entering into the suffering ..

He [ Messiah Jesus ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 
   For everything in heaven and on earth was created by Him,
      the visible and the invisible,
         whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities 
   - all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
He is also the head of his Body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, 
   so that He might come to have first place in everything.
      For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 
      and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself   
      - everything in heaven and on earth -
      by making peace through the blood of His cross.
                         ( Colossians 1. 15 ff )

that's Jesus .. Messiah .. son of the Almighty

incredible person ..

selah ..~

his is the preeminence ..

for he has earned it ..
he earned it
   read Hebrews ..

selah ..~

so what do we expect of this person  ?
how do we frame him
how does he sit with us
   as in our conception of who he is  ?
.... .    .    .

as certain of our renowned ' christian ' theologians
set about undoing the Bible and turning it on its head
in effect uninspiring it
( the Jesus Seminar is an outstanding example )
we come face to face with this Messiah
in those same scriptures ..
unlikely though the story may seem to be

for this person comes to us in all his ... normalcy ..

we expect regality
we get ordinary man
we expect pomp and splendour
   glory and might
we get son of a humble carpenter
   wanderer
      with nowhere to lay his head

strange that ..

and yet
he reveals to us the very nature of God in human perfection ..
..    .    .

and what do we see  ?

here's a thought ..
..... ... . .

apostle John writes this scene at chapter 13
in the very lead-in to the Last Supper
when Jesus institutes that most memorialized of ordinances
the Lord's supper/Lord's table/communion/eucharist ..

while sitting there with his followers
   ( including Judas whom he knows is about to betray him )
Jesus disrobes mid-meal
wraps a towel around himself
and washes their feet ...  . . ....  .

selah ..~

let that settle into your mind a bit ..

selah ..~

i'm not huge on the historical environment and the social issues of the day
but a couple things come to mind ..

people walked in those days
and some form of sandal was the footwear

probably when coming off the street
and particularly when going to eat
feet and hands were washed ..
   for house guests that was the responsibility of the household slave
   at the lowest level on the totem pole

although it's probable they had already washed before sitting at the table
this move of Jesus
their rabbi
would have been startling ..
confusion
bewilderment
embarrassment
crazy  !
madness  !

" rabbi washing my feet  ? "
..... .   .

the rabbi was the one chosen by a would-be disciple
   from among several possible choices
to disciple them ..
the intention was to apprentice to the rabbi
and eventually to become just like him ..

hence Peter's response ..

it was the perfect lead-in to what was to follow ..
the breaking of bread and poured out wine
signifying his broken body and spilled blood ..
perfect

imagine it ..

israel awaited and longed for the Messiah's advent
their conception of him was .. another Saul
perhaps

Saul
tall and handsome
manly
kingly persona looking the part
wielding some formidable sword or spear
   from the back of his grand steed
majestic
noble ..

what baffled them
even in arriving at this point in the story
is that this man made claim to being Messiah
son of God ..
and yet
he was quite unlike anything they had expected ..
quite ..

Isaiah 53 prophecies that
he didn't have an impressive form or majestic look
no especially desirable appearance ..
one translation puts it
he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him

what they had was an average-looking person
with no especially distinguishing characteristics
   to make him proudly memorable

the proud jews were presented with
a run-of-the-mill looking would-be Messiah ..
carpenter's son
born in a stable
living life like all the other israelite boys ..

and following hard on the heels of that crazy Nazarite
   John the loud-mouthed prophet
   who baptized any and all who were looking in anticipation for Messiah
   and blatantly castigated the religious authorities outright ..

an ordinary man
this rabbi
but one whose deeds and words set him apart
marked him as special somehow

they followed him
albeit with their confounded questions and doubts ..
and now here he was
stooped
on bended knee
   ( a common form of worship
   the posture of a slave )
and of all things
wants to wash their feet  ! ..

madness ..
.. . .      .

selah ..~

i stand amazed at us
at me ..

we ( i ) follow this Jesus
same person
yet we choose the one over the other ..

perhaps it's that we get to dress-up the one ..
golden chalice
elevated wafer
special words
robes ..
pomp  ?
and prejudice  ?
and we can't do that for the other
that humbled simple footwashing
dirty
smelly
sometimes bruised
sometimes infected
feet
.. . ..  ..       .

and so human nature being what it is
we diss' it
especially in this day of known communicable diseases
and
" my goodness ! what're you thinking ?!
me  ?! wash somebody else's feet  ?!
and someone i don't even know  ? !
maybe they're dirty  !!??  " ..

selah ..~

i'm dirty
but not all of me is
i've been washed ..
but my feet need to be washed and rewashed and rewashed
and Jesus needs to do it ..
that's Jesus response to Peter's outrage ..

and he still needs to
for me ..

and i am Jesus to those in my sphere
those my life touches ..
least that's what Body means to me ..


what then does that say to me ... . . .. .     .      .

just askin' ..


and by the way
consider this ..
the person whose feet are washed
must also bring themselves to a place of humility
to allow their feet to be washed ..
it's a most vulnerable experience you know ..


shalom to you my friend