Him. Judas, presumably, is near him as well on the other side. As John reclines against Jesus, he asks Him -- I assume quietly and not in some kind of big, demonstrative way -- to identify the traitor. Jesus answers John, but I don't think it was some big, extravagant announcement. This, to me, explains the lack of an uproar from the other disciples in verses 26-29.
I always wondered the significance of Jesus' actions in verse 26. Why dip the bread? It seems unusual without context, so here's what I found: "the sop (morsel of bread in our translation) was a piece of the bread used in the feast... It was common in those days for the host to offer one of the guests a morsel of bread as a gesture of love and friendship."
Even knowing Judas will betray Him, Jesus still offers this morsel of love and friendship.
27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
And Judas takes the morsel. This is a terrible thing.
Jesus knows that Judas is lost, and that His own fate is sealed. This all happens so fast that none of the disciples, including the author of this Gospel, make sense of the situation. There is no outrage at his departure!
You probably are tempted to think, "How dull are these guys?" Again, I want to emphasize that Jesus did not announce this to everyone. He answered John. He performed an action that would have been normal in that context.
It would only have been unusual that Judas quickly left, but they assumed he left at Jesus' command to do something (buy food, give to poor, etc.). We're talking seconds of interaction. All of this, from their perspective, did not register as unusual.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 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. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In the verses/chapters that follow, Jesus will give a discourse of teaching, which will be followed by praise and prayer (as we see in the other Gospels). These are His final words before He is glorified.
And what is His glorification? It is the process by which Christ fulfills in His body the perfect will and work of God, that is salvation from sin and the security of eternal life for mankind, by His life and death. On Easter morning, Christ rose in the fullness of glory. We, too, will be glorified when Christ returns and cloaks us with His own glory.
The world, on the other hand, would look at what happens to Jesus as defeat, further humiliation, embarrassment. He will die a criminal's death, after suffering inhumane agony because of an unjust sentencing.
Death mirrors life. Who should expect the Word of Life, the Prince of Peace to be born in a manger, amongst the animals, to poor people from a poor town? Who should expect the King of Glory to die a criminal's death, in His own city, by the orchestrating of the very people He came to save?
How could God work this way? Why would God work this way? "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18
"Little children" - this is language John will use later in his epistles.
"A new commandment I give to you" - God once gave His people commandments from Sinai, and now, here He is in the intimacy of the upper room, giving their descendants a new commandment: love one another just as the Mosaic Covenant distinguished God's people amongst all the people's of the Earth -- marked them as God's chosen portion, so this new commandment will do that same for those of the New Covenant in Jesus' blood. Love one another.
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times."
Simon Peter (like all the disciples) is more concerned with Jesus' going away.
Into death, Jesus will go. Simon Peter, will die a martyrs death, but not until He has proclaimed the Risen Jesus to the world.
I never doubt Peter's sincerity in this moment. I never doubt his love for Jesus. Yes, he will deny the Lord. He will lie and hide to save his own skin, but that is not the end of Peter's story. I think Peter is so accessible to me because all of us struggle with a tension between our deep love of Jesus (and the Spirit moving within us to follow Him) and yet, over and over again we struggle with our sinful desire calling to us to deny Him and preserve ourselves.
I have no idea when I'll get to chapter 14...