NOTE: Please forgive the delay in getting this morning’s post up. Personal schedule issues. (CM)

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

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. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. 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. 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ 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.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

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? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

During Holy Week, we are running a special post each day here at Internet Monk. We glean one word or phrase for contemplation from the Gospel passage for the day, and hear a devotional thought from one of my favorite old books by Dr. John Killinger. The copy I have is called Devotional Thoughts on the Gospels but it was republished as Day by Day With Jesus.

• • •

Today’s word is POURED. When Jesus poured water into the basin to wash his disciples feet, he was not only performing a humble act of service and love. He was intentionally portraying the pouring out of his own life for our salvation. Many scholars have observed the parallels between John 13 and the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. Some even believe that the Philippians text may have been a hymn written with Jesus’ act of footwashing in mind.

Note some of the parallels:

Gospel: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God…”
Philippians: “Equality with God”

Gospel: “…got up from the table, took off his outer robe…”
Philippians: “emptied himself”

Gospel: “…and tied a towel around himself. 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.”
Philippians: “taking the form of a slave”

Gospel: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
Philippians: “he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -— even death on a cross.”

Gospel: “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? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.”
Philippians: “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name…”

Gospel: “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”
Philippians: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”

John Killinger notes the significance of this passage in terms of Jesus’ death and his sending out of the disciples to likewise take up their cross and lay down their lives for others: “In other words, the footwashing had to do with sending the disciples out. Jesus anointed their feet as a preparation for them to go out and preach — and subsequently to die for the gospel, as he was about to die.”

Jesus pours his life out for us. The life we now live, we live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. As we live within his faithfulness, we lay down our lives for others.

Prayer for Maundy Thursday:

Father, on this day I bow the knee and confess Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings, the risen and exalted One seated at your right hand, with a Name above every name, who was exalted after he had humbled himself beyond measure, taking the form of a servant and bearing the cross on our behalf.

Like Peter, I cry out, “Wash all of me!” Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, that in this holiest of weeks I may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen.

 John 21:21-32

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

During Holy Week, we are running a special post each day here at Internet Monk. We glean one word or phrase for contemplation from the Gospel passage for the day, and hear a devotional thought from one of my favorite old books by Dr. John Killinger. The copy I have is called Devotional Thoughts on the Gospels but it was republished as Day by Day With Jesus.

• • •

Today’s word is NIGHT. Judas’s betrayal is underlined by the Gospel’s ominous words, “…and it was night.” Even as the darkness was approaching, we see the gracious hospitality of Jesus, sharing bread with one he treated as a friend. Though Jesus knew what was to be in his betrayer’s heart, yet still he engages him in intimate conversation at the table. How deep must be the pull of darkness when the light of Christ’s friendship and kindness cannot break through!

Judas’s story reminds us that proximity to the Savior is not enough. The light of living faith must be present to illuminate the inky blackness of our hearts. The betrayer’s spirit was soon to be all night and no stars; pitch black, not allowing even the tiniest glint of moonlight to shine through. The source of this deep darkness? — “After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him.” Thus the chill depths of night fell in full force.

John Killinger comments on this scene:

Judas may have been almost as close to Jesus at the table as John, for Jesus had handed him the morsel. As treasurer of the group, he probably held a place of importance, perhaps even on Jesus’ left hand. It is likely, when Jesus spoke to him, that the others did not hear. “What you are going to do, do quickly,” said Jesus (v. 27). And Judas went out.

…There is an ominous note in John’s words “and it was night” (v. 30). Jesus had come as the light of the world, and he was opposed by the darkness (1:4-5). Near the end of his public ministry, Jesus had warned: “Night comes” (9:4). “If any one walks in the night,” he said, “he stumbles, because the light is not in him” (11:10). Now Judas had gone out into the darkness. Soon the darkness would appear to overcome the light.

And so Holy Week takes its ominous turn.

Prayer for Holy Wednesday:

Father, on this day I acknowledge you as the One who said in the beginning, “Let there be light” — and there was light. In the dark wilderness of our lives, your light leads the way.

I confess the darkness in my own heart; in fact, it frightens me how much I am attracted to the darkness. Even when you engage me in warm, bright kindness, I find myself feeling the pull of the night. Lord Jesus, be my Light and my Salvation this day. Send out your light and truth and let them lead me. May your word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Deliver my soul from death, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before you in the light of the living.

Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, that in this holiest of weeks I may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen.

John 12:20-36

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

During Holy Week, we are running a special post each day here at Internet Monk. We glean one word or phrase for contemplation from the Gospel passage for the day, and hear a devotional thought from one of my favorite old books by Dr. John Killinger. The copy I have is called Devotional Thoughts on the Gospels but it was republished as Day by Day With Jesus.

• • •

Today’s phrase is JESUS’ HOUR. All through John’s Gospel, Jesus’ “hour” is the climactic moment of his life and ministry. The various terms used to describe it are striking in the contradictory concepts they capture. It is the hour for him to be “glorified” — a concept of heavenly grandeur. Yet Jesus explains this by appealing to the common earthy metaphor of a grain of wheat buried in the ground. He speaks of being “lifted up” but this lifting up indicates his “death.”

The whole passage is rife with opposing notions: death vs. vitality and fruitfulness, laying down one’s life vs. keeping it, loving one’s life vs. hating it, servants receiving honor, light vs. darkness, and so on. In this way, John’s Gospel reinforces that God’s ways are not ours, that God’s salvation will not come in any conventional manner, that our hope is based not in human wisdom but in divine love and sacrifice.

As. Dr. John Killinger notes:

Jesus’ metaphor to the disciples about a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying was an important lesson. He would be their great example, and they would later learn to give their lives as he gave his. “What good is saving your life,” he asked in effect. “If you do that, you destroy it. It is only by living generously — by sowing your life profligately, as wheat is sown — that you enable the future to spring from your deeds!”

And this is what Jesus did for us. What wondrous love is this!

Prayer for Holy Tuesday:

Father, on this day I confess you the King of glory and all-wise God. Your ways are not my ways, nor your thoughts my thoughts.

I confess my propensity to preserve my life, to shrink from serving, to drag my feet in darkness when I should run to your light. How thankful I am that Jesus graciously, steadily, unswervingly stayed on the path God chose for him until his hour had come and all was fulfilled. Honored through service, lifted up in death, bringing light through baptism in darkness, he secured our salvation.

Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, that in this holiest of weeks I may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen.

John 12:1-11

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

During Holy Week, we are running a special post each day here at Internet Monk. We glean one word or phrase for contemplation from the Gospel passage for the day, and hear a devotional thought from one of my favorite old books by Dr. John Killinger. The copy I have is called Devotional Thoughts on the Gospels but it was republished as Day by Day With Jesus.

• • •

Today’s phrase is ANOINTING FOR BURIAL. Nard, the main ingredient in the perfume used in this story, is made from the spikenard plant, which grows in Himalayan regions of China, Nepal, and India. Crushed, it is distilled into a thick essential oil that is used as perfume, incense, and in ayurvedic medicinal practices. The text indicates that the jar of nard perfume used to anoint Jesus was worth an entire year’s wages, so it was rare and expensive. It also suggests that this particular pound of nard was being kept as burial lotion for Lazarus and his family members.

Thus, John Killinger makes this observation:

One important factor in Mary’s behavior must not be overlooked, and that is the raising of Lazarus as narrated in chapter eleven. Mary could well part with the valuable perfume she was saving for her own burial because she no longer felt the need of it. Jesus had raised her brother from the dead. He had said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In a wonderful display of faith, she was “wasting” the precious ointment reserved for her funeral preparations, confident that Jesus had made it unnecessary. In what better way could she demonstrate her newfound understanding that he was the Lord of eternal life? The fact that Judas did not see the “logic” of her gesture meant that he was one of the sons of darkness. Like the Pharisees and high priests, he belonged to the evil one.

Prayer for Holy Monday:

Father, on this day I acknowledge you as King of heaven and Giver of life. You gave your Son Jesus to die that I might have life forever in your Kingdom.

I confess that I do not always value my inheritance as I should. I do not seek first your Kingdom and righteousness. As a result, I hold on to earthly treasures as a hedge against death and loss. I am humbled and ashamed as I watch Mary pour out her riches on Jesus; body in her act of extravagant worship. She knew what I often forget — that “love so amazing, so divine demands my life, my soul, my all.”

Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, that in this holiest of weeks I may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen.

John 12:12-16

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord– the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

During Holy Week, we are running a special post each day here at Internet Monk. We glean one word or phrase for contemplation from the Gospel passage for the day, and hear a devotional thought from one of my favorite old books by Dr. John Killinger. The copy I have is called Devotional Thoughts on the Gospels but it was republished as Day by Day With Jesus: 365 Meditations on the Gospels.

• • •

Today’s word is CHANGEABLE. You and I are changeable creatures. One moment our trust is strong, our assurance firm. The next moment we wallow in doubt and fear. With strong motivation, we determine to take a course of action, only to find ourselves moving in the opposite direction. Discipline becomes drift. With best intentions we make promises and commitments but fall short in following through.

We believe, help our unbelief. Simul justus et peccator.

John Killinger observes:

Reflecting on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, John realized that many of those who cried “Hosanna!” were also in the crowd that shouted “Crucify him!” They went out to greet Jesus, not because they understood him to be the Son of God, but because they heard he was a miracle-worker. Crowds often follow a good show. The Pharisees despaired, however, when they saw the crowds. “Look,” they said, “the whole world has gone after him” (v. 19). John saw the irony of this. Jesus’ real hour of glory would be when he was lifted high up on a cross and the crowds had fallen away — not now, when they were running to greet him.

Prayer for Palm Sunday:

Father in heaven, on this day I acknowledge your Son Jesus as King of creation and King of my life.

Even as I say those words, however, there is much within me that resists his rule. When I am with the crowds, participating in exuberant worship, I find it easy to sing along. I thrill with delight in the color and pageantry. However, when push comes to shove, I want my own way not yours. I do not trust you with a whole heart. I lean on my own understanding. I fail to acknowledge you in all my ways. My paths are not straight. One moment I lift a branch and call you King; the next I forsake you, hanging on a tree.

Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, that in this holiest of weeks I may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen.