The Foot-washer - John 13:1-17

                            

It’s just before the Passover, the feast that reminded Israel that their God is a God who protects, who provides, who guides, who will go to battle for them. Jesus’ journey to the cross is quickly coming to its climax, and it fascinates me that John leads into this account of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples by letting us know that “many even among the leaders believed in Jesus. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be thrown out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”

Passover’s almost here; Jesus knows that his time has come. John leads us into this last meal by reminding us of “Jesus’ love for his own, how he loved them to the end.” This is the emotional context of this last meal, coupled with the weight of betrayal. With everything going on, Jesus sits with his disciples at the start of the meal, knowing that “the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” Jesus is confident in who he is as God’s son, confident in his Father’s plan. When you know who you are in God, service, even the humblest and even humiliating service doesn’t threaten your knowledge of who you are, or your self-image, and so it is with Jesus. As John wrote earlier in his gospel, “the free are free to serve,” free from worrying about what others think, free to do what needs to be done.

What happens next should never have happened. Jesus is at the table with his disciples and nobody has bothered to wash their dirty stinky feet after walking all days in sandals in the streets of Jerusalem, streets filled with garbage and animal waste. Their feet were gross and smelled. There should have been a servant or slave assigned to them. These would have been the lowest servants or slaves, or slaves who were being punished by being given this nasty job. For some reason, likely arranged by Jesus, there’s no one there to wash their feet and they’re all way too proud to be humble enough wash their fellow disciples’ feet. I’m sure they would have been willing to wash Jesus’ feet, but then the others would have expected them to wash their feet too, so in their pride they would rather eat with the stench of their feet filling the air.

Now, because Jesus knows who he is, because he loves his disciples, he wants to give them a deep lesson on what’s coming up, on who he is; a lesson on who they’re being called to be as his disciples. So, Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, gets up, takes off his outer clothing, wraps a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin, and then kneels before the first disciple and begins washing his feet. Imagine sitting at that table. You’ve been willing to put up with the smell of your own dirty feet rather then wash them; washing the feet of the other disciples is definitely below your dignity, but now Jesus is washing your feet. The arguments that had been going on between everyone about who was going to sit at Jesus’ right and left hands when Jesus took power are still fresh in your memory and there’s a sour taste in your mouth because Jesus didn’t choose you to sit right beside him when he takes the throne, he actually told you all off about arguing about caring so much about power and influence.

Now your rabbi, your leader, the one who raised Lazarus from the dead, the one sent by God, blessed by God with power to do amazing miracles, is on his knees, taking your smelly feet in his hands and washing them. How embarrassed are you feeling right now, is the shame making you squirm yet, is guilt flooding your heart and mind? All this is going through the disciples’ minds, especially when Jesus comes to Peter.

Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replies, “You don’t realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” At this point we start understanding that there’s much more going on here than Jesus washing feet, there is something deeply spiritual happening here. There’s a patience here that strikes me. Jesus knows that Peter is going to abandon him to the anger of the Pharisees in just a few hours, and then later deny knowing Jesus three times to save his own skin. Jesus insists that he has to wash Peter’s feet. This is going to stick deep into Peter’s memory, he’ll always remember this moment and the significance of what’s going on, even if he can’t understand it right now. Peter’s shame’s too great and he stubbornly says, “No, you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus now goes deep, pointing past this moment to a deeper spiritual truth, to the reality that “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” We have the advantage of looking back to this moment and the events that are still to come, knowing now that Jesus is pointing to the forgiveness of our sin, to how his sacrifice on the cross is for the washing away of all our sin, echoing back to other moments like when the friends brought their lame friend to Jesus, lowering him through the roof so Jesus could heal him, but Jesus’ first act is to offer the young man forgiveness of his sin, healing his soul before healing his body. Something clicks in Peter and he now goes to the other extreme, “Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and head as well!” Jesus gently responds, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean, though not everyone of you.” I wonder if Peter remembered these words after the resurrection when he met Jesus on the beach where Jesus restored him, offering him grace and forgiveness and a commission to serve. For those of you heading out to Mexico to serve, remember who we serve; that Jesus has washed you clean of your sin and he is calling you to serve with that same spirit of grace and humility, offering hope as you serve, willing to do even the dirtiest tasks that need to get done.

We often focus on Jesus’ interaction with Peter here, but there’s an even more difficult foot-washing that happens. Jesus also washes Judas’ feet, knowing that Judas has already betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. Judas hears Jesus connecting washing their feet with something deeper and spiritual. How difficult is it for Jesus to wash Peter’s and Judas’ feet? Even though Peter and the other disciples desert Jesus, even though Judas has betrayed him, Jesus still humbles himself and washes their feet, a spiritual sign that Jesus is willing to wash your feet, no matter what your past has been like, no matter how great your sin has been, or is, Jesus’ blood on the cross is able to wash away all our sin.

Yet there’s more going on here; remember that the disciples had been fighting about who’s more important, so the second thing Jesus sticks in their face is that leadership needs to come from a place of humility. He straight up asks them if they understand what he just did, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” Jesus doesn’t command them to wash each other’s feet, this is leadership through example. One of my favourite teachers on what leadership is, is Simon Sinek; he writes “leaders eat last.” The idea is that leaders put those under them first, that they have the ability to have the best first; leaders are responsible to their followers’ needs first. The more important you become, the more you are called to place others first.

The disciples are still learning that following Jesus involves growing a character rooted in humility and service; rooted in loving God above everything else, and then loving your neighbour in practical daily ways. As a mission team, I encourage you to take time to not just work on the house when you get to Mexico, but look for all those little ways of serving that can bless someone else, maybe even someone else on your team. Mother Teresa said, “There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things,” Jesus points us to the importance of serving in the small things that many don’t recognize or won’t do. As the creator of this series wrote, “Perhaps grabbing a towel is a much better symbol of Christian discipleship than we’ve been willing to admit,” serving out of thankfulness for Jesus washing our sins away.

 

The Shepherd - John 10:11-18

                    

John places this teaching of Jesus about being the good shepherd right after the story of Jesus healing a blind man, but the Pharisees won’t accept that Jesus has been given the gift of healing by God. They actually throw the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus finds the man and asks him a rather strange question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The healed man wants to believe in him, so Jesus tells him, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” The man worships Jesus and Jesus tells him, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Now there’s some Pharisees there and they realize that Jesus is talking about them being the ones who see but who are actually blind, so they ask, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus doesn’t pull any punches here, he wants them to be perfectly clear about the consequences of rejecting him, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” The Pharisees have no excuse for not recognizing that Jesus is the Son of Man.

Daniel 7:13–14 gives us some insight into what Jesus is referring to when he refers to the Son of Man, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Hardin and Brown observe that “Daniel 7 is concerned with the encroaching pressure among exiled Jews to worship the king of Babylon…. Daniel sees “one like a son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven” … who is given privileges normally reserved for God: authority, glory, sovereign power, the worship of men of every language, and an eternal kingdom. Daniel’s vision is one of suffering and exaltation…. Jesus may have used Daniel’s “one like a son of man” to communicate ideas of… suffering, enthronement, and authority.” In our passage this morning, Jesus is on the road to the cross and he’s preparing his disciples for what’s coming, and gives them glimpses of his power, hinting at the suffering that lies ahead.

Now John moves into Jesus’ teaching about who he is as the good shepherd, with the themes of authority and suffering in the background. Jesus talks about robbers, strangers, and thieves who come to steal and kill and destroy the sheep, echoing Zechariah 10 which talks of how the sheep need a shepherd who will care for the flock properly, “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore, the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd. “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah.” The Lord himself is coming to be their shepherd, to care for them, to help them flourish again. Zechariah’s talking to the people after their return from exile. You’d think they would be more careful in listening to God and his ways after being in exile for not listening to God, but they keep listening to idols and diviners: to bad shepherds, who keep telling them lies instead of listening to the prophets God has sent. Zechariah points to the coming of the Lord as Judah’s good shepherd.

In Advent we looked at Jesus as the good shepherd and reflected on how his sheep know his voice and recognize him and how Jesus laid down his life for us. Today, we’ll dig deeper into Jesus as the good shepherd. The people would make the connection of Jesus to King David, the Shepherd King who wrote Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Phillip Keller, author of A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 writes, “David in this psalm, is speaking not as a shepherd, though he was one, but as a sheep, one of the flock. He spoke with a strong sense of pride and devotion and admiration. It was as though he literally boasted aloud, “Look at who my shepherd is—my owner—my manager! The Lord is!” Keller goes on to marvel that “the Creator of this enormous universe of overwhelming magnitude, deigns to call himself my Shepherd and invites me to consider myself his sheep—his special object of affection and attention.”

Being a shepherd’s not an easy job. Sheep need an incredible amount of attention and care. We’re like sheep in so many ways: we can be stubborn, we can be really dumb, we can think ourselves so brave and yet in reality are timid and afraid; just consider how difficult it is for many of us to share our faith in our good shepherd with others. Sheep have some strange habits, and if we’re honest, we all have our own strange habits, and yet our good shepherd still chooses us, buys us, and makes us his own in a spirit of joy and delight. He takes care of us, provides for us as a good shepherd provides places of safety, places to rest in green pasture, providing for us. When we find ourselves in fear and worry, in strife or conflict, our good shepherd guides us to still quiet waters to be refreshed and to rest.

Keller notes that the master in people’s lives makes the difference in their destiny, where they end up. I’ve had a number of wise caring people who have offered me guidance over the years and have always reminded me that the first person I need to keep looking to is Jesus. He’s the shepherd I need to always keep listening to. Paul encourages Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” This spirit of power and fear comes from the Holy Spirit, a gift from our good shepherd. The Holy Spirit helps us to listen for, and recognize the voice of the shepherd, especially when we’ve followed our noses and stomachs and unwittingly wandered away. That moment of fear of not seeing our shepherd is calmed when we hear the voice of the shepherd come close.

Sheep require more handling and direction than any other livestock. Without a conscientious shepherd, the flock would easily overgraze their area, keep going back to the same places, eating the grass right down to the roots, destroying the fields. The shepherd has to keep guiding them to fresh field and clean water, otherwise they become sick and waste away. The shepherd has to be aware of their destructive habits and to keep them on the move in what Keller calls, “a predetermined plan of action, a deliberate, planned rotation from one grazing ground to another in line with right and proper principles of sound management.” This speaks to our own tendency to simply repeat our own habits, whether good or bad. We need to keep our ears and hearts open to our shepherd’s guidance into new ways of living as his sheep so we can grow and flourish, trusting his guidance. Sometimes our habits devotionally can become just a habit and we lose sight of our shepherd and who he’s leading us to become as his sheep. Our faith life can be more habit than obedience.

Phillip Keller shares how sheep often fight among themselves, that rivalries and jealousy are not uncommon, and yet “the shepherd’s presence puts an end to all rivalry.” He noticed how “the less aggressive sheep were often far more contented, quiet, and restful,” which reminds me of Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life many win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone.” When we’re attuned to our shepherd’s voice and presence, we find contentment and peace, even when we walk through hard times and feel overwhelmed by life.

The good shepherd restores our souls. When we look to Jesus as our good shepherd, we see how his willingness to lay down his life for us, his obedience to his Father’s will and plan to restore us to the Father through the cross, washing away our sin. But there’s more to this image, Jesus restores and brings healing to our souls when we go through times of sorrow, times of doubt and fear, times of loneliness, times when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Shepherds tend to the hurts of the sheep; they will carry a lamb or sheep when they’re unable to go any further. There is something so personal in Jesus calling himself the good shepherd and claiming us as his sheep. He knows our names; he knows us, even the us that we wish he didn’t know, and yet he still claims us as his, takes responsibility for us.

There is so much more to Jesus as our good shepherd, but the big and most important questions is, do you know this good shepherd as yours?

 

The Miracle Worker - John 2:1-11

                

This story of Jesus’ first miracle has always fascinated me because it seems like such a strange way to begin his ministry; doing something as small and insignificant as turning water into wine because they run out of it at a wedding in the small insignificant village of Cana. Many of us have been to weddings where that might actually have been a good thing. Cana, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, was also a military headquarters and staging ground during the first century Jewish revolts against Rome, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. It was out of the way of any major routes and in the hill area so it was difficult to sneak up on.

Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding and his mom’s also there. Like many smaller villages in rural areas, similar to Central Alberta, everyone’s either related or somehow connected to each other, so a problem comes up, it’s not unusual that Mary ask Jesus to help out. Mary is never called by her name in the Gospel of John, and only appears here and at the cross, the beginning and height of Jesus’ ministry. John does this on purpose to frame the work of Jesus, beginning with this miracle revealing Jesus’ glory which finishes with Jesus’ glory revealed in his death on the cross as witnessed by John himself, “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” John’s goal in writing his gospel is to lead others to believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Weddings were often weeklong affairs, and the groom and his family were responsible for hosting the guests during that time. Jesus’ mother approaches him, “They have no more wine.” I often ask people who are exploring the Christian faith, or those who are interested in learning more about who Jesus is, to read the Gospel of John first, and many of them have asked, “Why did Mary tell Jesus about the wine running out; it wasn’t his problem, it was the groom’s family’s problem, it was their shame.” Part of the reason is that Mary knows that Jesus isn’t someone ordinary, he’s God’s Son through the Holy Spirit, he has a compassionate heart, and people matter to him. Yet there’s more to this story that became clearer as I did some research on the references in the Bible about wine, especially in the Old Testament.

Jesus tells his mother, “My hour has not yet come;” he’s preparing to engage why he’s come, but that’s going to happen according to his timing, by listening to his Father’s guidance, not his mother’s, yet Mary still tells the servants to do what Jesus tells them to do. Mary also seems to have a sense of the Father’s timing. Now comes the part of the story that we often focus in on, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.” The stone jars were used for ceremonial washing, everyone was to wash at least their hands before eating, as the Pharisees observed Jesus’ disciples not always doing in Matthew 15, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” On the night before Jesus was crucified, he went even further than washing hands, he washed the feet of his disciples, reminding Peter when he protested, that physical washing is a sign of something deeper, of the state of our souls, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

Now Jesus doesn’t seem to do anything; he doesn’t pray over the water in the jars, he doesn’t perform any ritual over the jars, he doesn’t lay hands on the jars, he simply tells the servants, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They do as Jesus says. I wonder whether the servants, when they drew the water out of these jars used normally for purification, noticed that the water has been changed, that it’s now wine. Now this isn’t everyday wine; when the master of the banquet tastes it, he calls the bridegroom over, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” Jesus transforms bland water into the finest of wines; the best of the best.

It echoes back to all those passages in the Old Testament that connect wine to divine blessings. Genesis 27:28, we hear Isaac blessing Jacob, “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.” In Deuteronomy 7:13, Moses is looking ahead with Israel to God’s blessings in the Promised Land, “He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.” In Proverbs 3:9–10, King Solomon calls the people to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Jesus’ miracle is a blessing to the bride and groom, taking away their shame, blessing them in his generosity.

Jesus’ generosity also echoes back to the prophets. The prophets were given the task of calling the people back to God, bringing warnings of punishment or consequences for the people if they don’t. Israel had a tendency to focus on what they didn’t have rather than the blessings God has poured out on them, making them vulnerable to the lies of the gods of the day. We’re not much different, easily tempted to focus on what we don’t have and then suckered in by marketers promises to give us everything we want, as long as we give them our loyalty and attention. Are you someone who sees first your blessings, or are your eyes drawn to what you don’t have: eyes shaped by scarcity or blessing? This will shape your relationship with Jesus! When you’re aware of all God’s blessings, your faith grows stronger, but you also become more generous and kind towards others.

But the prophets also brought messages of hope, renewal, and reconciliation after their time of punishment, pointing ahead to the Day of the Lord and the coming Messiah. Amos points to restoration in 9:11–13 using the image of new wine flowing from the mountains, “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter—I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the Lord, who will do these things. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.” Joel shares a very similar image in 3:18, “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.” Isaiah picks up on this too in 25:6, “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.” The prophets point to a God who doesn’t just give us what we need or ask for, but a God who is willing to pour out his blessings in ways we can’t even imagine!

Yet it’s important to remember that Jesus didn’t always perform miracles when asked. In his hometown of Nazareth, the people’s disbelief in him prevented him from performing healing miracles, when he was tempted by Satan, Jesus refuses to use his miraculous power to satisfy his personal needs. John calls Jesus’ miracle a sign, something that points to a deeper truth beyond itself. This sign, as John says, “revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” This is why we have been given the Scriptures, why Jesus sent his Spirit, so that we might believe in him as the Messiah who comes to pour out blessings like mountain streams!

In turning water into wine, Jesus is pointing back to the prophets and Old Testament, giving them a glimpse that God is at work here; reminding them of those passages that point to the Day of the Lord and the coming Messiah; that Jesus is the Messiah offering them a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven, of the generosity and quality of the gifts from God. We’re given glimpses of Jesus’ character, of the generosity of his grace, of his hospitality as seen in his welcoming all those who believe in him, of the outpouring of forgiveness as seen in the man brought to him on a mat for healing when Jesus’ heals him by first offering forgiveness and then physical healing; how Jesus’ gifts are so superior to the gifts the world offers. Jesus gives his life as a gift on the cross, resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ greatest gift as our saviour is the gift of his life given for our sin, so that we can have reconciliation with God the Father and be adopted into his family as his beloved children. We see Jesus use this experience at the wedding to give us an image of what the kingdom of heaven is like; a time and place of celebration where God’s blessings pour out like the finest of wines on his people. As children on God, allow his blessings to flow through you into our community, giving them a taste of the kingdom of heaven.