Saturday, February 3, 2018


Rambling around John again this week . . . 
camped out in the vicinity of chapter 13 . . .

It's Passover . . .
time for the Passover meal . . .
just the disciples and Jesus . . . 
together . . .
friends sharing a meal

This meal would be Jesus' last until . . .

John's words . . .
"Jesus knew that His hour had come 
to leave this world and return to His Father.
He [Jesus] had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth,
and now He loved them to the very end."

Those words have always and will always capture my heart . . .
He loved them to the very end.

What an epitaph . . .

And just how did He choose to love them in this moment?
He washed feet -
dirty, smelly feet -
feet encrusted with the dust and the stuff of this world.

This washing was a servant's job.
This washing humbled Him,
befuddled and humiliated His friends.
This washing was one of those naked,
vulnerable, "this-is-who-I-REALLY-am" moments.

Here is the only Son of God,
almost completely naked,
on bended knee washing feet.

In the washing, the dirt and dirty water dirtied Him.

His choice was both revelatory and prophetic and instructive.

Revelatory . . .
because this was not the first time He had disrobed.
He, the King of Glory, took off His cloak of divinity
and became a naked, squirming little bundle of flesh
whose very life would cleanse the world.

Prophetic . . .
because He was about to be publicly disrobed and tortured,
eventually crucified naked on a cross to . . .
cleanse the world.

Instructive . . .
because Jesus wasted nothing.
No word, no action of His was ever spoken or done without meaning.

You don't understand now what I am doing.
Someday, you will . . .
Since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash each other's feet.
I have given you an example to follow.
Do as I have done to you.

Most people take this to mean helping others,
sharing the Gospel with them.
helping them to grow in Christ.

I believe there is a deeper level of meaning.

I believe this is about the willingness to become
"naked" and vulnerable with each other,
to be honest,
REAL.

In all three of Jesus' choices, he humbled Himself,
became literally naked - vulnerable . . .
to accomplish the greatest feat of all mankind. 
The Divine Man, the only Son of God, 
accomplished SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.

Oh, Peter . . .
embarrassed by his friend's nakedness . . .
"No, you will never ever wash my feet!"
If I don't wash you, you won't belong to me.
"Then wash my hands and feet as well!"
WASH ME ALL OVER -
TOP TO BOTTOM AND EVERYTHING INSIDE AND IN BETWEEN!

This is how He loved them - US - to the end.

The Creator in Whom ALL things live and move and have their being
humbly stripped and washed and died and rose again 
so that we could live forever with Him.

This is how we are to love Him and others . . .
in honesty and vulnerability . . .
a "this-is-who-I-really-am" kind of Gospel . . .
no hiding . . .
no denying . . .
just reality laid out for all the world to see.

We can because He did.
His example should give us courage and hope,
encouragement,
permission to BE REAL.

Oh, Lord, not just my hands and feet -
ALL OF ME.