Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.... And during supper
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,
got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. John 13
I love this passage - it mesmerizes me and I am so thankful for it. First, it tells me what I need to be doing until the end: loving the people that God has put into my life.
Second, it tells me how to do it: serve others like a slave, taking no concern for how I might look.
Third, it tells me the key to keeping focus when things get tough: remember that I have come from God, that I have been given "all things" and that I am going to God.
Isn't it amazing that Jesus was able to focus on the fact that he "had everything" when by all appearances, he had nothing? He was shamed and humiliated on the cross, stripped of every possession, and tortured. Looking at him, you would say that he was a complete, pathetic failure with no one beside him other than criminals.
And yet.
He knew that he had everything.
He knew where he had come from.
He knew where he was going.
So he just kept on loving.
And serving.
Dying,
He lived
And lives still.
This is our pattern and our hope.
Praise Him!
