and practice of discipleship.
What gives foot-washing a cross-bearing significance? To answer this question, we take John’s seven deep meaning indicators and reapply them to Jesus’ followers. I believe it is important for us to see them all together. What I have done here is take what was said yesterday about Jesus and apply each theological marker to his followers. Here are the seven again: the Passover, kairos timing, redemptive love, the work of the devil, Jesus’ self-identity, his self-emptying, and his finished work. We are meant to transpose all seven indicators into a score to be played out in the life of the believer. We are playing “second fiddle” to the concert master, but what a privilege to play in this symphony!
We begin with the Passover, the event that underscores the meaning of redemption not only for the Savior but for his disciples. By divine design everything in our lives is to be framed by God’s redemptive action. Christ’s disciples embrace life sacramentally. Nothing lies outside the scope of God’s redemption, from menial household duties to evangelism. Because of Christ’s death we are continuously dying to self and to the old sin nature. In Christ we are made alive to the positive richness of life as intended and redeemed by God. We no longer live, but Christ lives in us, and the life that we now live we live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for us (Gal 2:20). Salvation is grandly inclusive of all we are and will be.
The second deep meaning indicator, applied first to Christ and then to us, is time. As Jesus was conscious of his “hour,” we become conscious of a new sense of time and timing. Life is not primarily measured in minutes and months but in God’s providential will. The old chronology of the past, with its Rolex pride and self-importance, gives way to God’s rhythms of grace. Instead of pursing present-moment happiness we learn to abide in Christ moment by moment.
The third marker is love. Jesus showed the world the full extent of his love, and he calls his disciples to do the same. We are not only the recipients of his love but the agents of his love. We love because he first loved us.
The fourth shared factor between the Master and his disciples is the devil. The devil’s real presence in the upper room is consistent with his real presence in the world. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but “against the powers of this dark world” (Eph 6:12). Like a wounded animal the devil roams around seeking those he may devour (1 Pet 5:8).
The fifth deep meaning indicator, Jesus’ divine self-identity, is the basis of the believer’s resilient self-confidence. Because Jesus “knew the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God,” we know who we are. We can say with the Apostle Paul, “I am what I am” by the grace of God (1 Cor 15:10).
The sixth parallel between Jesus’ cruciform identity and the disciple’s calling is self-denial. As Jesus laid aside his clothes as a precursor to laying down his life, we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow him. His path to the cross is our path to the cross.
The seventh indicator focuses on the word finished, which is used when Jesus is done washing the disciples’ feet. It is the same word, the seventh word, Jesus uttered on the cross, when he said, “It is finished.” Between these two uses of the word finished we have the spectrum of Christlike service. The finished work of Christ reminds us of the unfinished work of our calling. It is precisely because of Christ’s gift of salvation by grace that we have a holy vocation. If God were not working in us to will and to act according to his good purpose, our service would be pointless. We cannot add to what Christ accomplished through the cross and the resurrection, but we can participate in his work. The finished work of Christ calls us to action. This is why the Apostle Paul said, “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Col 1:24).
These seven parallels between Jesus and his followers lay the foundation for the believer’s self-identity and deliberate action. This vivid picture of Jesus on bended knee is a defining moment for all of us who seek to follow Jesus. True spirituality is a grace-filled process that allows Christ’s life to take shape in ours by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we meditate on this scene, the inscape of Jesus’ action takes shape in us. The interior landscape belongs to Jesus and he calls us to follow his example. Out of his glorious riches may he strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith (Eph 3:16–17).
Upper Room Reflection
What is the significance of applying the seven deep meaning indicators to Christ’s disciples, as well as to Christ?
How do these indicators expand our understanding of what it means to accept Jesus?
Which marker has the greatest impact for you?
What does it mean for us to say that Christ’s path to the cross is our path to the cross?
Day 9
Deep Discipleship
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” John 13:12
The humility of Jesus is best interpreted by Jesus himself. We resist the temptation to read into his action motives of our own. Jesus stripped down to wash the disciples’ feet but we cannot strip the text of its theological meaning. He removed his outer clothes, but we must not remove the inner meaning of his actions. Well-intentioned interpreters congratulate Jesus for being “the best manager and developer of human resources the world has ever seen.” They like what they see on the surface. They leverage the life of Jesus to make a practical point that has nothing to do with the atonement or the practice of discipleship.
Laurie Beth Jones in Jesus, CEO, presents Jesus as a leader who knew how to manage people. She claims that when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, he set an example for his staff. He was creating a top-down corporate culture that showed the value of people. He showed them he cared. He believed in his team and he modeled success. When Jones claims Jesus is the epitome of the Omega management style, she conjures up images of Fortune 500 executives who are winsome and savvy.7 She ignores the meaning of the cross.
Cynics see humility as a clever ploy to get their way, just another strategy for manipulating people, a weapon in the Machiavellian arsenal of domination. In House of Cards, Kevin Spacey plays Francis Underwood, a ruthless congressman who stops at nothing to conquer anything and everyone. In a scene back in his home district, Congressman Underwood fakes humble contrition before parents grieving the loss of their daughter. Underwood turns to the camera and says, “What you have to understand about my people is that they are a noble people. Humility is their form of pride. It is their strength. It is their weakness. And if you humble yourself before them they will do anything you ask.” Humility, like virtue, can be perverted and used for evil purposes.
More than 500 years ago, Thomas à Kempis wrote The Imitation of Christ. His spiritual direction stressed the rigors of discipleship, the deceptiveness of self, and the lusts of the world. He challenged believers to cultivate an in-depth personal awareness of Christ. “Our chief pursuit,” wrote Thomas, “is to meditate upon the life of Jesus Christ.” Whoever “would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ must endeavor to conform his whole life to Him.”8
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