It was the time of Passover... when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1 NKJV As Jesus and His disciples sat down in celebration of the Passover meal they remembered the faithfulness of God as His delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. God had asked the Israelites long ago, to do the unreasonable... Only those who by faith placed the blood of a lamb above their door could cause the angel of death, a promised plague to Egypt, to PASSOVER their home and spare the life of their firstborn child. Blood was used for sacrifice to cover sin on the altar, and then to spare life at the Passover. And now Jesus as and His disciples celebrated this Passover meal, something different occurred. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:3-5 Foot washing was not part of the Passover tradition. It was, actually, more typical of a servant to wash the feet of the guests to a home as they arrived. And it would most often occur before a meal. However, these men were not in each others home. They were in the upper room of a stranger's home. And there wasn't a servant to wash their feet as they arrived. So they just sat down to eat... dirty feet and all. But here we see Jesus... getting up as they are eating, maybe just as they finished and He readied Himself for the servant role. But look what it said before. Jesus, knowing... For this is important that we discover Jesus revealing His identity first. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, Jesus wass secure in His IDENTITY. He knew that the Father had given everything into His hands... He had AUTHORITY to do as He wished. And He wished to use His hands as those of a servant. Jesus knew WHO He was... WHERE He came from, and WHERE He was going. And still, He humbled Himself to serve others, because it did not dimishish who He was. Jesus displays for us in this moment, that those whom He served were not taking anything from Him... He was giving it. Because remember the first words before the meal... when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Amazingly, Jesus realized He was about to depart for the cross, yet He had the peace of mind, to give this display that they would need later to make sense of it all. And look at this marvelous picture He paints. He rose from His throne in Heaven, laying aside His garments, laying down His glory, took a towel and girded himself, put on the form of a human, and became a servant. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash... He poured out His blood and cleansed us from sin. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. John 13:15-17 NKJV I am simply overwhelmed by all that Jesus has done for me. How does a God so majestic, so creative, so powerful and so amazing... remain so faithful, so loving, so just and so true, to humble Himself as a servant washing feet, cleansing sin? Let us never forget, that He has asked us too, as disciples, to serve and give in this same way. For we we must first know who we are, and where we are going. Let us not forget all He has done for us that we become so entangled in this world, with its issues, politics, and sides... disconnect and dangling, lost and lonely, like sheep. We cannot let our views of humanity reflect upon God. We cannot let our tainted, flawed and skeptical ideals be the perspective by which we frame Him. He is not created in our image... we were created in His. Let us never confuse the two. For... He cannot be contained. He cannot be measured, He cannot be understood. He can only be accepted and taken by faith. Poured out, overflowing, washing us clean... amazingly clean. Word of God train me today... To accept all that You willingly offer, even when I cannot full conceive of it. To serve others in the manner that You taught Your disciples to serve.
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January 2019
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