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NORTHERN STYLE
CREDO
THOUGHTS ON JOHN 13
` It was just before the Passover Feast '
In considering change we could do no more than look at words recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:
" There is a time for everything and a
season for every activity under heaven. "
The background to these words spoken by Solomon was an assembly of people, and our Scriptures open with `The words of the Preacher (or Teacher), son of David . . ' In all Hebrew Scriptures, however, the Book of Ecclesiastes open with `The words of the Koheleth' - which, as well as `Teacher' or `Preacher', is a title for the person who is speaking. This word `Koheleth', however, has another meaning and is used of an Assembler or Convenor, one who is calling people together to hear something of importance. In this case Solomon, who knew and trusted in the Word of the LORD, understood, from what he saw in his circumstances, that the change which was unfoldong was contrary to the Word. The words which open this Credo therefore need to be understood within that context - a change was occurring, something not fully understood that required a total trust and obedience to God's Word. One authoritative Jewish Rabbi said that when occuring at the beginning of a Book of Scripture, this expression `The words of . . .', shows that the people are assembling for a reproof, and in that reproof they were to lay aside wordly thoughts and trust in the God of Israel and in His unconditional Covenant with them. Rabbi Rashi gives this understanding from the opening words of Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and Amos, and with this in mind we can now turn to our `Thoughts on John 13'.
We know, of course, that the world is in a constant state of change, and this is the experience of all who have been born since the time of Adam. The seasons of nature, the change from childhood to maturity, the ageing process of every person - even change within familiar social structures - all of these are accepted changes which are interwoven into a normal life, and even the violent changes brought about by revolution, civil war or natural `acts of God' are accepted and coped with to some degree or other. Yet today there is a sense of a `change in the air' which is causing an almost tangible air of tension that is outside the normal expectancy of change. We constantly hear people talking of `the good old days' . . . `we have had the best years' and so on . . . all of which is looking back to what we feel was a more settled period, and yet we would find that people living in any past period of time would have felt just as insecure as the people of this modern age. However, as we move into the twenty-first century it is certain that this tension will increase.
With that sense of change in mind we step back to the period of time recorded in John 13 when a very significant change indeed was about to take place in the lives of the twelve disciples who were gathered around Jesus at the Passover meal in Jerusalem: (John 13:1-10)
" It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God, so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, `Lord, are You going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, `You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' `No', said Peter, `You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, `Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.' `Then, Lord', Simon Peter replied, `not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.' Jesus answered, `A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.' "
This very familiar passage of Scripture has been used many times in comparing Peter's behaviour to our own impetuosity, and occasionally it has led to a spate of foot-washing ceremonies occurring among the saints as acts of loving humility. Whilst we do not reject either of these understandings, the passage recorded in John 13 needs to be placed in its contextual setting in order to bring out the true significance of what was really happening. We can then apply the central message to our contemporary times - and in doing so we shall see that it is not for the correction of our own impetuous behaviour, neither is it for encouraging acts of loving humility towards each other, but it is a message of changing circumstances. Matthew 26:17 sets the scene:
" On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to
Jesus and asked, `Where do You want us to make preparations for You
to eat the Passover? "
The Passover Sabbath commenced at sundown in accordance with the Jewish understanding of Genesis 1:5: `And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day'. We see this again in the Book of Numbers: (Numbers 9:2-3)
" Make the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate
it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in
accordance with all its rules and regulations. "
Now, in Matthew's Gospel we see that it was just before the commencement of Passover and the disciples were enquiring of Jesus where the place should be for them to meet, for in accordance with the first Passover instructions it had been a Passover meal for each individual family as well as for the whole community of the Hebrew slaves: (Exodus 12:1-4)
" The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt: `This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. "
By the time of Jesus the `family' Passover meal had become a formal Seder Meal (the word `Seder' itself meaning `order'). The form of this meal was set out in the Haggadah, which name has the meaning of `a narration', for the whole Passover Seder Meal was set out with considerable ceremony and ritual, each part of the meal being filled out with acts of great emotional importance as the assembled family was reminded of their forefathers' great deliverance from cruel slavery in Egypt. It was only after this very personal family evening Seder Meal had been eaten that later in the day, according to the Sabbath law, the Passover ceremonies were then carried out in the Temple, as the Passover ceremony now moved from the personal family Seder Meal into the great national Feast for the nation of Israel. (By the time of Jesus the Passover Feast also encompassed the two Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits.) In asking Jesus where they were to make preparation for their Passover meal the disciples were acknowledging Jesus as their Rabbi and head of their `family', for it was customary for a Rabbi to be present at the Seder Meal, although in his absence the male family head would preside. At Passover each family became, as it were, a `mini Temple' as they commemorated the sacrifice that had been necessary to ensure that the Angel of Death passed over their household. The family would therefore assemble with a Rabbi or the family head presiding over the Seder Meal. He would be dressed in rich ceremonial robes with a turban, or mitre, of authority on his head, as befitting the high priestly function he was enacting. We need now, therefore to place this rich ceremonial setting into the Scripture of John 13.
The Passover meal had been held for countless years by the Jewish people, and the disciples would have understood every act that would be performed during that Seder Meal which Jesus presided over at that time. It was not a charismatic act of humility Jesus made when washing His disciples' feet; neither was Peter impetuous in his cry of indignation, for a change had taken place which the disciples did not understand at that time: (John 13:1)
" Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go
to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now
showed them the full extent of His love. "
This love He showed went far beyond an emotional charismatic foot-washing ceremony, for in this particular Seder Meal Jesus would reveal Himself as the Passover Lamb - and the full extent of the Father's love for His own! First, He stood up and removed His rich high- priestly robes and His mitre of authority, then He wrapped a towel around His waist. (It was set out in the Haggadah that at a certain point in the Seder Meal, after they had drunk from the cups, a woman, or, in her absence, a slave, would attend them to wash the hands of those participating in the meal.) It was at this point that Jesus introduced the change that reached its climax later in the Seder Meal, for He took the place of a servant and washed the disciples' feet, not their hands! First this was the message of a high priest becoming a servant as He took off His rich robe - and now we can understand Peter's indignant cry as he saw his Rabbi changing the order of the Hagganah, not realising at that point the momentous change that was being revealed at that Passover meal, the like of which will never be needed or undertaken again! Following Peter's cry Jesus answered: (v8-10)
" Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me. `Then, Lord,' Simon
Peter replied, `not just my feet but my hands and my head as well'. Jesus
answered, `A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet;
his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you'. "
To understand the change we need to step back into the ceremonies surrounding the priests who attended the Temple in their duties connected with the sacrifices. When the time came for their particular rota of duty at the Temple, each priest would undergo the ceremonial washing of their bodies before being able to attend the sacrifices. During their appointed time they would return to the Basin of Washing for repetitive foot-washing. They did this because during the course of their duties, although their bodies were clean their feet would become unclean, in contact as they were with earthly things. Jesus, therefore, by His act of washing His disciples' feet, was preparing them as priests to attend a significant change in the Passover Seder Meal. Their bodies were `clean' through their acceptance of Him as the Messiah, but before they could be involved in the sacrificial element which He was now about to introduce into the Seder Meal they needed a ceremonial foot-washing by the Servant who would become the Final Sacrifice, for His Blood (when applied to the `doorposts' of men's hearts) would ensure that the Angel of Death would pass over them!
The disciples at that Passover foot-washing were being prepared as priests to attend the Passover Sacrifice later in the day: (verses 7 and 12)
" Jesus replied, `You do not realise what I am doing, but later you will
understand' . . . . When He had finished washing their feet, He put on
His clothes and returned to His place. `Do you understand now what I
have done for you?' He asked them. "
After this the Seder Meal continued according to the prescribed practices as laid down in the Hagganah, the `priests', now ceremonially clean, in accordance with the Law:
(Matthew 26:26-28)
" While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and
gave it to His discip[les, saying, `Take and eat, this is My Body.' Then
He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, `Drink from
it, all of you. This is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is poured
out for many for the forgiveness of sins. "
Then continuing His high priestly function of presiding over the Seder Meal He took the unleavened bread, and in this He revealed the Sacrifice that He had prepared His disciples as priests to attend. As He broke the bread He announced that this unleavened bread was a foreshadowing of His unleavened sinless body - the final Sacrifice of God's love!
Luke revealed the form of the ongoing Seder Meal in his account. He wrote: (Luke 22:20)
" In the same way, after the supper He took the cup . . . "
This was the third of the four cups of wine which were drunk during the Passover meal in accordance with the Hagganah narrative. This cup was known as the Cup of Redemption, and in the same way as before Jesus revealed the sacrificial element He was introducing at this unique Seder Meal - His disciples now being ceremonially `clean' and participating as priests at the fulfillment of the Passover Feast! `This is My Blood (continues Matthew) of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins'. Not only had a significant change occurred in the traditional Seder Meal, but it was one which would dramatically change the lives of those disciples and all who would follow after them. The whole meaning of the Seder Meal was vividly revealed in those life-changing actions of Jesus as He presided over that Passover Seder Meal, surrounded by His twelve ceremonially clean priests. This was no ordinary `family' Seder Meal! It was a sacrificial meal under the authority of God's High Priest, and it had enormous spiritual implications. The washing of hands at various points in the Seder Meal had become a religious ritual through continuous use over the long years, but when Peter saw the actions of his beloved Master as He washed their feet, he knew that what was unfolding was different - and it showed in his response. It was a priestly act before a sacrifice, and Jesus revealed, through the outworking of the Seder Meal, that the Sacrifice was to be Himself!
The spiritual change came at that Seder Meal, but the physical change would come with Peter's proclamation in the Temple Court: (Acts 2:36)
" Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. "
From this point on those `priests' were called as priests to proclaim the Final Sacrifice, the Passover Deliverance, that would be offered beyond the boundaries of the land of Israel - beyond the narrow confines of the Jewish Seder Meal - for as Jesus Himself told His disciples: (Acts 1:8)
" You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will
be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth. "
They were indeed living in a changing world! However we need to complete the narrative recorded by John, for these are `Thoughts on John 13': (John 13:12-17)
" When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. `Do you understand now what I have done for you?' He asked of them. `You call Me `Teacher' and `Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth; no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sends him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. "
From these verses we see that Jesus continued His preparation of the disciples to be priests at the final Passover meal, for He told them that His example should be followed amongst themselves. And while we respect the good intentions of those who undertake `foot-washing ceremonies' as an act of loving servanthood to each other, there is the danger that as they minister to each other they will lose sight of the sacrifice the Suffering Servant offered as `He showed the full extent of His love for them'. It is in the sacrificial setting of the Passover meal that Jesus set them an example to `also wash one another's feet' to enable His followers to proclaim, as priests, that Sacrifice to others beyond the narrow confines of churches.
To keep within that setting we need to also turn to the words Paul wrote in His First Letter to the Corinthian Church: (1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
" For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said: `This is My Body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying: `This cup is the New Covenant in My Blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me'. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the Body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself. "
Today when disciples of Jesus meet together they meet as priests. Washed clean by His Blood, they meet as priests to serve their God and to enter into the Lord's Supper as a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving for the full extent of His love, revealed in the remembrance of His broken Body and His poured-out Blood: (v26)
" For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until He comes. "
And yet, as priests who are called into a continuing ministry to proclaim His sacrifice to a dying world, our feet also need washing before we enter into this Sacrifial Meal - and we do that as we recognise each precious member of the Body of Christ, washed clean by His Blood!
" Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. "
This is no outward foot-washing ceremony, but an inward work of the heart as we follow the example Jesus set His early disciples all those years ago at that unique Passover meal in Jerusalem. This is an acceptance of all who have been washed clean by His Blood and are called in their own unique way to be priests to proclaim that Sacrifice wherever they are to be found. Paul's words to the Corinthians are set in that same sacrificial setting - and his words are clear:
" For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the Body of the
Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself. "
Disciples in this Age face a changing world as real as those first disciples who sat round the Seder Meal table two thousand years ago. The actions that spoke of His Body and Blood at that Passover meal will never be repeated for they were the beginning of the Final Passover Meal - and neither will the spiritual effects be seen in the same physical events as those which took place after that meal. Into this changing world today's disciples are called to the same task as were Peter and the other disciples - although no longer speaking in the Temple Courts in Jerusalem but in the `temple compound' of the world. The message, however, remains the same: (John 3:16-21)
" For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe in Him stands condemned already because He has not believed in the Name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. "
In these `Thoughts' we have seen that those early Passover `family' meals were conducted in the setting of a `mini temple' with a `high priest' presiding and `priests' attending, and were a foreshadowing of God's Passover Sacrifice, the Messiah Jesus, outside the city walls. Jesus brought into that earlier setting words concerning Himself that released a spiritual effect which changed the world with a physical event. Do we hear God again speaking His Word concerning His Messiah, Jesus, which changed the world, the spiritual effect of which will be seen in a rising awareness of the nearness of His Coming to earth to rule and reign on the earth.
The writer to the Hebrews speaks of it as a `shaking of the earth and the heavens, so that what cannot be shaken may remain'! As we minister as priests proclaiming His death in this `temple setting' of the world in which we live may we too be enabled to wash one another's feet with the same humility Jesus showed to His disciples. We do it by accepting all those who have acknowledged Jesus as Saviour and Messiah, all who have been washed clean and need only to have their `feet' washed by each other - by discerning the Body of Christ -and as priests together offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God as we share at the Lord's Table the Sacrifice which `showed the full extent of His love'. A changing world needs an unchanging Gospel, proclaimed by a people who have received the fulness of understanding of what the full extent of His love means. And nowhere is that more clearly proclaimed than when as His priests we share in the Lord's Supper as one people:
" For when you eat the bread and drink of the cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. "
A changing world needs an unchanging Gospel to be proclaimed by those called as priests to serve God!
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