Over the months
and years, whenever we discussed John we knew we were being asked to listen
carefully to his words and phrases; what they revealed often defied literal interpretation.
Reading John, not unlike reading poetry required the need to rest with them as the
“personification” of the word became
flesh in us, as they “circumvented” our intellect and went straight to our
heart. In John, the understanding of any key word eventually leads to all the
key words. They draw meaning from each other, or more accurately, from their
connections to the words and works of Christ. They resist definition, serving
more as “signs” to Christ.
John
was never interested in providing an historical account of Jesus’ life; he left
that to the others. He was more interested in Jesus’ divinity. Yet and not
ironically for him, John uses this gospel, John 13:1-17, 31b-35 to reveal Jesus’ divinity by emphasizing his
humanity in some of the most human and visceral of all experiences: the washing
of feet and the sharing of a meal.
Thus, Jesus’ command to love, tied to the example of
the foot washing, lies at the heart of this day. The passage reveals that
Jesus’ actions are intentionally shaped as acts of love meant as examples to
be followed. Yet in life, not everyone readily accepts Jesus’ love. John
uses Peter, the disciple closest to him to show the difficulties humans may
encounter. Peter’s first words seem simply incredulous, “Lord, are you going to
wash my feet?” Jesus’ act is socially inappropriate and incomprehensible, and
Peter means to dissuade him of such foolishness. Yet why is Peter not bothered
that Jesus offers others such a sign of love? What is John telling us? What is
Jesus teaching us?
Sharing in Jesus involves being served by him, even in
so lowly and intimate an act as foot washing. Jesus commands us to “love one
another” by his actions. As such, he focuses our attention on foot washing as
an example of Christian love and captures the essence of “just as I have loved
you.”
Judas’s presence at the supper also serves to remind us
that the example Jesus sets is not simply one of service to an elite group of
believers. Including Judas in the washing of feet and the sharing of the meal
helps us understand that this sharing is not just reserved for those he loved
“to the utmost;” the love for “one another” is understood to include even those
others we might prefer to forget and disassociate.
John makes sure that we know that the glorification of
Son for Father is not just something between Father and Son alone; it does not
stop with Christ. The capacity to glorify God extends to Christ's followers and
is laid upon believers as we are empowered to do the same works that Christ
did. What is true for Jesus is true for us.
What Jesus did on the last night before he died wasn't
all that different from what he did throughout his ministry. That's one of the
many reasons we say that Jesus was the perfect human being. As the Incarnation
of God and living his full humanity, Jesus lived out who he was fully.
John presents Jesus at the end of his earthly experience
in all his humanity: Was he afraid? Was he angry? Was he lonely? While we have
no way of knowing, we can only assume in his having lived his life fully human,
it’s likely these thoughts and emotions were real.
What we do know is that when Jesus had every reason to
feel all of those things, he stayed with the community -- including his
betrayer -- and cleansed, and cared, and forgave, and broke bread.
What
would our lives, our churches, our denominations, our nations, our world be
like if we were to embrace and express our humanity in God's image as Jesus
did? Do this. Do this and remember.
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