"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." ~ Deuteronomy14:2

Friday, March 23, 2012

Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: March 23

"After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet ..." ~ John 13:5a
Here is a "red stone" which could go well among our "clear stones" because it does "cut right through." Whose feet did Jesus wash? He washed the feet of His disciples. His twelve disciples. Because this took place before Judas ran outside to do what he did to his Master. Judas was there too. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, stooped down and lovingly washed the dirt from the feet of the man who had already sold Him for a few dollars! This didn't bother Jesus at all. At least not in the way that it would bother us. "He loved them unto the end." Judas too. Even though He knew, all the time He was on His knees before Judas, all that was in Juda's heart! What must Jesus have thought as He knelt there doing this lowly thing for His disciple who would Betray Him with a kiss in just a few hours from this moment? What would we think? My [Eugenia Price, the author's] opinion is that we wouldn't be there washing the feet of someone whom we knew had sold us for a few pieces of money. We might if we didn't know about what was going to happen, but Jesus knew. Things don't happen only in sequence for Him as they do for us. He knew. And still He knelt before Judas and with the same hands which Judas' treachery had condemned to be nailed to the Cross, He lovingly and carefully "washed the disciples' feet." You see, Jesus not only knew what Judas had done and would do a little later on that evening, He also knew that it was not Judas alone who condemned Him to His Cross. It was sin in Judas and in us. It was our need that condemned Him to die. And since it was His love for Judas and for us which held Him to the Cross, He could show the same love to the disciple who had sold Him for thirty pieces of silver. We can "sell" Him right now, but He has already paid a much bigger price than we will get.
"God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

No comments: