Lord and Teacher

March 30 Lord and Teacher John 13:12-20

“Now He unfolds the reason for what He had done. He who is the Master and Lord of all gave an example to be followed by all the godly, that none might think it a burden to stoop to a service, however mean and low, to his brethren and fellows. For the reason why love is despised is that everyone puts himself too high and despises almost everybody else. Nor did He intend merely to teach modesty, but also to lay down this rule of love, that they should serve one another.” John Calvin “Commentary on John” Vol. 5:59-60

Having washed and dried His disciples’ feet, and having replaced His outer robe, Jesus proceeded to explain what He had done in terms they could not fail to understand. If He, their Lord and Teacher, could stoop to wash their feet, surely they could do as much for one another? It was an object lesson in humility.

They called Him “Lord and Teacher” but they had not fully grasped the importance of terms they used. They called Him “rabbi” or “teacher” because that was the role He had chosen, but they failed to see the significance of what Jesus taught until much later. They called Him “lord” as a common title of respect, but it would not be until the crucifixion had led them to question His claims, and then the resurrection had confirmed those claims, that they realized He was, indeed, “Lord”. Light came to them gradually, just as sometimes it can come to us. They progressed in their understanding of Jesus’ mission, just as they developed an increased awareness of His nature.

One among them still refused to believe. Judas, in fulfillment of Psalm 41, was still plotting to turn against his Master. He planned to “lift up his heels” against Jesus. The full significance of the phrase is lost to us. Presumably, Jesus was using a contemporary figure of speech to indicate that one among them would walk out on his friends. To do so was to heap insult upon injury. In the custom of the day, to share a meal together was to affirm a common bond. Friendship was sealed in the breaking of bread. So, for Judas to sit and eat with those he was about to betray indicates a level of callousness that it is hard for us to imagine. Judas was not simply betraying a friend, he was breaking social convention. This was more than disappointment with the direction of Jesus’ ministry. This was close to contempt. Beneath the surface Judas’ scheming heart was boiling with anger against the One who had promised so much, but whose life would soon end in shame. Jesus understood, but did nothing. He knew that His hour had come.

There is acute irony in the scene. The Word incarnate came to earth to reconcile sinful humanity and a holy God. Over the months and years Jesus revealed His identity to His disciples. His teaching and His miracles demonstrated that identity. As they discovered who He was the disciples ought to have fallen in worship at His feet. Instead, He knelt at their feet and performed the menial task that would normally have been undertaken by a slave. At the same time, seeing His humanity, one of the disciples was so overcome with anger that he decided to sell what he knew for thirty pieces of silver. Would Judas have acted this way if Jesus had fulfilled his expectations? If He had entered Jerusalem on a warhorse, gathered an army, and taken a stand against the hated Roman oppressors, would Judas have been satisfied? Maybe so, but then the Carpenter from Nazareth would have been a footnote in history, not the Savior before whom millions bow.

For further reading: Psalm 119: 129-152