How Are You Loving One Another?

Read the text: John 13

Today is known as Maundy Thursday in the Church calendar. Maundy Thursday marks a pivotal moment in Holy Week, where believers reflect on the profound themes of love, servanthood, and the Last Supper. Maundy Thursday reminds us of Jesus ‘mandate’ – his new commandment. Not just to love one another, but to love one another as he has loved us. It can be humiliating, demeaning and messy. But it brings blessings.

The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum”, which means “command”. It’s where we get the English word “mandate”. The word “command” is specifically referencing a moment Jesus shared with His disciples the night before He was crucified.

Today we remember the events that occurred on Thursday of what the church calls Holy Week, the last week in the life of Jesus.

Perhaps this week in AD 29 is the most talked about week in the history of mankind. It has been estimated that about a third of all the events that we have recorded in Scripture about Jesus’ life occurred during this week: On that Thursday, the disciples have gathered in a home, whose we do not know, but we do know that it had a furnished second floor. Tradition has it that it was the house of John Mark’s mother – John Mark being the author of Mark’s Gospel.

As they gathered, they were taking part in the Seder meal, one of the highlights of the Passover week. The Passover festival was ingrained in the life of the Jewish nation. It commemorated that time when the Jews were in slavery in Egypt. Moses had warned Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh refused. So God one plague after another. Pharaoh wasn’t moved until God sent the tenth and final plague – known as the death of the firstborns in Egypt. However this death passed over the homes of the Jews in Goshen. And so the feast of Passover was ordered by God as a commemoration of the Jewish nation’s deliverance by God.

The meal itself was a symbolic one reminding the Jews of the sufferings of their forefathers and the power of God’s deliverance. The foods that were eaten were symbols to remind the Jews of their captivity in Egypt.

1. Lamb The word ’pesach’ (pasch, passover) applies to the Lamb of sacrifice as well as to the deliverance from Egypt and to the feast itself.
2. Unleavened bread (Matzoh) called "bread of affliction" because it recalls the unleavened bread prepared for the hasty flight by night from Egypt.
   Three large matzohs are broken and consumed during the ceremony.
3. Bitter herbs (Moror) is a reminder of the bitterness of slavery and suffering in Egypt.
4. Green herbs to be dipped in salt water. Salt water represents tears of sorrow shed during the captivity of the Lord’s people.
5. Haroseth (or ’haroses’) - a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine represents the mortar used by Jews in building palaces and pyramids of Egypt during their slavery.
6. Wine is dipped from a common bowl.
   
   

There are four acts of drinking wine during the Seder feast – known as the ’Four Cups”

• Thanksgiving
• Hagadah (’telling’)
• Blessing
• Melchisedek (’righteousness’)
  
  

It was this Seder Meal that Jesus and the disciples were celebrating in the upper room that night. It was at the conclusion of that meal that Jesus himself gave two of the symbols of the Seder meal fresh significance. He took a loaf and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying:
"Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me." Then he took a cup with wine. He drank from it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.”

It is significant that Jesus took the elements for the Communion from the Passover festival. Because in Passover, the children of God celebrated that God’s Salvation, a salvation which resulted in the Israelites being released from the slavery of Egypt. So, in Communion we, the children of God celebrate the God’s salvation through Jesus’ death on the Cross.

Indeed, the salvation Jesus offers has resulted in all mankind having the capability of being freed from the slavery of sin.

In other words, the first Passover is an Old Testament prefiguring of Jesus’ vicarious death of the Cross – the Salvation of God. And so it was highly significant that Jesus died at Passover. It reminds us of what God has done, through Jesus.

Apostle John wrote:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
---John 3:16
Apostle Paul wrote:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
---Romans 5:8

So today, let us give thanks for that wonderful gift of God – our salvation – eternal life that cost Jesus dearly – as we recall tomorrow on Good Friday. And let us remember too Christ gave his Church just one command:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 
---John 13:34-35

Francis Schaeffer founder of the L’Abri Fellowship said:
“Love is the final apologetic”
Tertullian in the second century reported the comments of pagans in his day:
“Behold, how these Christians love one another! How they are ready to die for each other!”

If you, as a Christ-follower want to make a difference in another person’s life for Christ Love them as Jesus loves you.

Do You Want to Grieve or Rejoice?

Read the text: John 16:20 

We have been spending Holy Week in the Upper Room. I believe there is significance in the Upper Room. Let me suggest two:

1. It was where Jesus and his disciples celebrated a supper, the Passover meal, as a foundation to what would soon transpire. 
2. It was where Jesus offered a final stretch of teaching to his disciples. He taught them about the importance of His body and the power of His blood to take away humankind’s sins. He taught them to love one another through serving one another by washing each other’s feet.
   
   

John records this teaching:
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. -John 16:20

When Jesus speaks of grieving being turned to rejoicing, he’s speaking of a work God has been up to since the very beginning of time. I want to challenge you with this thought this week by giving you some examples through the Old Testament and then into the New Testament. My challenge for us this evening is to realize that we are worshipping and serving the same God of the Bible who wants to turn your grieving into joy.

Old Testament
We start at the beginning of the Bible with Adam and Eve. Their story is shot through with grief -- story that establishes what will be the story of humanity. We watch as they sin and are cast from the holy garden and cast into a fallen world. What comes with that transition is having to toil for their food, pain in childbirth, rivalry of their sons with the outcome of having Abel murdered by his brother. This story ends with:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” --Genesis 3:15
Jesus is promised and the Last Supper is part of that promise.

We can jump ahead to Abraham and Sarah. We find them grieving because of their inability to conceive, which gives way to a sudden pregnancy, even in their old age.

We can then jump ahead Jacob or Joseph, Esther or Ruth, David or Elijah – and certainly Job. We can look at the story of the Flood. We have the Nation of Israel crying out for deliverance from slavery in Egypt – and then her deliverance. We need to notice all the ups and downs of the wilderness journey until they arrive at the Promised Land. As we saw in the previous devotional, we have the ups and downs of all the kings of Israel as they failed and succeeded. And of course we have the era of the Judges, another season of sin and repentance. These stories drive home the point:
This has been the work of God since the beginning to turn grieving into rejoicing.

New Testament
We see the same pattern in the New Testament. We again find a history of God turning grieving to rejoicing through Jesus. For our purposes we will just look through the Gospel of John. We have Nicodemus, the teacher of the Law who was stumped as to his spiritual health. We have the Samaritan Woman who was grieving just because she was not a Jew, she saw herself as a second-class citizen until she met Jesus and her grieving turned into joy. We travel through story after story until we arrive at the Raising of Lazarus from the dead. These stories show the same message:
This has been the work of God since the beginning to turn grieving to rejoicing.

This work usually took time. It often meant some loss. And it always had some mystery mixed in. But throughout the Old Testament and on into the unfolding story of Jesus, there was God, ever and always turning grieving to rejoicing.

All of this brings us to the Upper Room late on a Thursday night, and those words from Jesus. What does Jesus want his disciples understand as the weekend unfolds. Their beloved leader is going to appear to fail and they, the disciples, are going to grieve and the world will be rejoicing until Resurrection morning and then the friends of Jesus will be rejoicing.

My friends, the same is true for all of us. When we find ourselves in a time of grieving, and we will, our enemies will rejoice. But we need to listen to the teaching of Jesus that as his children we WILL return to our time of rejoicing. A good lesson for this Holy Week so we can live as examples of Christ for our world.

Who is Your King?

Read the text: John 12:12-19

Hundreds and hundreds of years before The Triumphal Entry, the people of God gathered around a priest named Samuel, and this is what they said:
 
“You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
 ---1 Samuel 8:5

The kings of Israel—from the initial trio of Saul, David, and Solomon, through the kings of the southern and northern kingdoms always left the people longing for better.  The people of Samuel’s day were rejecting God as king and instead desired a king that looked like those of other nations.

Let's establish the why: they wanted the peace that comes with the warring success and intimidating presence of a strongman king. So, God warns them of all the negative consequences of having human kings in charge of nations.

Read the text: 1 Samuel 8:7-18

What we find in the history of Israel is that any peace and prosperity came only in stretches. The fact is that each king that came along failed the people of Israel.

The same is true for us when we begin clamoring for strong men. Even today we seek (and place far too much hope in) figures of authority to bring us peace and prosperity via aggression, suppression, and protection. And as for the spiritual, even today we seek (and place far too much hope in) figures of authority to bring us salvation – even religious leaders, with their disciplines, teaching, and programming.

 Have you noticed that every king that comes along has always left you longing?

Just as the bread of this world leaves our souls roaring, the kings of this world leave us longing. We need to recognize human kings and the disappointment each king has brought our way. Every king that comes along had always left us longing –except one... King Jesus! The people written about by John would have been looking for a conquering King of which we now know Jesus was not going to become.

For our purposes this week, we need to see that King Jesus causes all other kings to pale in comparison. Jesus is the only king who thinks beyond fleeting forms of peace and prosperity. He has the means to address the deepest needs of the world and meet our needs as well, bringing the deep flourishing that all other kings have failed to bring about.

Jesus, in laying down his life, shatters the cycle of military aggression, suppression, and protections, instead showing a way forward to peace. When all is said and done, perhaps the greatest and most impactful way to hold allegiance to Jesus as the king is to create space for deep worship of him as king. It’s difficult to long for other kings when we’ve busied ourselves with elevating and praising the one who truly is king.

So.... who is your king?

What Satisfies Your Spiritual Hunger?

Read the text: John 13:21-30

Jesus does not name Judas as the betrayer. Jesus said:
“Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” ---John 13:21
All the disciples, as well as us, are left asking: “Who betrayed Jesus?”

We need to explore the reasons Judas would betray Jesus. The video shows an imagined scene from The Chosen series where Judas and Jesus debate the role of the Messiah. Scholars have pondered this issue for centuries, and they’ve come up with no shortage of answers.
Suggestions:

• Judas was trying to force Jesus’ hand at kickstarting a political revolution.
• Judas was consumed with anger over how Jesus was carrying out his ministry.
• Judas was simply fated for such a role.
• Judas was possessed by evil.
  
  

Which one do you choose?
But there’s one I have not mentioned that I believe is staring us right in the face, and it’s the one I want to explore in this devotion. To do that we need to move to another meal that is recorded in John 6:1-13 – The Feeding of the 5,000. This event would have taken the people of Jesus’ time back to the wilderness wandering of their ancestors when God fed them in the wilderness journey. It is very possible the people of the 5,000 began to see in Jesus someone to fill their stomachs. Which causes Jesus to remind them repeatedly they need far more than bread – they need him (vv. 27-40). Repeatedly, the crowd, either directly or indirectly asks for more bread.

We all have a deep hunger for the bread of this world, don’t we? The things and the stuff of this world?
Let me quickly stress two things right off the bat:

1. These are not all bad things.
2. These are things we need to pursue (food, clothing, etc.)
   
   

The issue is we want more than we’ve been given. Then we want it repeatedly. We begin to only think about our “stomachs”. When we only think of our stomachs two things happen:

1. We lose our bearings altogether on what is needed and what is superfluous,
2. We grow cold toward God, either because we have what we want and we don’t need Jesus, or we have not gotten what we feel we need, so we don’t want Jesus.

John records in verses 66-71: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Our question: Why would Judas betray Jesus?
Here’s the answer in part – he thought only with his “stomach” and he wanted only the bread of this world.
How about you?