In our current series of blogs,
we will look together at John 13.1-30 and see what a church that loves God’s people looks like.
When
Jesus finished washing the disciples feet in the upper room, he puts on his
clothes and returns to his place, and asks, (v.12), ‘do you know what I’ve done for
you?’. I’ve shown you what life
is about…humanity 101…here it is. This
is who you are – a creature made in my image, you are a servant, committed to
the good of others.
Those
cleansed by Jesus blood are called to serve each other. That is his nature. And we, now covered in his blood, are to look
the same.
Back
to our question from the second blog in this series, what do you live for? Jesus answer – I live to serve, I’m
calling you to join me. Here is where
blessing is found. And any presumptions
that such a life is beneath my station fades when I realise that the one before
whom every knee will bow, is bent before me to wash me. I have every reason to join him and none to
refuse.
Jesus
says, you are to do likewise. Bend the
knee, take off your dress-up king outfit
that you parade through this world in, grab a towel and wash each others feet.
But,
here is the danger for us. To hear these
calls of discipleship and offer a hearty ‘Yes’ to them – a servant…absolutely…of
course…count me in!
But,
in the muck of life as a church, surrounded by people who are prone to sin
(like us), people prone to let others down, as we are, people that are hard to
serve, hard to love, we find our heart
to follow…to go do likewise…is weak.
And
beyond the church, in the relentless pattern of normal life, how on earth can I
go an do likewise? I barely manage to care for myself, let alone others…
And in this weakness and in
this self absorption, we start to see that our heart is not like Jesus. Our heart is more like the other heart
revealed in these verses – Judas…
Here are three things about
Judas’ heart, that we find in our own, that make it hard to follow Jesus here:
- His heart is committed to betraying Jesus – self-rule, which of course leads to self-serving
- His heart is a selfish heart – John 12
- His heart is an ignorant heart – destructive…miscalculating self-love. Jesus is worth more than the whole universe He created and yet Judas sells Him for a 30 pieces of silver. It is a breathtakingly foolish exchange. Only someone who has no idea what they are giving up would do that.
It is the same for those who
rather than heed his word to ‘come follow’ here in John 13…would hold back…play
it safe…and cling to to the cheaper prize of self-protection…self-love.
How can we have a heart that
loves like Jesus…not Judas?
