Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet
Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He said that some of them are clean but not all of them, he is referring to the fact that he will be betrayed. He also points out that they call him teacher and yet he is washing their feet. He says that a servant is not greater than his master.
Is that supposed to be a master is not greater than his servant? To claim that the servant is not greater than the master is not profound right? Also, in the footnotes, it says bondservant instead of servant, which if I understand correctly basically means slave.
Before I move on, I would also like to say that it felt like I didn't really understand this section. It is quite possibly I missed something important here, if anyone thinks that is the case please speak up :)
One of You Will Betray Me
Jesus says that one of the disciples will betray him. Simon Peter asks Jesus who he is talking about. Jesus says that it is the person he will give his bread to. He then gives the bread to Judas. Satan goes into Judas as soon as he gets the bread and Jesus tells him to do whatever he will do quickly, and Judas leaves. The other disciples think he left to get some supplies as Judas keeps the money.
I'm guessing that what Jesus said to Simon Peter was not heard by the rest. It doesn't say that, but without that detail the whole exchange is pretty confusing.
A New Commandment
Jesus said that where he is going they will not be able to follow. He then gives them a new commandment, to love one another just as he has loved them. "People will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another."
This is great. I do know that there are a great number of Christians who make this the central focus of their Christianity. To them I say kudos.
Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial
Peter asks where Jesus is going and he says that Peter cannot follow him now, be he can later. Peter says that he will lay down his life for Jesus, and Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows.
This is interesting. Jesus says that he cannot follow him now, but he will be able to later. In the previous section I was wondering why the disciples couldn't follow him (it seemed to imply that they wouldn't go to heaven or something) but this says that actually they just can't go right now.
Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet From my understanding, this is a sign of humility. Every holy week, I can't remember which day, in the Catholic church the priests wash the feet of some parishioners based on this story. I think the “servents aren't greater than their masters” deals with how even though in this world we aren't “really equal” when we die maybe we are all on equal footing? Also, here that God put the devil into Judas' heart. If that's the case, that's really messed up!
ReplyDeleteOne of You Will Betray MeThe devil enters Judas after the supper.I think you bring up a good point. The rest are confused since Jesus knows whats up with Judas and the rest don't. In verse 36 Peter asks Jesus where he is going and then Thomas also asks the next chapter. I can see why Thomas asks again, since Jesus isn't really clear. Then Jesus later denies that they asked him.
A New Commandment That would be awesome if that were the case for this verse. However, I think somewhere along the lines its really only meant to apply to fellow Christians.
Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial I think you are right about how he means, “not right now.” He may also be talking about the metaphorical personal journey of going through the crucifixion. It could be referring to when he descends into hell for a few days.
Good catch on you 'denies' link. Seems pretty explicit to me.
ReplyDeleteEven if it is only supposed to apply to fellow Christians, what does that mean? You can consider someone from a different denomination not a "fellow Christian" and then you can justify being bad to anyone. Human nature can be a bad thing. One thing that I think could be a real benefit of the bible is to keep us from following our poor instincts, but when it is written in such a way that is so easily interpreted, it can't even do that.