He said to them, “Do
you understand what I have done to you?” NIV ‘84
Before the Passover
Feast began, Jesus was fully aware that the time had come for Him to leave this
world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in
the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree. (AMP)
Jesus loved his followers.
I see this night before his arrest as a grueling time. That is how John –perhaps his best friend-
portrays it. Even in the softness of
their time in the upper room where Jesus bared his heart and showed them
plainly how much he loved them, (NIV) there is a feeling of dread. He knew what was coming. In Matthew it says he laid it all out for
them in advance –the arrest, the condemnation, the crucifixion, the abandonment,
and yes even the resurrection. He didn't
ladle it out to them in a parable, but he told them plainly, directly, with
detail what was coming. Yet they didn't
understand. They talked and argued and
planned as though next week would be the same as this week and next month would
be the same as this month and so on.
I feel a weariness in his words. I detect an intensity to prepare them and an
understanding that they just didn't ‘get’ it.
2 The evening meal was
in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon
Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things
under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
On the way that night, the disciples had a
disagreement. One writer says the mother
of James and John ask Jesus to give her sons the main leadership role in his
new order. But when Jesus asked if they
knew what they were asking for, the boys responded. To me, that indicates that they put her up to
it. Jesus had just been telling them
about what was coming and they asked for cabinet positions in his new
kingdom. No, they didn’t understand.
But his great love for them made it imperative that they be
prepared to handle the coming events and so he got up from the meal put on a servant’s
attire and set up the stuff to wash their feet –a common act for a gracious
host to provide for honored guests. He
knew he came from God. He knew that when
he completed this horrid task ahead of him that he would return to be with
God. But he really loved these guys he
was leaving behind.
He was the lord of this banquet. He had no servants but the guests. He himself washed their feet and dried
them. I can only imagine the intensity
of that process as he went from person to person. I wonder what he thought as he washed the
feet of Judas. I wonder what Judas
thought. Yet I believe he was as tender
and conscientious with Judas as with John.
He got to Peter, who immediately refused the honor. Jesus had already told Peter he would be the
foundation stone for the church –his coming kingdom. The
relationship they shared is bared time and again through the writing of the
gospels. It reminds me of my
relationship to one daughter in particular.
She could just make me prouder than I could imagine –and she could make
me madder than she could imagine. She
was always into something crazy. She was
self-absorbed and yet she was aware of the others. She would be a caregiver but never a
pushover. And she had a way of getting
her way even if she suffered for it. She
would be hesitant maybe a little embarrassed by the display Jesus was
giving. I can get that.
Jesus looked Peter in the eye and said “You can't be part of
my team unless I do this. You'll
understand some day.” And Peter said “Wash
my whole body then.”
10 Jesus answered, “A
person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.
And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going
to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
It appears to me that the crucifixion was in the frontal
lobe regardless of what else Jesus was doing or saying. It was right there. I feel the sadness in his words “you are
clean, just not all of you.’ Did they
understand? Not remotely.
13 You call Me the
Teacher and the Lord, and you are right in doing so, for that is what I am.
14 If I then, your
Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, it is your duty, you are under
obligation, to wash one another's feet.
AMP
Now I've never been part of a church that observed
foot-washing as an ordinance. But I have
been to some observances of foot-washing.
I've heard stories of tricks played and embarrassment felt by young men
not wanting to participate because the only socks they owned were too well worn
and sometimes hastily mended. And
perhaps that is the very issue Jesus wanted to emphasize in the doing.
Once he told the host at a dinner he attended that he hadn't
given him any water, let alone a servant to wash his feet. Yet the host condemned a forgiven prostitute for
washing Jesus' feet with her tears and drying them with her hair, for she didn’t
even have the basin and towel of a servant.
I wonder if he thought of that tender display of love and servitude as
he washed the feet of his own earthly servants.
I can see him look at Peter and say “You don’t understand now, but you
will later.” I wonder who felt pure
pleasure at the gift of kindness and service.
Maybe John or Andrew; maybe Nathaniel or Phillip, but not Peter. And yet given the choice, Peter chose to be
included.
16 I tell you the
truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than
the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if
you do them.
19 “I am telling you
now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am
He. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and
whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
Jesus knew that nothing would change the next 72 hours. These men that he had worked with and walked
with and shared 3 years of life with would be crushed, scattered,
terrified. These men who had faced off
demons and watched the dead come to life would have the breath and purpose
knocked out of them. But then they would
have to take up the towel and basin and become servants of all. They would have to lay aside their ambition,
pride, jealousy and fear and give all they had for the rest of their
lives. They didn’t understand; but they
would.
27 Then after he had
taken the bit of food, Satan entered into and took possession of Judas. Jesus
said to him, What you are going to do, do more swiftly than you intend. But nobody reclining at the table knew why He
spoke to him or what He meant by telling him this. AMP
When Judas left, the discussion became more intimate. Jesus told them that they had to love each
other deeply as he had loved them. That
was the only way that people outside would see the connection between Him and
them after he was gone.
36 Simon Peter asked
him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where
I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord,
why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus
answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?”
Peter believed he would.
Jesus knew he would –later, but not now, not yet. For now, they didn't really understand. Do we?
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