Memory Verse:
“By this all will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:35)
The upper room is where we believe Jesus had His “Last Supper.” In this chapter, we see our Lord washing the feet of the 12 disciples, including Judas. Whether the washing of the feet was during or after the supper, we are not sure (the Greek texts have variant readings). While we may not be sure on the time, we are crystal clear on its meaning: We are to serve one another. Jesus washing the feet also symbolizes the forgiveness he gave and how we are to forgive one another.
Chapter 13 begins a section on love that runs through chapter 15. Of the 39 times the word love is used in John, 27 times it is used in these three chapters. These are some of the most tender and intimate sections of all of Scriptures.
We see how we are to react when others, including those closest to us, hurt us. And we’ll see what causes the glory of the Lord to be revealed the most.
So recline around the Passover table. Lean with John onto Jesus’s breast. Uncover your feet and allow the Lord of the universe to uncake the mud and dust from this world from your soles to between your toes. If you refuse, He says, “You have no part with me.”
Day 28: Morning
Serve One Another!
(Read John 13:1–11)
The night before His crucifixion, Jesus knew that He was about to die the most grueling of deaths. He knew that He was going to be betrayed, denied and forsaken. Yet, He loved His disciples and wanted to show them how to humbly serve one another and forgive when wronged.
Jesus and the disciples came to what we call the Last Supper. The tables were low to the ground and often times someone’s feet were almost even level of someone else’s face. In the humid climate, the sweat caused the dust of the roads to cling to the feet of those walking in sandals. It was customary for a servant to wash the feet of guests, but there was no servant.
John records that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet after the meal. In Luke 22:24, after the meal there arose a dispute over who was the greatest. Most likely, Jesus saw the dirty job of cleaning feet as a way to illustrate the need to serve one another. He had earlier taught how to become great in Matthew 20.
Read Matthew 20:26–28 (NKJV): “…whoever desires to become _______ among you, let him be your _____. And whoever desires to be______ among you, let him be your _______ -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...” (Choose words for blanks: slave, servant, great, first)
Bible scholars have conjectured that seating order might have been with John at the right of Jesus (John 13:23), Judas at His left (near enough to hand him bread, 13:26) and Peter at the lowest end (able to gesture to John, 13:24). The seating order may have led to the discussion of who was the greatest.
Jesus took off His garment, indicating that this was no small job of washing 24 dirty feet. Girded only with a towel around His waist, the Messiah humbly stooped down to wash the feet.
One by one, Jesus, the Master, washed the feet of His disciples, the learners. If you had been one of the disciples, you would have smelled the same stench everyone else smelled. You would have felt the grit between your toes as you walked in the room. You would have seen the caked dust encrusted on the feet of others. As Jesus approaches your feet, would your reaction have been like most of the disciples, willingly let Jesus wash your feet or like that of Simon Peter?
I would have protested___ I would have submitted___
Jesus used this unforgettable opportunity to forever emblazon on the minds of the disciples that in order to be great and the most like the Master, the disciples must serve others.
Pray this prayer to God: “Dear Jesus: As I read these lessons in the days ahead, help me see the needs of others and be a servant. I know my feet need to be cleansed today, but help me as I seek a lowly heart to wash the feet of others. Amen.”
Day 28: Evening
Forgive One Another!
(Read John 13:12–17)
There is a lesson more important than serving one another seen in this parable. It is found in Jesus’s response to Peter’s protest in verses 8 and 10 and in Jesus’s explanation in 13–17.
Jesus said a person who has “bathed” needs only to “wash” his feet, otherwise, he is “completely clean.” (John 13:10–11).
Three separate words were used: the word “bathed” in Greek has a root word from where we get the word “laundry” and “lavatory.” Hebrews 10:22 says “having the body bathed with pure water” (Young’s Literal Translation). “Washing” is a different word, usually used for washing parts of the body. As we walk in this sinful earth, our spiritual feet get dirty. Lastly, the word for “completely clean” is a word from which we get the word catharsis, which means a cleaning of the digestive system or a purifying inwardly, physically or emotionally. It is the same word used in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
To be bathed is a symbol of our salvation. To wash symbolizes our need for confessing our sins through regular prayer. And being “completely clean” (verse 10) symbolizes our inner purification by God’s Holy Spirit.
The beautiful symbolism here is that God bathes you at salvation, washes you regularly when you sin, and purifies you inwardly in your hearts.
When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, it symbolized forgiveness. So what does it mean when Jesus said for us to wash one another’s feet?
______________________________________________________
Forgiving others is foundational for the believer. Harboring grudges toward others, especially fellow believers, is unconscionable. God’s forgiveness is linked with our forgiving others:
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:15
So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.
Matthew 18:35
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
Mark 11:25
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37b
And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,” you shall forgive him.
Luke 17:4
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
John 20:23
Pray this prayer to God: “Heavenly Father: Cleanse my feet today. I know when You died on the cross, You bathed me with wholly cleansing water from all my sins. Now, when I fall, wash me and help me to forgive others when they, like me, fall. By Jesus’s power I pray. Amen.”
Day 29: Morning
When Friends Hurt You
(Read John 13:18–38)
Have you have been hurt by a friend? By a Christian friend? Have you heard about churches which have split, argued or fought? If not, be forewarned: If it happened to Jesus, it will and does happen today and may happen to you.
Believers can betray our trust. I have known prominent church leaders who have violated their sacred trust. This devotional is to help prepare you to know how to respond when those closest to you hurt you.
When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, He showed humility and forgiveness. Judas was not an obvious betrayer. He was entrusted with the money of the disciples. He seemed genuinely interested in the poor (John 12:4–7; 13:29). When Jesus said a disciple would betray Him, no one pointed to Judas (Matt. 26:22). Even when Jesus clearly indicated Judas, some did not suspect him (John 13:25–30).
God’s foreknowledge: As far back as the Ps. 41:9, the act of betrayal of a friend was especially bad if it was done after eating together. “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” This Old Testament verse is a prophecy of Judas.
Where did the idea of betraying Jesus come from (see John 6:70; Luke 22:3; John 13:27)?__________________. Betrayal is NOT from God, but John 6:64 says Jesus knew ahead of time and chose him anyway. God knows what you are going through.
God’s allowance: Years ago, a pastor had a trusted friend, studying for the ministry. The pastor met and prayed daily with the young seminarian. One day, the man kidnapped the pastor’s 13–year-old daughter. Even though she was returned, she was traumatized by the assault. When such betrayals of trust occur, we ask, “Where was God?” There are no easy answers to why God allows these things. A church member, pastor, or trusted brother in Christ will likely hurt you to some extent. It is possible that you may be an instrument of Satan to cause damage to someone else.
God’s understanding: If it is hard to forgive someone who has wronged you, recall that Jesus understands. If there is no repentance in a brother in sin, read 1 Cor. 5:1–12; Matt. 18:15–17; and 1 Tim. 1:19–20. Resist the desire to return evil for evil and read Rom. 12:17–21; Matt. 18:21–35; and James 6:1–2. If there is repentance, read Luke 17:3–5 and 2 Cor. 2:5–11.
God’s sovereignty: If God can use the greatest betrayal in history, Judas Iscariot, and turn it into the greatest victory, seek God to grant healing and strength in your hurt and pain. Trust that God will take your grief and ask Him to use it to bring glory to Himself in spite of it all.
Pray this prayer to God: “Jesus, You know how it feels to be betrayed. Comfort me when betrayal comes. I cannot forgive on my own strength, so I ask You to forgive through me. Amen.”
Day 29: Evening
Love Revealed In Glory!
(Read John 13:31–14:1)
The latter part of John 13 is linked to chapter 14, so this text should be read as a whole, beginning with the departure of Judas, all the way through the phrase “arise, let us go from here” found in John 14:31.
It seems as out of place as a pit bull at a poodle parlor to see glory attached to the sufferings of the cross. Yet the Bible consistently puts exaltation alongside of degradation. Paul would later write, “we glory in tribulation” (Rom. 5:3) and “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18). Elsewhere, Paul was bold enough to say, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10, KJV)
Pleasure? Glory in tribulation? If that’s so, we might be tempted to say, “Lord, please, don’t show me your glory!” Yet, it is in the furnace that impurities are purged and strength galvanized. Of all the disciples, Peter learned this lesson in his three denials of his Master. Later, Peter wrote:
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8whom having not seen you love. (1 Peter 1)
Peter had seen Christ, loved Him, promised loyalty to death, yet failed Him only hours after his hollow promises. Cradled between Judas’ departure and Peter’s foretold denial is the birth of a “new” commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
How was that commandment new? God commanded people as far back as Deuteronomy 6:5 to love one another. And had not Jesus already commanded the disciples to love, even to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44)? But now, Jesus personified the very heart of the Father’s love by giving and demonstrating a new and deeper aspect of love: “as I have loved you.” Elsewhere Jesus said “greater love has no one than this than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)
What will be the result if a love like Jesus’s were truly reflected among Christians? What if the church and the believers truly loved one another as Christ loved us? If God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners by His giving His life for us (Rom. 5:8), then what would be the outcome if we would just love each other, according to John 13:35?
“By this ,_______________________________________ .”
Pray this prayer to God: “Precious Lord Jesus, I am unworthy to profess my love for You. Forgive me when I fail and deny You, especially when it comes to loving others as You have loved me. Thank You for going to the cross to gain Your glory. Amen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment