A New Command

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

A NEW COMMAND

John 13:33-38

33 "My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  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? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

NIV

Jesus was of course speaking of the cross when he told them they could not come where he was going, for he surely was not speaking about heaven as they would indeed be able to go there. Yet they would follow him later as they all did meet death and followed him to heaven. Many of them met the similar type death that Jesus did, but they all followed him to heaven. There are two truths we should focus on within this conversation between Jesus and his disciples. First we should consider this new command he has given. We must love one another as he loved us. It seems many of us spend a great deal of effort to obey all the rules that are within the Bible, especially those which enumerate the things we are not to do as well as a limited list of the things we are supposed to do, but it would seem many of us simply ignore this new command. How on earth are we supposed to love one another even within our own church, when we don’t even know each other’s name? Sure we know a few, but there are so many we do not, and we have never even spoken to, so how are we supposed to love them as Jesus does? True, his disciples had spent three plus year together, traveling about the country side, they had celebrated Passover together more them just this once, they had been together with Jesus hearing his teachings, witnessing his miracles, learning to live with each other, getting to know each other. Certainly at evening meals they sat around and discussed the day, what they had seen Jesus do,  as well as they must have talked about each other’s lives, what they did before Jesus called them, how he called them and their thoughts about Jesus. So when he told them to love one another, it would seem natural to them as they knew each other well. Sure there may have been a few personality differences, a few social challenges perhaps, maybe even economic disparities among them, but they were to love one another. Have we been released from this command? So why then does it seem we have so much difficulty with this new command? Are we so invested in our own lives that we do not have the time nor the inclination to actually love one another as Jesus loves us? How well do we comply with the explanation of love as outlined in Corinthians thirteen? The second truth we should ponder is about how Peter so rashly declared his intention to lay down his life for Jesus, yet Jesus told him he would indeed actually deny him three times in the next few hours. Volumes could be learned from this, but the most outstanding truth is we should be careful about declaring our firm adherence to being a “Good Christian” verbally, but also in the inner most thoughts of our own mind. We should be careful not to think more highly of ourselves then we should. That not only applies in our comparison to others, but in our behaviors in light of the truths of scripture and especially this new command. Peter might have thought well enough that he was a great follower of Jesus, that he was so committed to Jesus he would die for him, but he failed, and yes we know he was filled with remorse afterwards and perhaps Peter learned more about himself in that experience than he ever knew. Yet we should learn from Peter here, that we too, no matter how committed we think we are, can fail Jesus as easily as Peter did. If we ever think we are better than Peter, that we would never do what he did, then we have a lot to learn about ourselves. We should watch out for that crow, especially when it comes to that new command. 

All The Glory

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ALL THE GLORY

John 13:27-32

"What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, 28 but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. 31 When he was gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

NIV

It does to appear a somewhat confusing statement Jesus is making about being glorified and glorifying God and God glorifying the Son and all at once. But although his disciples did not know what he was talking about at the time, we certainly do as we know that Jesus on the Cross was glorifying the Father, and the Father was in fact glorifying the Son. Redemption of his people was happening; his creation was being given the provision to be restored into the original condition he established in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. In the narrative we also see that Jesus was well aware of the act of Judas and that it was part of the plan of salvation for the world. Sometimes we give Judas a bad rap, and some use this to prove God decides who is saved and who is not, such as Judas, or that God determines that some should be given over to Satan, but that is simple not the facts. Yes, Judas was part of the plan for the salvation of the world, for if Judas had not done what he had, Jesus would have had to find another way to get arrested, been put on trial, condemned and crucified. We know from Matthew’s account that once Jesus was condemned Judas was filled with remorse, threw the silver back into the temple and when out and hung himself. What we do not know, even though he committed suicide, which is a sin, is if God saved him due to his being part of the plan for the salvation of mankind, and that after he accomplished his part of the plan he was filled with remorse, because in his heart he did love Jesus. Are we any much better then Judas in that respect? We love Jesus, yet we continue to crucify him with our sin or at least because of our sin we have played a part in the arrest, trial, condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus, just as Judas had, yet we are saved. Jesus died on that cross for Judas as well as us. How much more glory can there be in what Jesus did and What God did through his Son? Our salvation has absolutely nothing to do with us, other than our decision to accept God’s provision for our salvation. We cannot do anything to save ourselves, it is all God. He gets all the glory for restoring us to the condition of Adam and Eve in the Garden. This was God’s plan all along, and he has accomplished his plan. His creation, at least those who accept his provision, will live forever with him in Paradise. It is not a matter of us ever being good enough or doing enough to get there on our own. Let us not condemn Judas, for in doing so we condemn ourselves, for there is no glory in us at all, for all the glory is in Jesus and in the Father. 

Betrayal

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BETRAYAL

John 13:21-27

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."  22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

NIV

What do we learn from this conversation between Jesus and his disciples? Should we focus on this question about who is going to betray him? Should we focus on how and when did Satan enter Judas? Should we focus on why would Judas even betray Jesus? Should we focus on the wondering of all the disciples as to who would be the one who would betray him? This might be the point of which all of them were concerned as to who would do such a thing as to betray the Lord. In some sense we could see each of them convinced of their own innocence wanting to know who could possibly betray Jesus. But also in the original language it is stated that each asked “Lord, is it I?” This would carry a slightly different approach to their loss as to which of them he meant. Some translations use this phrase, and some add the word surely or certainly, which is included in the original but is used only in the form of a question. So then we might consider that each of his disciples did in fact ask him if it was him that would betray Jesus. They may well have not been convinced of their own innocence, but wondered if and how could they betray the Lord who they dearly loved. In Matthew’s account it is recorded that even Judas had asked, “Teacher, I am not the one, am I?” Yet Judas had already been to the chief priests and made his bargain with them for the thirty pieces of silver. Was he that deceptive to act all innocent when he was in fact the guilty one? Yet it was not until he received the dipped bread did Satan enter him. So could we believe that he made his deal without Satan? The point here, the lesson here is in our belief of our innocence, is it possible that we could, in some way, betray our lord? Is it possible, even as much as we love him, as did his disciples, that we are not sure if we could betray him? True, we could never do what Judas did, in making it possible for the chief priests to find and arrest Jesus. That was all said and done many years ago, but there is a sense in which we might have the same thoughts as did those disciples regarding if we could do such a thing and how would we do it. How could we betray Jesus? What actions or thoughts we do and have could be considered in some way a betrayal of Jesus? The Greek word translated betray carries the meaning of surrender or giving up which is what in fact Judas did. He surrendered or gave up Jesus to the chief priests. This could imply that we in some way, in what we do, or how we think, give up Jesus, for the sake of our own desires. We certainly love him, and we might wonder how could we do such a thing yet, like Judas, we give him up in order to do what we want to do, instead of doing what he desires us to do. This just might be a betrayal.

Whose Sent

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHOSE SENT

John 13:18-20

18 "I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'   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." 

NIV

Jesus just  finished telling them they would be blessed if they follow his example, but now he says that he was not referring to all of them. Again in hind sight we know he meant Judas and we know all that Judas did, but at the time his disciples might have been a bit confused by what he just now had said about not all of them and that he knew who he had chosen. But then he goes on and says that it is one of them, one who shares bread with him that will lift up his heel against Jesus. Jesus was using this phrase that the Psalmist David had written many years ago, which of course were songs, and it is most likely all the disciples would have been familiar with this phrase. Although, as we will see, Jesus is going to tell them clearly as to what is going to happen, and by whom, he has already told them here. Some might make a case for predestination because Jesus used the word chosen, it does not refer to all who become believers, but in its context he is referring to his twelve disciples. Yet we could see this as he knows all of mankind and he has chosen all mankind to be saved through his action on the cross, but there are some who will lift up their heal against him. Now he was speaking to his followers and not those outside the group, so then we might make the case that there are those among the church who will lift up their heal against him, those that share in the bread and cup. Perhaps we should examine this further as we progress in this dialog between Jesus and his disciples, but we also should deal with these other words of Jesus. Was Jesus referring to the fact he would send the Holy Spirit, or that he would send men out to share the Gospel and that whoever accepts whichever also accepts him and thus accepts God the Father? So which was it, men or the Holy Spirit? Jesus did use similar teaching that Matthew records, saying that whoever receives you receives me. So it might well be that Jesus was in fact speaking about his disciples and that as they go out and share their experience with Jesus, and what he has done, when people believe them, they believe in Jesus and in the Father. But he also said whoever he sends, which implies a whole different thing, then accepting whoever speaks about Jesus. This could imply there are people out their preaching about Jesus who he has not sent. This then also could mean these same people preaching about Jesus, who he has not sent, are in fact the ones lifting up their heal against him and as it was with Judas, it is for the sake of personal material gain. Then we are back to the Holy Spirit and his gift of discernment so we should be able to know those who are sent and those who are not, those who are like his disciples, and those who are like Judas. But then we should also make sure we are ones who are sent, and that we are not making personal gain our priority for following Jesus. So it still comes down to who is sent.  

Know Them, Do Them

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

KNOW THEM, DO THEM

John 13:12-17

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 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.”

NIV

Although there was a spiritual significance in what Jesus had said to Peter about not being clean unless Jesus cleanses him, there is still a very real and physical significance to the act he did in washing the feet of his disciples. He explains it clearer than anything any of us could put into words. We can be certain that Jesus was not setting up another religious ritual to be performed at every time we break bread and drink from the cup. But what he was showing them was an example of true humility. Yes, he was their Lord and teacher, yet he did the most menial task for their benefit, normally assigned to the lowest of servants. This was especially meaningful as they would become the leaders of the church, as we see throughout the book of Acts. Some of them would be inspired to write the accounts of Jesus, some would be inspired to write letters to members of the church throughout the known world, some would have disciples of their own, teaching and guiding them into spiritual maturity and sending them out to establish more churches. It was essential they understood the requirement of being humble and willing to perform the most menial task for the benefit of others, no matter what position or title they held. We certainly are in need of learning that lesson as well. We cannot afford to allow pride to get in our way of being a follower of Christ. We cannot afford to allow our education, our skills or talents, our financial situation, or worldly position, or even our pastoral or ministry position to become a stumbling block to serving others as our Lord served us. Is any one of us any better than any other? Are we not all but sinners saved by grace? What matters of our position in life? We are to serve one another as Christ served us. Yet at times it seems we allow jealousy and envy, or conversely, pride to get in our way of being a servant to our fellow believers, shame on us. What would Jesus think of us when we refuse to serve another because they already have more than us and can serve themselves or they have so much less than us, we cannot seem to understand them enough to serve them? What would Jesus think of us if we refuse to serve each other because we have such a high opinion of our self? what would Jesus think if we do serve each other because we think we are too young, too old, too tired or simply to uninterested? It is easy for us to say we are to humble ourselves before the Lord, but not so easy to say we should humble ourselves before men. We are especially in trouble in the cultural of today with woman’s rights being so prominent. There are woman we really struggle with humility toward men, and men struggling with humility toward woman. This should not be, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and should all follow the example Christ set for us, serving one another. If we want to be blessed we will do them. 

Washed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WASHED

John 13:2-11

2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, 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; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 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.

NIV

We needed to keep the first part about the evening meal with this conversation between Jesus and Peter in order to have the context needed to see this truth. As it was the custom with the Jews, upon entering a house especially for the purpose of dining together, their feet were to be washed. Although they well may have already taken a bath at home, they walked on a dusty road to arrive at this place and therefore they feet were dirty and in need of washing, but this was most likely done by the lowest servant in the house. So when Jesus, the highest of the group of thirteen, began to wash the feet of his followers, it was a very unusual event. We do not know if there were any servants at this meal, it is most likely there were none, as this was simply a guest room in this man’s house which the Lord told his disciples to find this man while he was carrying water. We do not know if the man had servants, but again unlikely as he was the one carrying the water, not his servant, so who would be the one to wash the feet, the least of the thirteen, no, it was the Lord. The truths here for us show first he was demonstrating he came to serve, not to be served. If we desire and confess to others that we want to be like Jesus, that we want to live our life like Jesus, then we would understand we are to serve others, rather than expect others to serve us. Of course in our busy lives that is a bit more difficult than it was in the time of Jesus. We simply do not have as much time to serve others as they did, seeing how they just walked around the country side all day, visiting various towns and people. We work, we have television, we have hobbies, we have stuff that needs our attention, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, repairs, families to attend to, time to relax, and all sorts of other things to occupy our time with, so we have very little time to actually serve others as Jesus demonstrated, although we do have Sunday mornings and at least one evening every other week so that counts for something. Most of us have sort of given up on the Sunday night, Wednesday night thing of years ago, for whatever reason. So we should consider if in fact we are following the pattern Jesus set out for us. Perhaps some of us are actually serving others in our chosen occupation, which could work. Perhaps some of us are putting aside some of our own time in the service of others, which would work as well, but it might appear many of us still need to work on this truth. We certainly cannot ever think we are too good to serve, as Jesus was a good as it gets and he was doing the feet washing.

But there is another truth here and it is about being clean, and only in need of having our feet washed. Peter may well have understood the spiritual significance of what Jesus was telling him, that unless Jesus washed his feet he would have no part of him. That is the fact, unless we are washed by Jesus we are not a part of him. Unless we are washed in the blood, we are not a part of the family of Jesus; we will not inherit eternal life. But Jesus also told Peter he was clean, only his feet needed washing. Is there a truth there for us? Although we might have been washed in the blood, is there a small part of us, which still have dust on? Have we been cleansed completely, or do we still have some dirt clinging to us that we need to allow Jesus to cleanse? As we wash the feet of others, let us make sure we have been washed as well. 

Evening Meal

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

EVENING MEAL

John 13:2-5

2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, 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; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

NIV

Here we are at the beginning of what we call that last supper although John does not record the ritual we perform doing in remembrance of him. But there is an awful truth here we should be certain can never live within our hearts. First we should note this evening meal was in celebration of the Passover, thus the disciples had prepared the paschal lamb meal,  the lamb that was slain and who’s blood had been poured out on the doorposts so the death angel would Passover. Usually we just think about the bread and wine eaten and drunk and quote from what Paul had been inspired to record what Jesus had said that evening in his letter to the Corinthians. But this was the Passover meal, the lamb had been slain and prepared and was to be eaten, all of it at that meal, as was the custom of the Jews. So when Jesus was talking about his body and his blood he was explaining to them he was in fact the true lamb of God, that because of his body and blood the death angel would indeed Passover all  of us who partake of him. Although the Jews only celebrated the Passover once a year, it seems we have become determined to celebrate the Passover, or what we now call communion on a more regular basis. But the fact is that Jesus was not teaching us that we should do this as a ritual every so often, but that he was showing us that in order for the death angel to Passover us, for us to inherit eternal life, we must eat or ingest all of him. As the Israelites had to eat every last bit of the lamb that night and pour out it’s blood on the doorpost of their homes, we must take all of Jesus into our lives, and pour out his blood on the doorpost of our hearts, our lives, and then as a result the death angel will pass over us and we will live. But we have turned it as a result of tradition, perhaps rather than truth, into something Jesus may not have intended. Maybe we should remember what he did for us every time we sit down to the evening meal, for if we were to follow the custom Jesus followed we would only have the broken bread, and the cup of wine once a year. Even in that we have changed it, as we certainly cannot drink wine, as that would be sinful to some, and no longer do we break bread, but instead offer some form of little cracker or wafer and now at least in the church I attend a gluten free one. What have we done to the truth Jesus was teaching? Yes, through the Apostle Paul God gave us the concept that whenever we break bread together at the a meal, and whenever we drink from a common cup of wine after the completion of the meal, that is if we are going to practice what Jesus was doing, and saying, then we would be remembering Jesus, that he is the lamb of God, and his body was broken and his blood was poured out on the doorpost of our hearts. Can we only do this once a year? Can we only do this once a month? Can we only do this weekly during lent? This is something we should have done, and continue to do every moment of our lives, ingesting all of Jesus and having his blood poured over all of us. Now as to that awful truth we should never allow into our lives. Although Judas had already been prompted by the devil to betray Jesus, he still dipped the bread in the same cup of herbs that Jesus did. Judas was acting on the outside as all was well; he was even partaking in the Passover meal with Jesus while all the time he was betraying him in his heart. The truth here is we  should be watchful we do not appear all goodie two shoes on the outside while within lies a certain form of betrayal. This is especially true of our outward acts of good deeds, appearing to be such “Good Christians” when we harbor bitterness, unforgiveness, hurt feelings, anger, jealousy, envy or a whole hosts of other forms of betrayal within. This is why in that letter to the Corinthians we are warned about partaking in Jesus in an unworthy manner. But more truths are within this passage and perhaps we should visit is once more.