{"id":31331,"date":"2024-05-30T22:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-13_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T14:00:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T21:00:16","slug":"john-13_12-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-13_12-20\/","title":{"rendered":"If Jesus was willing to bend down and serve\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 13:12-20 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 13:12-20.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 13:12-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-15:\u00a0 Usually washing the feet of guests was what the lowest servant or slave in the house was expected to do.\u00a0 Thus it was inconceivable and shocking for the disciples that Jesus, their Lord and Teacher, would bend down and wash their feet.\u00a0 What was Jesus teaching his disciples in doing this?\u00a0 Jesus says it himself: \u201cNow that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another\u2019s feet.\u00a0 I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.\u201d (v14-15)<\/p>\n

If Jesus the King of kings was willing to bend down and serve others, as followers of his we ought to be willing to do the same.\u00a0 Humility is putting others ahead of ourselves, all the while being secure in our own worth and value.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 13:16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 16:\u00a0 What does Jesus mean in saying this?\u00a0 I believe one of the things Jesus is doing is he\u2019s implying to his disciples, \u201cRemember how I, your Lord and master, have been willing to bend down this way.\u00a0 Since you are my servants and my messengers, be willing to bend down like I have for you.\u00a0 You are not above me or greater than me, so if I\u2019m willing to take on the role of a servant in the lives of others, why shouldn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

John 13:17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17:\u00a0 Notice that\u00a0the blessing comes not just from hearing what Jesus tells us to do, but doing what Jesus tells us to do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

John 13:18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 18:\u00a0 Jesus now shifts to talking about his soon coming betrayal at the hands of Judas.\u00a0 Jesus points out that this betrayal would fulfill Scripture, such as Psalm 41:9 which Jesus quotes here.\u00a0 To lift up your heel against someone means to offend and even betray that person.\u00a0 It\u2019s like being kicked in the back. It\u2019s interesting that Jesus evokes this image of one of his disciples lifting up his heel against Jesus just after Jesus has washed his disciples\u2019 feet.\u00a0\u00a0It amazes me that Jesus would wash his disciples\u2019 feet, all the while knowing that one of those feet he washed would be kicking him in the back later on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 13:19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0 Jesus predicts his betrayal here before it happens so that his disciples would realize that he is who he claims to be: the Son of God, the Messiah.<\/p>\n

John 13:20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 20:\u00a0 Previously in John 12:44-45, Jesus would say that those who believe him believe the one who sent me (i.e. the Father).\u00a0 Here Jesus recalls this idea again but adds that \u201cwhoever accepts anyone I send accepts me\u201d.\u00a0 In other words,\u00a0how we treat and look at Jesus\u2019 servants says something about how we treat and look at Jesus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(By the way, sometimes when I read John\u2019s gospel, I\u2019ll come across a quote from Jesus and wonder \u201chow does this quote connect with what Jesus says immediately before and after that statement?\u201d and sometimes I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 This is one of those cases.\u00a0 In this case, to be frank, I\u2019m not 100% sure why John includes this statement here.\u00a0 Of course we can try to guess.\u00a0 In any event, we take the statement for what it is: a statement about how accepting Jesus\u2019 messengers means accepting Jesus and accepting Jesus means accepting the Father.)<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, I am amazed at Your humility, how You would willingly take on the role of a servant in the lives of people, even those who were bent on betraying You.\u00a0 Please help me to serve others the way You do, with Your kind of humility.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 13:12-20.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!
\n\u00a0
\nJohn 13:12-15 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-15:\u00a0 Usually washing the feet of guests was what the lowest servant or slave in the house was expected to do.\u00a0 Thus it was inconceivable and shocking for the disciples that Jesus, their Lord and Teacher, would bend down and wash their feet.\u00a0 What was Jesus teaching his disciples in doing this?\u00a0 Jesus says it himself: \u201cNow that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another\u2019s feet.\u00a0 I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.\u201d (v14-15)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31334,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31331\/revisions\/31334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}