Preparing the Covenant

Last week we finished up with thew Old Testament covenants, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David all being presented with a unique view of God and his plans for mankind, progressing through the ages to reveal more and more of his goal, to reunite himself and his creation which had been torn apart since the Garden. Entering the New testament we are brought years into the future from the last great covenant that God made, nearly 500 years have passed in which God has remained patient and the world in waiting. And how does God begin his fulfillment? Not with further judgement, not with clouds of fire, or by filling the temple with his glory, but by inserting his own son into the most miraculous act of creation we experience, the birth of a child. He allowed his son to be brought into the world frail and defenseless the majesty of God contained in human form. And from then on, we see that ancient serpent rearing his head, placing into the hearts of men fear and trepidation of this Son of God. From Herod to the Pharisees, from Pilate to Judas, Satan fought against the Saviour of the world with the very thing he sought to save, people. There wasn’t any grand battle, no incarnation of Satan and his fallen angels to do battle with Christ and the hosts of Heaven, the turning point of history rested upon the will of the Divine versus the will of his Creation. But praise God that he was certain to prevail, that even our own inner brokenness and rejection of him wasn’t enough to prevent him from doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. The New Covenant that we are able to partake in thanks to his sacrifice is the true fulfillment of the symbolism we see in the Old Covenants.

I will be taking a closer and slower look at this covenant and how it plays out in Scripture. We will consider the preceding events of the Washing of the disciples feet, the last supper, and the betrayal on the Mount of olives. We will then proceed to consider the trial and punishment of the Christ, his rejection by the people, and his crucifixion. We will be finishing the series by looking at the resurrection, and the hope of the New Covenant in the Church. I will be doing this to paint a picture of the overall narrative, to show how this is the beating heart, the main artery of that scarlet read thread that is woven throughout scripture. We will consider how the Old Covenants are fulfilled in this, and will consider how it is that God’s will and compassion trump our resistance and sin.

One challenge in researching this account was deciding which gospel to look at. Mark provides a straightforward and streamlined account of the Passion Narrative. Whereas Matthew is concerned with the cost of discipleship in following the Son of God. Luke, on the other hand, recounts a fleshed out- detailed account of the Kingdom of God and the Son of Man. But ultimately I found John to provide the most useful account of the Passion for the purposes of this study. John is concerned with who Jesus is, contained within this gospel are the I AM statements: I am the Way, Truth, and Life, the Bread, the Light, the Door, the Vine, the Resurrection and the Life. In this Gospel, John seeks to show us that how we view Christ is the center of how we view both God and the rest of Creation and it is in his account of the Passion of Christ that we are drawn close to the God that serves and suffers before dying and living again.

With that, Let us begin by looking at John, Chapter 13, many of you may recognize this as the account of Jesus washing the disciples feet, and this act of service and humility sets the tone for Jesus’s last days: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

This chapter begins with a bit of stage setting. Jesus knows that the end is nearing. the finale of his ministry was approaching and his time with his disciples was growing short, Satan having set his plans into motion. So what does he do? He determines that he will love them until the end. If there was anything that we could understand about God and how he has dealt with us from Adam and Eve to David, from Paul to the present, it is that God has determined that he will love us to the very end. And how does he demonstrate this love? Jesus, the Christ, the promised Salvation, removes his robe, don’s a towel, and washes his disciples feet. There are a few important things to note about feet washing: first, feet were really really dirty. Most people walked from place to place, and sandals were the most common form of footwear, which meant dirt, dust and grime would get caked on as the day dragged on, this was especially important considering that meals were ate at floor level, making peoples feet especially noticeable, especially if they smelled anything like Ethan’s. Secondly, it was often the job of a lowly servant to wash peoples feet to do so was making himself low despite being their rabbi. This scene lies in direct contrast to the disciples earlier behavior, they were arguing who would be chief amon them, who would sit at his right hand, and none of them would have considered washing one another’s feet. But the passover is fast approaching, and Jesus desires that his followers be clean, so he sets an example for them. We don’t often think of foot washing as being all to unique, for most of us, its part of what we do when we wash the rest of our bodies, so to give it a modern example, imagine that you met your idol, whether a president you really admired, and athlete, a pastor, or a friend or mentor, and they invited you to their house for a meal, but before sitting down and feeding you, the person comes over to you, picks up a toothbrush and begins to brush your teeth. It is an incredibly intimate action in a frequently filthy part of ourselves. It feels invasive, it feels unnecessary, I can do it myself, thank you, you say, but the person tells you that unless you let them do this, you can’t participate in the greater meal, and furthermore, that he expects you to do the same for others.

In this account,Peter, never seeming to be anything short of brash, exclaims that Jesus will never wash his feet! Peter doesn’t want to disrespect his teacher, but Jesus makes it clear that he doesn’t see the full picture, further telling him that unless he washes his feet he will have no place in him. Peter then turns full circle, rather than Not allowing Jesus to wash his feet, Peter now asks that Jesus wash him from head to toe. Again, though, he misses the point, Jesus points out that someone who has been bathed fully doesn't need to wash fully again, except for his feet. What is being pointed out hear is a reinterpretation of purity far different than it was understood before. In the Mosaic covenant we see a high standard set for purity, one that was unattainable by mortal means. In order to be seen as clean by God, the Israelites were instructed in elaborate cleansing and sacrificial rituals that they would have to observe time and time again in order to symbolize redemption. Jesus here, is pointing out that they are already clean, that the water of life has washed them and that they will need to thirst no longer. But they will still grow dirty, they will still sin and fall short, but that it would be as though their feet were getting dirty, they don’t need salvation another time, rather they will learn to repent and be reconciled that way. Christ is showing how forgiveness has become personally accessible for each of them.

Furthermore, this is done as an example, Christ demonstrates hear, that he is not only the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but also the servant of servant’s. He admits that he was sent to teach and to lead, but that he is leading through service. He hasn’t spent his ministry trying to gain support and popularity so that he would be proclaimed the new king, the next caesar, or the new president, but so that those around him would see him demonstrate what true service looks like, what forgiveness and humility seeks to do. It is not simple abasement, making himself a doormat for others to walk on, his humility is for a purpose, and he does not regard himself as more important than those around him.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), .

We who are saved, are forgiven our sins, they are not held against us before God the Father. And praise God that this is the case, we are washed clean, from head to toe in the Savior’s blood. But we still get our feet dirty, we still have moments of weakness, we still have times where our best intentions harm those around us, we still get angry, we still get greedy, we still sin. But rather than leaving us in our filthy state, God wants to be an intimate part of our repentance, he wants to serve us further still. When I was a kid, i remember myself and my cousin were playing in Grandma Marble’s front lawn, hitting a ball back and forth with these plastic golf clubs. And being kids, we played the game with no concern for what was around us, and on one particularly hard swing, the ball struck the glass window on her garage door and it shattered, sending glass everywhere. I am sure everyone can think of those moments in their own lives. Times when all the fun you were having fades into the realization that the fun is over and you are going to be in big trouble. So, like any reasonable child, we tried to hide it, trying to mix the glass in with the dirt and stones, but we couldn’t hide the empty window pane. When Grandma came outside, it didn’t take her long to notice, and there was no feigning ignorance, we were guilty. But even though she was upset with us, and even though we were at fault, she still loved us, she still forgave us. She is sitting right here, and From what I can tell she still seems to love me quite a bit. My breaking the glass wasn’t enough to prevent her from loving me, and loving me so much, she didn’t want the shame of the situation to stain me forever, so she forgave me.

Jess didn’t just model forgiveness so that we could enjoy it ourselves, keeping it between us and God, But so that we could forgive one another, that we could serve one another in love. God want’s us all to be present at the table, and if one of us were to arrive with dirty feet, it would be a shame on all others present that they weren’t willing to serve their brothers and siters. As a church, we are called to serve one another, we are called to be a part of the cleansing process, understanding that God has washed them, and ourselves, from head to toe, and that our service to one another is in efforts to love them, until the very end.

But, and Jesus makes it clear in this chapter, there are those who haven’t even been washed in the first place. despite presence with the Son of God himself, Judas could not see him for who he was. Satan has a similar hold on so many other people’s lives, they may see Jesus present in other’s lives all around them, but have never experienced him in a personal, intimate, and repentive manner. But is that grounds for us refusing them service? No, we do read that Jesus knew Judas didn’t have faith and that he was about to betray him, but we don’t read that he washed all the disciples feet except Judas’s, no, he washed them all. We are called to live in the same serving, sacrificing manner. There is no room for our own ego’s in this walk. We go from place to place, messengers for the kingdom, seeking to serve and to introduce those we serve to Jesus, so that they may grow to know the God who sent him, who from the beginning of time determined to love them, to the very end. Let us pray.