I got the news early this morning that our puppy, Biscuit, had left many deposits on the floor of the laundry room that he makes his nighttime abode in. After getting dressed and showered (in reverse order), I cleaned up the mess. Now, I've developed a real intolerance to that stench -- to the point that I'll retch and barf at the smell (there's gotta be a mental toughness trick I can pull to get past that), so I plugged my nose with my left hand and went to work with my right. At times I had to tear apart paper towels, and I risked letting go of my nose real quick to tear the towel and then get it back to pinching my nostrils shut. What I discovered is that there is a slight delay time after having plugged your nose before it will start smelling again -- even after letting go of the "pinch." And that, my friends, is the lesson of the day: that your nose will stay "shut up" for a short period after you let go from squeezing it shut for a time.
But there is some text in John 13 worth discussing, too. Jesus shares one last meal with His disciples and during the meal He got up and did something incredible. He took off His outer clothing, which implies He had on some underwear of sorts, and wrapped a towel around His waist. Then He washed his disciple's feet and then used the towel to dry them. This, to me, is the epitome of humility. Imagine a grown man buck naked (or down to his scivvies) bent over and washing feet! That is a humbling picture. Because these guys walked everywhere, their feet were probably pretty stinky and dirty. His job of cleaning up was true servanthood, not letting the "lowliness" of the job effect Him or deter Him. When He finished, He told His disciples to do the same -- wash one another's feet. We should do the same.
I have to warn you, though, trying to obey this command will bring about some embarrassment. In our independent culture, healthy people don't want to be 'bathed" or "cleaned" by someone else. People will actually get offended if you try to wash their feet. The best setting for this, of course, is similar to that of the setting we read about here. Around mealtime and in the relaxed atmosphere of communion, perhaps, prayer and Bible reading. People will be more likely to "obey" or be willing to open up to this experience if they hear in Scripture that it is commanded. It can be a real touching and beautiful thing. I imagine that, if we regulated this tradition that it might lose some of its tenderness and humble appeal, but we don't really know. Not many denominations or traditions follow this guideline. I genuinely wish that more did. It is a beautiful and biblical thing.
We can also see in this chapter another reference to the author as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." This does not have to be seen as an arrogant ploy to set himself up above the other disciples, though it may have been just that. But perhaps it was truly his revelation shining through in his writing -- that Jesus really truly loved and valued him. This is true of us all; and if we are believers in Christ and have been transformed by His personal forgiveness of our sins, then we, too, can refer to ourselves as "the disciple whom Jesus loved."
Peter asked John to ask Jesus who the lousy culprit was that would betray Him. Jesus replied, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." I've always thought that weird that the whole room didn't rise up in an emotional roar at this revelation. It probably didn't happen because Jesus probably whispered this to John and Peter. Therefore, when Jesus gave Judas the bread and the devil himself entered him and he left, no one understood what was going on. I guess John may have meant that "no one ELSE IN THE ROOM BESIDES ME AND PETER understood..."
Maybe that's it...
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 8, 2005 09:23 AM