ONEFAMILY Outreach

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ONEFamily Outreach exists to "Connect Kids to Community and Communities to Kids." Have you considered having a mission week for your church? This is one of my favorite "in-depth" ways of reaching out with the Great News of Jesus Christ. Activities can include:

Interactive and participative praise concerts for children, youth, and families;
Morning staff studies on "Authentic Leadership" and "Building a Culture of Intentional Courtesy"
Brown-Bag Luncheon Studies for your community focusing on our scriptural call to justice;
In-service for your volunteers or teachers on reaching today's youth and families with the vibrant, living, message of Jesus Christ;
Evening parent seminars based upon two of Jerry's recent books: "Significant Conversations: Helping Young People Live Meaningful Lives," and "The Deepest Longing of Young People; Loving Without Conditions."
Local networking with other area groups (secular or faith-based) regarding prevention and intervention strategies for high-risk and incarcerated youth;
Humorous and thought-provoking school assemblies (secular or religious, elementary through high school).

ONEFamily Outreach is primarily supported by your donations and by trainings, workshops, retreats and concerts.

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“He Loved Them To The End”

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Holy/Maundy Thursday

April 05, 2007

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

John 13:1-17

[Jn 13:1 NASB] 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. [2] During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, [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, [4] *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

[5] Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. [6] So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” [7] Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” [8] Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” [9] Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” [10] Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” [11] For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

[12] So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? [13] “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. [14] “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. [15] “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. [16] “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. [17] “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

John 13:31b-35

[Jn 13:31b NASB] “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; [32] if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. [33] “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ [34] “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:1

Jesus knowing that His hour had come

It is important to all the Gospel writers to let us know that Jesus was not taken by surprise on that Good Friday so many years ago. His apostle’s were stunned, but that was only because they were deluded with visions of grandeur. They were scrambling for position in a biased, self-centric, image they had created of the upcoming kingdom and that is at the heart of this story.

To the disciples, the masses were following Jesus, the religious were intimidated publicly, and the Passover crowd was ready to crown a new king. Three of the apostle’s had even seen Jesus transfigured, consulting with Moses and Elijah. All that was left was to call down the angels and they, the apostle’s, would be at the apex of the jihad.

This is the attitude of those gathered at the beginning of the Passover supper. Everyone but Judas, who had already sold out Jesus and thought he was fooling Jesus with his conspiracy, were gathered at what they thought would be their quintessential “pep rally.”

Instead, something very different was about to occur.

John 13:2-5

[2] During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, [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, [4] *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

[5] Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

Taking a towel, He girded Himself

In Christ’s time, men would gird themselves for a fight or battle. To gird yourself, you would reach between your feet, take the back hem of your robe and, drawing it through your legs, tuck the back hem into your front belt. This left your legs free for quick lateral movements or fast running.

Elisha girds the Sons of the Prophets for a great and challenging mission [2 Kings 9:1] and God tells Job “gird up your loins like a man,” before he questions him about just who is in charge of the universe [Job 38:3 & 40:7].

Jesus is girding himself for a battle as well, a battle for our salvation. In the struggle for positions, all those present ignored the role of servant. They didn’t forget it, this was a major social faux pas, and they intentionally turned away from this task.

People wore sandals on the dirty roads of Christ’s time. The grime of the day would accumulate on one’s feet and, prior to walking into any household, the sandals would be removed and the feet washed. This was normally the role of the youngest, John the author of this Gospel, which is maybe why he remembers the incident so vividly. However, in lieu of John’s response, the task would fall to anyone in the chain of command, up to, but not including Jesus, the teacher. For Jesus to gird his robe and take on the servant’s role, well, it should never have happened. It only happened because of the petty selfishness of every other person in that room.

How disappointingly often I am like those twelve. I don’t want to lose my place in line with the proud so I ignore my responsibility to serve and, instead think only, “What about me?”

“Jesus, help me have your servant’s heart.”

John 13:5-11

“Never shall You wash my feet!”

Peter, caught in his pride and foolishness, overreacts to Christ’s actions by first, refusing to be washed, and second, asking to be completely bathed. What he doesn’t do is offer to wash Jesus’ or anyone else’s feet. This is nothing but an act of show and pride on Peter’s part; it is anything but a sincere sign of humility.

This type of false piety was one of the reasons Jesus condemned the religious of his day:

Matthew 6:5

6 ”But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

The enormity of Jesus’ battle for the soul of his followers is revealed in this incident. Already, after a few heady days, they have lost their focus on service and substituted it with delusions of grandeur.

Yet, it begs me to ask, “What am I ‘getting’ out of following Jesus?”

· Is it a social trip?

· A power trip?

· A control trip?

· An ego trip?

Or, am I following Christ in broken humility, filled with gratitude, ever-seeking one more way in which I might serve him today?

John 13:12-17

“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

There are times when the most important act a leader can take is the least desired job in an organization. A CEO who finds a dirty toilet in the lobby of his company and not only says, “This is unacceptable,” but grabs a toilet brush and disinfectant has just created a corporate legend. The message he just sent is, “Nothing is beneath me when it involves our customers.”

Jesus was showing these apostles that nothing is beneath a leader in the new kingdom; not foot-washing, not death.

He also drastically taught them that he would never send them to do any task that he wouldn’t do first. This was one of the most dramatic examples and statements about Christ-centered leadership ending with the proclamation; “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

This wasn’t meant to be an annual show of Christian leadership held once-a-year on Maundy Thursday. Indeed, each day someone washes feet in real and metaphorical forms around our world and in our neighborhoods. Someone cleans diapers of the sick or elderly, washes the wounds of dying AIDS children, or listens to story of a rape victim in a battered woman’s shelter. It is the role of the Christ-centered leader to find these people and not wait for them to show up in church. The truth is, “if we don’t seek them, they will not come,” and far too many church-goers are comfortable with the absence of the vulnerable.

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

Jesus tells us we will be blessed [GN3107 makarios] if we do these things. It means we will be fortunate. How will we be fortunate?

1. First, we can never “outgive” God. The more we love “in his name,” the greater our joy.

2. Second, to say, “we will be blessed,” also implies that we won’t be cursed. Jesus expresses this in his confrontation with the religious leaders of his time:

Luke 11:42-44

42 ”But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 ”Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 44 “Woe to you! For you are like *concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

We are blessed when we serve and cursed when we expect to be served.

Nothing could be truer about life in general or relationships in particular. Relationships die when one person says, “What about me?” and thrive when both parties ask, “What can I do for you?”

Communities and global relationships are no different; selfishness always has a victim and should never find a home in the Christ-Centered heart. If we want to be blessed, we must serve.

John 13:31b-35

[31b] “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; [32] if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.”

“Now is the Son of Man Glorified”

When was the Son of Man glorified? It was at this meal with his disciples when he chose to be a servant and to give thanks [GN2168 eucharisteo] that his body and blood could become a gift for God. Our greatest glory will likewise be found in the moments we allow ourselves to be “blessed and broken” for God and specifically in service to his people.

If there is no joy in my life, no “blessing,” I need look no further than this reading. Despite what our contemporary culture tries to tell us, there is no joy is self-focus.

John 13:33-35

[33] “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ [34] “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“A New Commandment I Give to You”

A commandment is neither an option nor a suggestion. It is an order, a dictate, a decree; it is a commissioning, a mission, and a framework for living. We are called to love like Jesus loved and that is to be the trait by which the entire world should be able to identify us. Not by our words, not by our robes, not by our degrees, and not by where we spend an hour on Sunday morning, but by our radical, life-altering, unconditional love.

So, how did Jesus love?

· Through unconditional acceptance;

· and unconditional dignity.

· Through uncompromising service;

· and complete and total sacrifice.

In Scripture the words “Agapé and Agapao” are used in reference to the type of love Jesus both offers us and commissions us to offer others. There were four words for love in the Greek language. Eros, was passion, or erotic love, more akin to what we would call lust or a totally self-serving relationship. Philos was brotherly love, the type of love we might have for someone we collaborate with or with whom we share a mission. Patrios, was a love of country or homeland, a patriotic love. However, agapé was a complete love that had no selfishness or conditions attached to it. It is one of the most frequently used terms in the Gospels only surpassed by its verb form, agapao, which is also a point of interest to study. When it came to Jesus, “to love” was more important that “to define” love.

One of the greatest defects in our society is that we do not know how to love “like Jesus loved.” We are more prone to “performance-based acceptance,” than we are to offering others “unconditional dignity.” This simply means treating another with dignity regardless of how they behave towards me. Because our culture is so based in “having” and “doing,” we simply have very few models of being loved without attaching it “what can you do for me?”

This is why Jesus speaks about service and love as inherently united. He uses foot-washing as an example, and says that we are most free when we are most able to serve, then he “orders” his followers to love in this self-abandoning manner.

This is our new model for living and washing one another’s feet is the way that Jesus displays it. On that Passover evening, the last person who should have been washing feet was Jesus Christ. But he didn’t see it that way. In the reversed values of God’s kingdom, it is the one who serves who is liberated.

Jesus’ ministry begins with the mission, “I have come to be good news to the poor,” and ends it with the commission, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He begins with love and ends with service or, as John so aptly put it; “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.”