At the start of the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus does more than teach the practical way we’re to live as his followers. He exemplifies it. We’re to follow his example in serving others. That’s not redemptive but expresses the experience of redemption in following Jesus. He considered service essential for living as his disciples. Without humble service we fail to resemble Jesus.
All Scripture is authoritative. But not all Scripture affects our souls with the same weight.
We read the stories of Bezalel building the tabernacle, Jabez praying for God’s blessing, and Benaiah killing a lion on a snowy day. We read biblical narratives with interest. We learn from them, see aspects of the gospel, and watch them pointing to Jesus. There’s weight in these stories. They are part of the Bible’s grand narrative to instruct, reveal God’s mercy, and display God’s glory.
Yet reading Jesus’ teaching weighs much heavier on disciples’ attention for application. That doesn’t lessen the importance of other portions of Scripture. Instead, they provide a backdrop to the central focus of God’s Word concerning Jesus Christ as the culmination of God’s revelation. Furthermore, when reading the words and teaching of Jesus just before he goes to the cross, disciples pay much closer attention, knowing that every word uttered at that stage of his earthly journey bears eternal significance. We don’t want to miss anything.
In those last hours, for instance, Jesus tells the disciples about preparing an eternal place for the redeemed, the indwelling Holy Spirit revealing Christ, and recognition of his disciples by love. That’s critical to understanding the nature of how the redeemed live.
At the start of the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus does more than teach the practical way we’re to live as his followers. He exemplifies it. We’re to follow his example in serving others. That’s not redemptive but expresses the experience of redemption in following Jesus. He considered service essential for living as his disciples. Without humble service we fail to resemble Jesus.
John Sets the Stage
John 13:1–4 provides a long introduction to set the stage for Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. John could have just plunged in and told about Jesus washing feet. But he knew the importance of considering what Jesus consciously understood about himself before stooping to wash a dozen sets of dirty feet.
The key phrase, “His hour had come,” points to everything told by the Gospel writers at that point (and the Old Testament) had come to an earth shaking crescendo (John 13:1 NASB). Jesus understood he was God in the flesh, had come forth from the Father, and with his mission soon to culminate, he would return to the Father. He knew Psalm 2, 110, and Isaiah 53 were finding fulfillment in Him. “The Father had given all things into His hands” (John 13:13). He understood God’s promises: the woman’s seed would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15), Abraham’s descendant would bless the nations (Gen. 12:3), and David’s son would reign forever (2 Sam. 7:16). Jesus understood the Old Testament was about Him (John 5:39).
The whole creation aimed for this moment when the Son of God would become sin-bearer for the redeemed. And he knew, he had “loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Such inexpressible love kept Jesus focused on the cross where he would bear our sins before the wrath of the Father, but not before he washed dirty feet.
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