JOHN 13-16
He had one last night with His friends, one last chance to talk to them about what mattered most, what they could not afford to forget. How could He take the wisdom of the ages, filtered through all the teaching, all the conversation, all the activity, and distill it down to one final lesson?
They had given up everything to follow Him for three years, and now the end was rapidly approaching. It was only a matter of hours now.
And to top it all off, they had been arguing all day about which of them was the greatest.
Maybe none of this stuff was sinking in at all. Maybe it would have to wait until after He was gone. Maybe then they would look back and remember.
While the disciples are fighting over who gets to sit where, Jesus silently picks up a towel and a bowl of water. Before anyone is aware of what’s happening, the first sandals are off, and the hands that created the tree that would be turned into crossbeams, the hands that carved the mountain from which the iron was drawn to make the spikes, the hands that held everything together, were washing the grime off road-weary feet. The hands were calloused, but they were tender with the kind of care only He could feel.
It got their attention.
Peter, in typical Peter fashion, went overboard: “You’re not gonna do that to me!” he bellowed.
But Jesus was firm and resolute: “If you don’t let Me do this, you’re saying that you want nothing to do with Me.”
Peter’s pendulum swung to the other side: “Okay, if You’re gonna put it like that, go ahead and gimme a sponge bath!”
Maybe they all had a good laugh. There was a lot of tension in the room, and laughter sometimes helps.
He worked His way around the whole room. Andrew. James. John. Bartholomew. Thomas. Philip. Matthew. The other James—the short one. The other Simon—the angry one. Thaddeus.
Judas.
Yes, Judas. Jesus washed the feet of the man who betrayed Him. That’s what love does. That was the whole point.
Prayer
Lord, You know us better than we know ourselves, and yet You chose to serve us in the life and ministry of Your beloved Son. How can words express the magnitude of Your lovingkindness and mercy? You are in authority over all things, from the microcosm to the macrocosm. You order the stars, the galaxies and the clusters and superclusters of galaxies that are spread over distances so great that even to get a glimpse of the magnitude is terrifying. You sustain the sun, the planets and all that dwells on earth. You form life out of matter that has no life, and You shape our complex bodily systems, as well as our minds, personalities and moral capacities. You have made all things well, and even in this world that was subjected to futility, we see Your marvels and handiwork. I live in hope of the redemption of the body and of the whole of creation.
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