March 28, 2012
It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. -- John 13: 2 (NLT)
Our last look at the moment when Jesus washes His disciples' feet is a peek into the very heart of Jesus. This verse indicates that just prior to the foot washing; Judas had already been prompted by the devil to betray Jesus. Realize that at this point, Judas has only been presented with the choice by the enemy. That is all the devil can ever do to us -- present us with a choice. The devil cannot make us do anything. If he could, he would certainly kill us as that is his desire. So let us keep in mind that as Jesus displays this moment of great humility before His disciples, Judas still has a choice to make. Jesus of course knows full well that Judas will betray Him and yet He washes his feet anyway! Even after this poignant moment, Judas does indeed decide to betray our Lord and Savior.
We live in a world where such kindness is sneered at and derided as weak. The truth is that it takes tremendous strength to love in the face of hate. Jesus always raised the bar on everything. Loving our friends and family is not enough. Praying for those who treat us well is not enough. Jesus teaches us with His Words and here with His actions, that we must even treat those who will do the worst by us with the same love and humility we give to those closest to us. That is the heart of Jesus. We talk often of righteous anger but ours is never close to true righteous anger. If anyone had a right to be righteously angry it was Jesus here in this story. Yet what does He do? He lowers himself to the position of a servant and washes the dirt from the feet of the very man who in the same chapter will choose to betray Him anyway.
Let us seek the heart of our Savior when we face those who
do wrong by us as well. I know it is not easy because the flesh wants vengeance
and the society says it is ok. But Jesus shows us with His life that it is not.
That we have to rise above the hate this world teaches us and reach out to our
enemies and show them the same love of God we would show our friends. Then
stand back and know you have done the Father's will, regardless of the choices
people have to make.
Rev. Anthony
