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Secrets of the Last Supper

Published July 12, 2014 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Holy Communion, The Last Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

In most Protestant churches, there are two ordinances: water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Of the two, the latter has been called “the heirloom of the Christian Church.” And that’s a perfect way to think of it. Consider the emblems the Lord’s Supper; they are homey and simple – bread and wine (or juice as a substitute). Bread is the staple of life and together with either wine or juice, can be found in most any home in any part of the world.

Yet as commonplace as bread and wine are, in the hands of our Lord they embody the most profound facts of the Christian faith. The bread becomes His Body and the wine His Blood. In symbolic fashion, they come to represent Christ’s character and His mission.

Most churches when they celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Communion, read this passage of Scripture, which contains words Paul received from the Lord and which he has passed on to the believers in Corinth, and ultimately to us. Let’s consider what Jesus thought of His Supper.

Preamble

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you… (1 Corinthians 11:23a KJV)

Part of being a member of the church is understanding the importance of the Lord’s Supper. It may be an observance – a memorial – but it is a significant one. There is a right way and wrong way to celebrate it, and apparently some members of the Corinthian church were observing in the wrong way.

When you come together to eat, it isn’t the Lord’s Supper you are eating, but your own. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21a TLB)

In other words, some in the church were celebrating the Lord’s Supper (a good thing) their own way (a bad thing). It’s all well and good to be obedient to the Lord and to support your church, but it has to be done God’s way, not your own. Nobody has the right to approach God any old way. If you’re going to do what God wants you to do, then you have to do it His way, not yours. That, of course, takes discipline and a commitment to actually knowing what God wants.

Believers are guests at the Lord’s table, and as such ought to behave as guests. It’s a solemn occasion for we are not only remembering what Jesus did for us, we are commemorating the establishment of a new covenant of grace.

The Incarnation

…That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread…and said, This is my body… (1 Corinthians 11:23b, 24b KJV)

As an interesting sidelight, Paul used a Greek verb in the imperfect tense to describe the act of betrayal. That whole night was an act of betrayal; what Judas did lit the fuse that ended at the Cross. And in the midst of this betrayal came what have to call, “the Last Supper.”

Jesus said of the bread, “This is my body…” Depending on what denomination you belong to, you either take that phrase literally – that is, the bread mystically turns into the Body of Christ, or you take it symbolically – the bread represents the Body of Christ. Since the days of the Reformation, theologians have discussed what Jesus meant, and I seriously doubt that I can contribute anything new to that discussion. But I will say this: that piece of bread Jesus held in hand was just that – a piece of bread. It remained a piece of bread that represented His body. This, by the way, is nothing new in Scripture. Think about that dove the descended on Jesus during His baptism. We know the dove wasn’t really the Holy Spirit, it merely represented the Holy Spirit, just as the bread represents Christ’s earthly body. In fact, it represents the Incarnation:

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” (Hebrews 10:5-7a NIV84)

That’s a marvelous testimony! The Son of God took on, not the body or nature of angels, but the “likeness of sinful flesh.”

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man…(Romans 8:3a NIV84)

Our Lord took the body prepared for Him by the Father so that He could become the visible sacrifice for the sins of the world. And the most marvelous part of this story is that Jesus did it on His own – of His own free will!

...but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:7 NIV84)

Notice the words Paul used: [Jesus] made himself… Nobody and nothing forced Jesus to do what He did: not His Father and not even the circumstance of man’s sinful condition. What Jesus did He did based on a decision He Himself made.

The taking of the bread as a symbol of His body was also a voluntary act.

Jesus’ devotion

And when he had given thanks… (1 Corinthians 11:24a KJV)

This is a remarkable thing Jesus did. He didn’t just say grace and pass the food around the table. Remember, the bread He held in His hand – the bread He gave thanks for – was an emblem of His body. In essence, Jesus gave thanks to His Father for a body that was about to be broken and bruised and hung up on a Cross!

Or to put it another way, our Lord thanked God for the privilege of suffering and ultimately dying for a sick, sinful, guilty, and thankless humanity.

Talk about devotion to a cause! This was it! For Jesus, there was no turning back; He knew He was born for this very moment, and He whole heartedly embraced it.

“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18 NIV84)

His suffering

…he brake it… (1 Corinthians 11:24b KJV)

These three words are pregnant with meaning. Remember, Paul was not in the Upper Room during the Last Supper. What we’re reading here is not an eye witness account but, rather, a direct revelation from the Lord. These three words are of vital importance because they show, among other things, that Jesus was in full control of everything happening during this night of betrayal. He gave thanks, and He broke it. Jesus didn’t give the piece of bread to Judas to break, He broke it Himself. He gave HIMSELF as a sacrifice for our sins.

…Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2 NIV84)

Jesus did what He did because He loved us. We were unloveable and He still loved us. We were sinners who couldn’t care less about Jesus, and He still loved us.

What our Lord went through in His suffering and death was completely voluntary. He decided what He would do, and when He would do it. He broke the bread.

His substitution

Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:24c KJV)

One the very eve of His death, our Lord spoke prophetically about what was going to happen to His physical body. It would be broken. It would be nailed to a Cross. Notice: it would be broken for YOU. In other words, what was about to happen to Jesus should happen to each of us. He suffered – His body was broken, not accidentally but on purpose – in our place.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 NIV84)

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:7-8 NIV84)

Not only His body, but the wine of His blood was shed for our redemption. It signed the New Covenant.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood… (1 Corinthians 11:25a KJV)

Again, “He took the cup.” Nobody else took it; He did. His blood was not accidentally poured or spilled out; it was deliberately shed, and because it was, it changed our lives forever.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV84)

When you take Communion, do you ever think about that? The blood of Jesus made us children of God.

His invitation

Take, eat… (1 Corinthians 11:24c KJV)

...this do…in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:25b KJV)

The Atonement was made by the actions of one Man: the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it all by His suffering and death. But after that, after Atonement had been made, an invitation was issued: take and eat. In other words, sinners must partake of the benefits provided. All the work of Jesus on the Cross comes to nothing unless a sinner partakes of them. The benefits of the Atonement must be appropriated before they can work in a sinner’s life. Jesus doesn’t spoon-feed anybody! That’s our responsibility.

However, there is absolutely no virtue in just eating and drinking. There must be remembering. That’s the very soul of this ordinance. We must remember Jesus and what He did. The elements of bread and wine are merely the symbols. We have to use our minds to remember what Jesus did.

His purpose

So that’s it? The Lord’s Supper is just a memorial service? Not quite. There is a little more to it:

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death still he come. (1 Corinthians 11:26 KJV)

When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we are sitting at a table that looks in three directions:

It is a commemoration. We are doing it memory of Him. We are looking back to the Cross; remembering what it means.
It’s a communion service. We are in communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit, but we are also in communion with each other. That’s the present view of the table.
It’s a commitment. The communion table also looks to the future: Jesus has committed to come again. The Communion service is temporary; it will end the day He comes back.

By eating the bread and drinking from the cup, we are “proclaiming the Lord’s death.” That means we are testifying to what Jesus did; we are remembering it and publicly witnessing to its reality. We are to do this repeatedly and often.

It’s interesting and not insignificant that our Lord took these two elements, bread and wine, that will spoil and rot and He built a monument. It wasn’t a monument to Himself, but a monument to God’s great plan of redemption. The monument to God’s plan of redemption speaks of Jesus and His work, yet it was made of frailest elements on earth: bread and wine.

JOHN, PART 26

Published September 8, 2010 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Tags: John, The Last Supper

The Night Jesus Was Betrayed, John 13:18—38

Verse 21 really helps us understand how Jesus must have felt during this, His last supper with His friends on Earth—

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit…

Jesus was not at all surprised that Judas was going to the one to betray Him; He had announced it a year earlier—

Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John 6:70)

1. Shame and glory, verses 18—20

Despite knowing in His mind, the fact of that His friend was about to betray Him weighed heavily on our Lord’s heart. The verb “troubled” is the exact same verb used of Jesus’ agitation at the grave of His other friend, Lazarus (11:33) and at the request of the Greeks to see Him (12:27).

There are three aspects of this passage worth noting:

(a) The awful cruelty of the disloyalty of Judas is shown for what it was. Jesus quoted from Psalm 41:9 to illustrate just how cruel and shameful this act of betrayal really was—

Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

This verse stresses the reprehensible character of the sin of betraying a close friend and benefactor. “Eating” another person’s bread and then turning around and kicking him is the sin described in the psalm and condemned.

That is how Ahithophel treated King David, author of Psalm 41. Ahithophel, David’s friend and counselor, had been part of Absalom’s wicked conspiracy against David. Ahithophel was two-faced and a double-crosser. Judas was even worse. (see 2 Samuel 15:12; 16:23; Psalm 55:12—14).

Judas must have been the “perfect actor” and consummate hypocrite. If any of the disciples had known Judas’ true character, he would never have left the room alive that night. As Barclay has noted, “Judas must have had the behavior of a saint and the heart of a devil.”

(b) This passage also stresses the fact that what was happening this night was within the will and purpose of God and that Jesus unquestionably accepted His Father’s will. Jesus was not the victim but the master of His circumstances. He was not going to be killed; He was choosing to die for others.

(c) If this passage stresses the awful disloyalty of Judas, it also highlights the glory of fidelity. Some day, in the not-too-distant future, these same disciples would take the teachings of Jesus to the world, and in doing so, they would become Christ’s ambassadors; His very representatives.

2. Love’s last appeal, verses 21—30

The announcement of Jesus’ betrayal by one of their own startled the disciples. Obviously they hadn’t taken His previous words about His betrayal seriously.

In order to understand fully what happened during this part of the Last Supper, we need to understand that, even up to the last minute, Jesus was trying to appeal to Judas, not condemn Him. The seating arrangement makes this point. The Jews did not sit at a table to eat, they reclined at it. The table would have been a low, U-shaped, solid block, with couches radiating out from it. The place of honor—usually the host—was in the center of the single side. Each of the guests reclined on their left side, resting on their left elbow, leaving their right hand free to eat with. Sitting in such a way, a guest’s head was literally almost resting on the chest of the person to his left. Jesus, reclining on the host’s chair, had John sitting to His immediate right, and Judas reclined to Jesus’ left. In such a position, Jesus and Judas could have carried on a private conversation with nobody overhearing them. In oriental custom, this is why the place to the immediate left of the host was the place of highest honor, reserved for the most intimate friend of the host. Jesus would have had to have invited Judas to take this position. We could well imagine when the disciples filed into the room this night, Jesus walking up to Judas and asking him to sit in the place of honor so “we can have a talk.” Not only that, in that position, John’s head would have almost rested on Jesus’ chest and Jesus’ head on Judas’ chest. This was an indication of the friendship shared between the hypocrite and Jesus.

Simon Peter, hearing that one their number was about to betray their Lord, appealed to his good friend, John, to ask Jesus who the traitor was. Peter was a loyal friend and follower of Jesus who was insatiably curious. Perhaps Peter wanted to know so he could stop the traitor, or maybe he was afraid that he might somehow be the one to betray Jesus.

Jesus said nothing definite as to who the traitor was. He simply said this—

“It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” (verse 26a)

At the moment Judas took the bread, John would have known what Judas was. He may have even indicated that knowledge to Peter. But why did Jesus not simply come out and whisper the answer to John in the first place? Why all the drama with the bread? Hendrikesn:

It was in order to impress upon [Judas] the enormity of his crime, that it might serve as an additional warning. Judas was ready to betray the One out of whose very hand he had been fed.

The devil had put at evil suggestion into Judas’ heart, Judas acted on that suggestion, and now Satan—the Adversary—had fully entered into the heart of Judas. This is always the way Satan works. The moment Judas dipped his bread, his heart had completely hardened; Jesus’ warnings and appeals to Judas had gone unheeded. Jesus was now done with Judas. How that must have broken the heart of our Savior; one of His precious lambs—the only one He called “friend”—had to be let go.

Jesus turned to Judas as said, in effect, “What you are doing, do it faster.” In other words, Jesus dismissed Judas from among His true friends and was now anxious to “get on with it.”

The depth of tragedy in the statement “And it was night” (verse 30)are worth noting. As Judas got up and left his Jesus and the disciples for the last time, the door opened, revealing the darkness of night. John’s four words of observation correspond to what Jesus stated in Luke 22:53—

This is your hour—when darkness reigns.

3. Four-fold glory, verses 31, 32

These verses give us a four-fold glory:

(a) The glory of Jesus had come; that glory is the Cross. The betrayer was now gone and the tension had dissipated and Jesus’ destiny was a certainty. The fact that the Cross was Christ’s glory shows us something very profound: the greatest glory in life comes with sacrifice. The doctors that are remembered are not the ones who made the most money but the ones who gave their lives to ease the pain and suffering of hurting people.

(b) In Jesus, God has been glorified. How did this happen? It was the unquestioning obedience of Jesus which brought glory to God. There is only way a person can demonstrate their loyalty, admiration, and love for their leader: obey them. And Jesus did just that up to the very end.

(c) In Jesus, God glorified Himself. It seems strange that the majesty of Yahweh was revealed in the Incarnation and the Cross! But in Jesus, God demonstrated that He was not aloof and far away; that He was not unmoved and untouched by the suffering of humanity. He showed to all that He the collected prayers of human beings had gone unheard.

(d) God will glorify Jesus Christ. The glory of the Cross was two-pronged. As Jesus died on the Cross, He was glorified, but that wasn’t the end. There was the glory of the Resurrection and the glory of the Ascension to follow. Furthermore, Jesus Christ will be ultimately glorified once and for all time when He returns in His own glory, followed by the army and the saints of Heaven.

5. A farewell command, verses 33—35

In view of what had just happened, Jesus gives His signature teaching on love; specifically a new love—

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (verse 34)

The idea of “loving your neighbor” was not a new command at all; it was as old as the Law of Moses. But to this ancient admonition, Jesus added: “As I have love you.” Imagine what kind of love that is; Jesus’ loved had reached out to Judas who would betray Him and to Peter who would deny Him. This new kind of love, in fact, was so new that Jesus had to invent a new word to describe it! Eros, which is never used in the New Testament, is a Greek word for selfish love. Philia, also a Greek word, refers to friendship and brotherly love, and is used rarely in the New Testament. But here, the word used is agape, a very rare word, never used before the days of Paul. This word, agape, is the word found most often in early Christian literature to describe the very special and unique love that exists within the Church, between fellow believers. It describes the unconditional attachment that God has for His children and that His children ought to have for each other. It is this agape love that must characterize believers; sinners should be able to look at how Christians interact and know that they are people of faith.

6. Struggling loyalty, verses 36—38

What was the difference between Peter and Judas? Judas betrayed Jesus, and Peter, in Jesus’ hour of need, denied Him with oaths and curses. Yet we recoil when hear the name “Judas,” but there is something very lovable when we think about Peter. The difference is simple: Judas made a calculated, deliberate choice to betray Jesus. His action was carried out in the coldest of blood. Peter, on the other hand, was a man who was caught off guard; his denial was not planned or calculated. Peter was literally swept away in dark moments of weakness. The difference between Judas and Peter is this: Judas’ sin was deliberate; Peter’s was the sin of a moment of weakness, which resulted in a lifetime of regret.

If ever there was a contrast in the different kinds of sin, this is it. There is a definite difference between the sin which knows what it is doing and the sin that is the result of a person so weakened by fear or anxiety, or so inflamed about is circumstances, that he doesn’t know what he is doing until it is too late.

The relationship between Jesus and Peter is interesting. People love to talk about “the disciple Jesus loved,” who was John, but the way Jesus worked with Peter bears examination.

(a) Of all the disciples, Jesus knew Peter in his weakness because Peter demonstrated those weaknesses all the time. Peter was always the first one to shoot his mouth off. He was the one who told Jesus what He should do. Peter spoke with his heart, often before using his brain. But Jesus knew Peter was intensely loyal, yet also weak. Jesus knew Peter as he was.

(b) Jesus knew the depth of Peter’s love for Him. Peter, for all his bluster and bungling, loved Jesus and Jesus knew that. Jesus never took Peter’s hurtful behavior or unbelief personally; the real Peter loved Jesus. We would do well to remember that. When people hurt us or disappoint us, we often take that personally. We must always remember that human beings, even when they are born again, are weak and sinful and sometimes their behavior will betray what is really in their hearts. We could avoid a lot heartache if we could treat others the way Jesus treated Peter.

(c) Jesus knew not only what Peter was, but what Peter would become. Only Jesus can see beyond today. Jesus knew Peter would betray Him, but He also knew Peter would become a powerful preacher and defender of the Faith. Only Jesus can see the hero in the coward. Aren’t you glad Jesus sees something special in you? Aren’t you glad Jesus can make you into the kind of person He wants you to be?

Jesus came to give sinners a new life; this new life is the only way to enter into fellowship with Him. This singular truth about salvation by grace was lost on Peter, who thought he could enter God’s presence by dying. We all gain entrance into fellowship with Christ by giving our lives to Him, and in exchange He gives us a wonderful new life, neither deserved nor earned and an opportunity for unbroken fellowship.

(c) 2010 WitzEnd

JOHN, PART 25

Published September 1, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: foot washing, John, The Last Supper

John 13:1—17

John’s Gospel divides up in a very interesting way. In the first 12 chapters, it is clear that that the subject is light. Jesus is the Light of the world, for example; His ministry is out in the open and He is seen teaching great numbers of crowds. Here, beginning with chapter 13, we might say the main subject is love. Jesus loves His own, and much of His teaching is done in private, with His disciples. The last handful of chapters, 18—21, the subject switches to life. Jesus came to bring us life. Jesus is life. Our life comes through His death.

As we study the life and teachings of Jesus as revealed in all four Gospels, we see that Jesus really only gave four major discourses.

The Sermon on the Mount (how to live in the Kingdom);
The Mystery Parables (explaining the Kingdom of Heaven) (Matthew 13);
The Olivet Discourse (explaining the end times) (Matthew 24, 25)
The Upper Room Discourse (private and personal teachings to His disciples) (John 13—17)

The Upper Room Discourse is the longest teaching our Lord gave, and it is arguably His greatest. Of all His teachings, this one probably has the most relevance to Christians because Jesus gave it only to His closest friends—His disciples. By the time of the Passover Feast, He had been pretty much rejected by those who used to follow Him; He had become an enemy of the state and it was now risky being associated with Him. Jesus is on His way to the Cross, and He knows it; He knows His time is short and He chooses to spend His last hours away from the crowds, with His close friends.

1. Theological setting, verses 1—3

This private meal took place before the Passover feast, but John gives us no more details. There is no suggestion that this meal is the Last Supper as found in the Synoptics (Matthew 26:17—20; Mark 14:12—16; Luke 22:7—12), although most Bible scholars believe it was. What John records about this meal is a kind of review and summary of some basic theology of Jesus’.

Jesus knew His hour had come;
Jesus was in total control of the events about to occur;
Jesus loves His own and that love had brought Him to this hour;
Jesus was keenly aware of the relationship He had with His Father.

The theological setting also mentions Judas—

the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. (verse 2)

Up till now, it was “the Jews” who had been in opposition to Jesus and who wanted Him dead. But now, we learn two things: the real power behind the Jew’s hatred of Jesus was Satan; and one of Jesus’ inner circle had been compromised and had become an enemy.

2. Jesus’ self humiliation, verses 4—20

Jesus washing His disciple's feet

After making sure the reader knew that Jesus knew He was no innocent victim of anybody’s schemes, John describes what we call Jesus’ self-humiliation: He washed His friend’s feet. Why did He do that? Why didn’t one of the disciples do it? It was a menial task and not an unusual one. It was very common at meals for feet to be washed as the guests entered the house. It has been suggested that there had been some “place seeking” going on among the 12 (Luke 22:24) and that’s why the job went undone.

However, Jesus was the only One who could perform this ordinary task in order to demonstrate the extra-ordinary symbolism: Jesus was the only One clean enough in the theological and moral sense to cleanse others. He came, as He was demonstrating for His disciples this night in a practical way, to make people clean and holy. He was not teaching His disciples how to wash feet; He was not teaching them to wash each other’s feet; He was teaching them what HE was doing for them in a simple way they could relate to. Some churches have made the “foot washing” ceremony a third ordinance, usually celebrating it during the Communion service. The rationale of these churches is that Jesus wants His followers to demonstrate their humility as He demonstrated His. However reasonable this rationale may see to some, it ignores the real reason why Jesus washed His disciples’ feet (and therefore robs the passage of its power): He was not concerned about their humility per se, He was teaching them about HIS humility. The whole event was choreographed to point them to the Cross, the ultimate expression of humiliation.

However, Peter wasn’t getting it at all—

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (verse 7)

Peter completely missed Jesus’ point. The other disciples were probably as bewildered as Peter was, but they kept their thoughts to themselves. As he had always been in the past, Peter was once again the “mouthpiece” for the whole group.

Our Lord was washing feet as just one part of all the events of this night and the hours that would follow it. The time of the Son of God’s humiliation had arrived, and that humiliation started with His washing feet; it would end with His death on the Cross. The spiritual significance of what Jesus was doing was so deep; it could only be comprehended after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 8 is important for believers to understand—

“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

What did Jesus mean by that? Was He referring to His foot washing? Simply put, only by an action of Jesus Christ can anybody—disciples and modern believers alike—be cleansed of their sins making fellowship with God possible.

This is the Passover Feast, which speaks of Christ’s death. Jesus arose from the Feast, which speaks of His resurrection and Ascension into heaven. After He got up, He tucked His robe into His belt and grabbed a towel, speaking of His continued work on the believer’s half. To this day, He is still cleansing sins and making the sinner fit for fellowship!

How are believers cleansed and continually cleansed today? Consider the following Scriptures—

Psalm 119:9—How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
John 15:3—You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Ephesians 5:25—26—Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.
1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Verse 10 is difficult to understand—

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.”

There are two different Greek words being used in this verse. The first one, louo, has been correctly translated “bathed” by the NIV. The second word is nipto, translated as “wash.” What Jesus is telling His friends is this: At the Cross, all who believe in Him are “bathed” all over. In other words, all their sins are cleaned away (louo). But walking through life, one can get dirty (falling into temptation, for example), like one’s feet get dirty walking on dirt roads. So, even though you take a bath in the morning, you will probably have to wash your feet at supper time (nipto), as He was doing now, for His disciples. This truth, which makes so much sense to us after the fact of the Cross, was rightfully indiscernible to the disciples before the Cross. After the Cross, and especially after the infilling of the Holy Spirit, all that Jesus taught this night was revealed to them.

Finally, Jesus gives His disciples the application of the truth of His foot washing—

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (verses 14, 15)

Jesus had made a general application when He and Peter were talking; all this foot washing was a symbolic shadowing of the work of the Spirit, which would be made possible with His outpouring. But now, He gives a more specific application with verses 14 and 15.

The disciples looked at Jesus as their “Teacher and Lord,” but from now on, Jesus would be their “Lord and Teacher.” Notice that Jesus reverses the order so that He can make an argument from the greater to the lesser. The main thrust of His argument is this: “ If I, even I who is your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then surely you also should continually (present tense) wash each other’s feet.” What is Jesus doing here if not instituting a third ordinance? Has He not just told His disciples that they ought to wash each other’s feet from now on? No, not at all, and here is why.

First, note the use of the present tense of the word “wash” when Jesus said, “you should wash one another’s feet.” The present tense means “all the time” or “constantly.” If you believe Jesus wants you to wash your brother’s feet, then you should be doing it every time you see him, not just once a month at the Communion Service!

Secondly, if the Son of God could take a towel and wash the dirty feet of people far lower in stature than He is, then it should be easy for the disciples to offer loving service of any kind to each other in the spirit of true humility. The “loving service” should not be limited to foot washing!

Jesus is not giving a new commandment here to do exactly what He has done. What He did was for illustrative purposes only; He had given them an example in order that they, on their own, may do what He had done. That is why He added, “I have set you an example.” Jesus has shown them what real humility looks like, and humility is essential if one is to be His friend.

In fact, the only other allusion to foot washing in the New Testament is 1 Timothy 5:10, where it is not seen as a church custom or ordinance, but seems to allude to an act of charity. No, what Jesus is pointing to here is not an outward action, but an inner attitude that reflects His. It was many years later that the apostle Paul gave an excellent teaching and provides an excellent application on precisely what Jesus meant.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5—8) –> the meaning behind the foot washing

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1) –> an application of the deeper spiritual truth behind foot washing

If Jesus could go to the Cross for the purpose of restoring a sinner to a right relationship with God, then we (the disciples specifically, us in application) ought to be willing to do the same. It is an act of humility for those who are right with God to work with one who is not in an effort to restore them, thus being in obedient to Him as He was obedient to His Father.

So far this evening, everything that happened and every word Jesus spoke, was intended to teach His disciples the essence of what He was doing. He was being obedient to His Father. His obedience would result in His humiliation and eventually His death, suggesting that our obedience, as His, would not always be easy or fun. This is something we, as Jesus’ followers, need to be reminded of time and again. Obedience should be a way of life for all of us, whether we enjoy it, look forward to it or not, or understand it fully. We may find it hard or humiliating doing what God wants us to do, but if we would be Christ’s followers, we will be obedient even as He was.

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Posts Tagged 'The Last Supper'

Secrets of the Last Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

JOHN, PART 26

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JOHN, PART 25

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