12/16/23 – [John 12:44-50] – The Final Challenge – It is an old plot line. The final show-down between arch-opponents. The hero and villain have been plotting against each other throughout the story. All other battles have been fought, the central figures appear: Good versus evil. We know how it ends, but we are not certain. The subject is different, the theme is constant, even in the greatest story ever told.
That is true, if one has the eyes to see. (Bro. Arthur) We still have not seen Jesus and Pilate face to face. Pilate is not the villain. Nor is Caesar. The real villain is the darkness. The darkness will take possession of one of Jesus’ friends – Judas. [13:27, 30] At the end of [12] John lays out the challenge that Jesus has presented to the people of Israel from the beginning: The light has come into the world, shining in the darkness, the darkness has not overcome it. The light has been with them, inviting them to make their own (light) and walk in it … so they will not stumble. Jesus is the light of the world; who opens eyes literally and metaphorically.
Light shines through Him and there is enough light for the whole world, but not all people will to see it. Why: embarrassing, shaming, or too challenging? For those who elect to remain in the darkness Jesus has strange words, a new challenge and warning. He did not come to judge the world; He came to save it. God loved the world so much He did not send a low-ranking sub: He did not send a long message. He loved the world so much that He came in person. In the person of His own son: The word made flesh (incarnate) so He could save the world in Person. That was/is what Jesus is all about! This meant the light would shine brightly and the shadows darker. When light is murky, people can wander between semi-light and semi-darkness: not noticing the difference. But … when it shines brightly; shadows are more noticeable and darker. When the light is bright even though its purpose is rescuing and healing; of loving people back to life it means when people chose darkness there can be no question, - that that is what they have chosen!
The result is clear. When Jesus speaks the words of love, God’s words, that heal the world; the people who reject those words will find themselves not confronted by Jesus himself, but by the very words, the words, they have heard and pretended they did not hear. The very words themselves will be the judges – and condemn them. The words will have this power because the Father has instructed Jesus what to say. Jesus affirms He is speaking the words His Father gave to Him. People who believe Jesus - are believing God. They look at Him and see who He truly is: as if looking in a mirror and seeing God’s reflection. Jesus is with His disciples and they withdraw from the crowd.
Is John’s construct a clever fiction? Historical questions are always open. Research must continue. But … if John is right then the real reason for the doubt is the fear that maybe it is true. What if Jesus was the living mouthpiece of the living God? What if seeing Jesus meant seeing the Father. What would it mean that hearing the words and not believing them means the words would return in judgement. This is the last time Jesus speaks to the crowds. The next time He will be before Pilate, a prisoner. But Jesus is already on trial. [12] He is staring into the darkness and the darkness is staring back. It is decision time – whose side are you on?
[John 13:1-11] – Washing the Disciples Feet – Who among us has washed anyone’s feet? Job? Spouse? Family Member? Friend? Stranger? An act of holy intimacy. Feet are basic, hidden, mundane and personal. Washing between another's toes is an intimate act. This passage and the act itself is a mixture of love and down to earth. In this case, it is the beginning and end: it begins the process of Christ’s passion and it ends Christ’s work, His last goal, the climax. “… now He loved them right through to the end.” [13:1]
John brightly packs much in these verses [13:1-3] First – Passover, if John mentions a Jewish festival, he wants us to realize Jesus applies it to Himself. Passover is the greatest: The sacrificial lamb [1:29, 36]; destruction of the Temple and rebuilding (His body) [2:19-21]; Fed the crowds and spoke of feeding them His body and blood [6]; Back in Jerusalem for the final Passover, the actual meal is not described, but from some of our traditions we have the institution of the eucharist. Second – Jesus’ time has come [12:23, 27]; Jesus sees the moment dawning, …, imagine that moment. John describes, ‘this time’ and sets up the ideas that Jesus will explore in ensuing chapters. ‘Time’? It is for Jesus to leave this world and go to the Father.
We must be careful. It was not – ‘Jesus died and went to heaven’, [20:17] After Jesus died, He is first raised to a new life, meets the disciples and then goes to the Father. Complex and unexpected: ‘going to the Father’ is a process. Think - ladder from this world to the Father’s world. Think - acted words. Think - a way home that the son of God must travel. Third – More importantly for John - what is done is done as the action of supreme love. Think – ‘good shepherd’ [10] a shepherd loves his sheep; they love him and the greatest thing is a shepherd can lay down his life. John says ‘He loved them right through to the end’. Not a tough it out love, but loving them to the utmost. There was nothing love could do that He did not now do.
We come to Judas: the devil’s whisper gains an opening. The devil creeps in, gains a foot-hold during an event with unlimited love. A story - love betrayed. The full story appears in one verse [3] The Word was with God, The Word who was God, became flesh. He put a-way the clothes of glory and put on our human nature so that He might wash our feet. He came from God and was going to God. [Phil.2:5-11]. Did He wash their feet despite the fact He came from God. No! He washed their feet because He had come from God. The foot washing, pointed to the crucifixion. Jesus was showing us who God was and is. The next time Jesus will change clothes, will be to make Him – ‘the man’ the King. [19:5] He will be naked on the cross, revealing the Father’s heart as He gives His life for the world.
The dust up with Peter is internally serious – Jesus must wash us if we are to belong to Him. But He has washed us already, when He called us to belong to Him [15:3] What we need, daily, is a washing of those parts of ourselves – personalities and bodies that get dusty and dirty. When Peter objects to Jesus’ washing, he is objecting to Jesus going to the cross. [Mark 8:32] All the disciples failed to fully grasp what Jesus has to do. We must keep our eye on Peter, Peter and Jesus, and their conflict(s). The image of Jesus washing Peter’s feet reminds us that we, as His followers, must do as Jesus did. AMEN
Love, Hank
Cell: 541-973-5442
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