Wednesday in the Word...John 13.1-4

Sometimes being under the pressure of a self-imposed deadline brings out the best stuff (at least that is my opinion this morning).  Listening to preachers to teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse has helped me to see patterns and lists I have never seen before.  4 verbs that Jesus did really jumped off the page at me today. 

Today's Wednesday in the Word is John chapter 13 and verses 1 through 4, which read,

v. 1 - Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 

We are entering the final hours of Jesus' earthly life before the cross.  This would be His final passover and it would also be the final passover because He would take the place of the sacrificial lamb to be slain for "...His own who were in the world..."  This would be an act of love of "...having loved..." them and a concluding "...loved them to the end."  

Jesus has spoken of this time and hour many times but it has been that His time had not yet come but it is now here.  The mission is nearly complete and He would be going home to His Father's side from whence He came.  Knowing "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say, we start to feel the weight of what is coming in the next few hours.  What could compel Jesus to go forward with this plan other than a love of God and a love for others.

v. 2 - During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,... 

The enemy is present.  He, the devil, has done his dirty work.  He has convinced Judas Iscariot like he convinced Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that he had a better plan than the one that Jesus had told His disciples many times.  Satan's schemes are not new but the prophecy of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 was soon to come to pass.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

From Satan's view this might look like a way to bruise Jesus' head, a fatal blow, but really it was just a bruising of His heel because He would rise again on the third day.  This was going to be the fatal blow on Satan because the sacrifice needed was willingly going to be given that snatched those God loved out of his hands.  The cross and empty grave was the end of the "prince of this world" because the King had come and accomplished what was needed and required.

v. 3 - ...Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 

I see in this verse that there is a security that Jesus had in His own relationship with God the Father.  He was secure in God's plan; He was secure in His starting point; and He secure in His destination point.  Are you secure?  Do you know God the Father this way?

Does God have your life in His hands and that all of your life is given to Him to direct for His purposes?  Do you know God the Father as your Creator who fashioned you as such in the womb but also had plans for your life even before the moment of conception?  Do you rest in the fact of salvation that it includes eternal life with a union with God the Father in heaven?  All of this security comes from what Jesus is about to do for you.  This security has been realized by you because your eyes have been opened and your heart has been softened by God to receive faith that Jesus is who He says He is, the Son of God.  

v. 4 - ...got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

Love goes into action.  The disciples who prepared the room apparently didn't secure the lowly servant to wash their feet and put perfume on them prior to the meal.  Reclining at the table put your feet on the same level as your nose and the food so this action made the dining experience more pleasurable.  No one stooped to the level of the lowly servant to perform this task until Jesus got up and headed to the bowl probably over by the door.

Jesus acted on behalf of all of them.  He got up; He laid aside; He took; and He girded.  Four verbs here to look at.  First, He got up.  He didn't stay where He was.  He was a man of action.  He saw the need and responded first before anyone else.  He didn't point a finger or bark out an order.  He left the meal and proceeded to serve His fellow meal mates.

Second, He laid aside.  To complete this task properly was to protect His outer garments.  Water was involved so it could splash and get wet what would keep Him warm later in the night.  I think you can't help but see that Jesus laid aside more than just His garments.  Jesus laid aside again His rightful position to serve His brothers.  The example that was to come from Him showed His disciples what true disciples of Christ do.  True disciples lay aside many things for the good of others.  This preparation has been thought through.

Third, He took.  There was the bowl and the towel already there but someone needed to grab ahold of it.  Instead of walking by it and wondering who would do it, Jesus got up, laid aside, and took ahold of the tools before Him.  He is not without the means to perform the task.  He not only knows about the tools, He grabs a hold of them to use them.  This is a crucial point that we miss sometimes as Christians.  We know about the tools God has given us but we have not used them.  We have multiple binders on the shelf about spiritual disciplines we have studied but they seem to be trophies to look at rather than to be used on a daily basis.

Finally, He girded Himself.  He would take the long ends of His robe and tie them up around His waist so that He could move around more easily.  Ironically, this is the same action the soldier would do before battle.  To serve is a battle.  To serve in the name of Christ, means you are going to go against what Satan would want you to do.  Jesus girded Himself to serve as a seasoned and prepared servant of the Father.  He didn't want anything to get in the way of showing His disciples that He loved them so much to not only wash their smelly feet but also endure the cross for their salvation.  

I hope today that these four verbs follow us around.  I pray that we would see an opportunity to get up from where we are at, lay aside our agenda, take up the tools God has provided, and gird ourselves to serve Him through serving others.  That is my prayer for you and me today.

Pastor Adam