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Spirit of Truth

After Thomas asked in verse 6 “how can we know the way?” and Jesus made it clear that He, Himself is the ONLY way, He then began to try to make them see His deity. Verse 7: “if you had known Me (2^nd class condition—but you didn’t), you would have known My Father..”

They had seen only His humanity these three years, and though they believed He was the Messiah, the Son of God, they just didn’t have the capacity to understand that He also IS God. Not half and half, but all and all. They knew Him as Master and Lord. They loved His compassion and His power and His authority; they had seen the miracles, and even participated in some, but their minds were limited to the physical, visible being before them. The all-powerful, all-encompassing spirit that is God the Father was beyond their mentality. It would take growth in grace through the Holy Spirit’s enablement for them to grasp Who this Savior really was.

Jesus assured them that they would soon realize they had known God the Father, and had actually seen Him. Philip pressed the issue: “show Him to us.” Jesus’ answer: “I am here before you, Philip.” My words are the Father’s words. My works are the Father’s works. You have heard the words and seen the works, and you know they are real. Not only that, but you who believe in Me will do these same divine works, and in greater quantities, because I am going to the Father

As long as Jesus remained in His earthly body, the power was localized in Him. He would now return to the Father, and by so doing would be commissioning His Church and sending them out to perform His works on a global scale, through the multiplication of grace in spirit-led believers.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15

“if you love Me” (3rd class condition—maybe you’ll love Me, or maybe you won’t.) (!) What?? A born-again believer who does not love Jesus? Yes. We cannot love whom we do not know, and some who have believed in Jesus for salvation just don’t follow through with learning about Him, living day to day for Him, making His word the priority of their lives. Love gives. Love cherishes. Love keeps—His commandments. It means to guard, preserve and practice His principles of life.

There are a lot of “ifs” in the Christian life. We are not clones, or robots. Submitting to God’s will, learning to know and love our Lord, are conscious decisions on the part of the individual believer. The world judges us by what they think they know about Jesus’ teachings. We who believe in Him and are fashioning our lives to conform to Him are operating on these divine assets He introduced, privately, to the eleven. The world doesn’t know Jesus. We who are learning to know Him have a way of life the world can never comprehend. It is an intimate brotherhood of love.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. John 14:16-31

First order of business for the ascended Christ: ask the Father to give the believers another Helper, to be with us forever. And He did. These details were already decreed, as indicated by Jesus’ explanation of Who this Helper would be and how He would help. He is identified as the Spirit of truth. He would be known only to born-again believers, because the world cannot perceive or receive Him. He is God the Holy Spirit. He is our contact with Jesus and the Father. He lives with us and in us. Jesus didn’t explain all the details of the baptism and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to these men at this time, because they obviously were already suffering from information overload, and it had only just begun. It was sufficient at this time to assure them the Comforter was coming, and that after He came, they would understand.

This is another new operating asset for the Church age. In Old Testament times, and during Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit could and would temporarily empower the believers for certain works, under the authority of Jesus. Now, when Jesus is physically gone from us, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells every believer from the moment of salvation, to energize, inform and make intercession for us as we live and work. The world no longer sees Jesus. We believers see Him in each other, but especially in His Word. He continues to live, in His Church, through His written Word and through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Because of the Holy Spirit’s help, we can see that the Father and Son are one, and we are in union with His eternal essence. This is the basis of our Christian dynamics—God’s grace provision in saving us, teaching us, and bringing us to maturity in the faith. Believers’ positive volition to Bible doctrine is the determining factor in spiritual growth and is the key to loving Jesus. That is our means of learning the techniques of the Christian Way of Life. Believers who ignore Bible doctrine really don’t come to know Him much better than unbelievers.  Those believers are “flying by the seat of their pants” and judging their own spirituality by “feelings,” therefore they have no foundation for loving Him. Those who do know and love Him will have close communion with Him, because they are equipped to perceive His word and His will. The Father has decreed this close fellowship with those who obey the Son (v.21).

Jude was curious about the mechanics of the believers being able to see Jesus, while the world would not. In verse 23, there’s that 3^rd class condition “if” again: “if a man loves me (and maybe he won’t, but if he does), he WILL guard My Word. It is a given. Loving Jesus = guarding, observing, practicing His Word, thereby growing in grace and being in fellowship with Him and the the Father. Very simple. If you don’t love Me, you won’t keep My word. This is evidence of our fellowship, or lack of fellowship with God. Well, the world certainly does not know or love Jesus, or have any reverence for His Word, and they do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling/helping, therefore they cannot perceive Jesus. They make false assumptions based on some superficial readings of His message to the Jews, but they do not and cannot know Him. Faith comes first. Then understanding. Then love.

Jesus had to teach them about the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and leadership while He was still with them, because His time was short. They didn’t grasp the information at that time, but He assured them that they would later. The Holy Spirit would bring these things to their remembrance after He became part of their lives, on the day of Pentecost. Jesus knew they were totally befuddled now, but later on, when they needed it, the stored knowledge would become clear. That was the Helper’s job. Jesus’ going to the Father was to their advantage, because the Father’s spiritual power would be more far-reaching than Jesus could be in His humanity.

He had told them beforehand, so they would understand when it happened, and believe in His deity. Now Satan was coming on the scene, and the showdown was about to begin. Jesus had nothing to fear from him, because Satan has no power over God the Son. It was just one more item to deal with at that time.

Everything Jesus did was  in direct obedience to the Father. Things were about to change drastically. He was preparing the eleven as best those bewildered humans could be prepared, before the fact.

“OK, guys, let’s move on, now.”

Rise, let us go from here.

What Shroud?

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. John 20:3-10

“the other disciple” of course, was John, the writer of this gospel. Mary had announced that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb, and she was distraught, so they ran to see. John got there first, but did not enter right away. He looked in though, and saw “strips of linen lying there.” These were death-dressings, wrappings as for the newborn swaddling cloths; long, narrow strips of cloth that were wrapped around the body like bandages.

Then Peter ran straight in. He saw the strips of cloth, too, and the separate face-cloth, lying in place apart from the linen strips. This was a soudarion; like a sweat-rag or a towel which bound the face of the corpse. Also referred to as a handkerchief or napkin.

We do not need relics of Jesus to know He is real. Whatever relics have been found or counterfeited to prey on the gullible or add to the story never seem to conform to the Bible accounts we have been given. The fact that people superstitiously keep coming up with those things just adds to the ridicule we Christians have to endure from a skeptical world.

We walk by faith, not by sight. Humans are easily deceived and easily influenced to worship tangible objects in addition to, or rather than, the Lord of Life. Relics do not prove the reality. The Holy Spirit’s teaching of our spirit does. The existence of the Perfect Word of Truth does.

…these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. I Corinthians 2:10

Actually, John, Peter and the other disciples had plenty of tangible proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Among the evidence: those burial clothes that had been left lying in place, and that separate face-cloth that seemed not to have been moved. It would take a while for the cobwebs of grief to clear from their stunned souls, but they would soon see Jesus face-to-face, in His resurrection body!

These ordinary men who had become apostles of the gospel of Christ and suffered all manner of adversity with Him, as well as wonderful times of blessing, now had the magnificent joy of knowing Him in His resurrection. They would every one go to his death proclaiming the Living Lord Jesus as the only Savior! They never got over it. Neither will we.

He is Alive!

How Can We Know?

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” John 14:1-5

The meal was finished, Jesus had washed their feet and dismissed Judas. Now the private teaching was beginning, for those who would become His Church. Believers only. He had spent three years offering the kingdom of God to the Jews. The Jews did not want His spiritual kingdom. They wanted Him to become an earthly king and continue the religion they had always practiced, while overthrowing the rule of Rome. In chapters 14 through 17 of John’s gospel, Jesus intimately taught and prayed for these men and those who would believe through them. In these three chapters, there is no mention of the Jews. These deep truths of God would be shown to the eleven, before they had to face the offering of their Master as the Lamb of God, being sacrificed for their sins and ours

Jesus began to seriously instruct the eleven about the future intimacy they would share with Him and with the Father and with each other. When He mentioned his departure from the earth, they would protest and question Him about where He would go. They began to suffer from separation anxiety, because His words were heavy on their hearts. Up to now, He had been matter-of-fact in His comments about His own human destiny. Now, He was more somber as He spoke of going away. They seem to have been blocking from their consciousness the expectation of His cruel death. This cannot be the first they had heard of it. Hence, their troubled hearts.

Jesus pointed out to them that if He didn’t have future plans for them, He would not have led them to believe so. Since He did have future plans and was going away to make arrangements for them, they must know He would be back for them, to be with Him again. He assured them that they knew the way. 

Jesus knew about His Father’s house. He came from there. Now, He would ascend back to there and prepare our eternal dwelling place. Then He will personally return for us, so we can be with Him forever. They knew His meaning about the Father’s house, but Thomas wanted a more detailed explanation. “We don’t know, Lord, and how can we know the way?”

There is only one way: through the I AM.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

He is the Way: Greek, hodus – plan of action; consistency. The only access to the Father.
He is the Truth: alatheo – all truth; Word of God
He is the Life: zoes – source of all life

There is no other way to the Father.

This leaves no room for speculation about other possible means of salvation. This denies any possibility that people who practice religions will receive admission into the presence of God. There is no such thing as “good enough.” Human works are not an option.

I’ve heard some who profess Christianity say that when someone tells them that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, they don’t want to hear anything else that person has to say.

Well, Jesus Christ Himself said it, more than once, but this is the most forceful and unmistakable of His statements on the subject. It cannot be explained away. You either believe that He is the only way, or you believe He is a liar.

Jesus also said this, in John 3:18: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” And this, in John 3:36: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:7

If they had known (ginosko – perceived, been sure of, understood) – 2^nd  class condition “if” - and they did not perceive or understand before. From this point onward, they’ll know.

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him,“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. John 14:8-11

The men were stressed, confused, frustrated and sad about this heavy talk from Jesus. They kept wanting more detail from Him. They sensed a crisis looming and were scared. They were little children, clinging to Mama’s skirt, as she is about to leave them in an unfamiliar situation and go away. He gave them all the comfort He could at the time.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:12-14

“Truly, truly” signifies a point of doctrine. Through faith in Jesus Christ, the believers will continue to perform Jesus’ own works in the world, and even greater works. BECAUSE He was going away, they would do these things. In order for His Spirit to expand in the world, He must go away. As long as He remained in that human body, His Spirit was localized. Since He went away, His Spirit lives in every believer. This is a divine technicality, and that last Passover celebration with His men was when and where He introduced it to them.

Here’s the promise: after I’m gone, ask anything in My name (ask as I would ask….ask in agreement with Me….exercise the power of attorney as My agent) and I will do it. This way, the Father is glorified. After all, it is the Father’s plan.

Jesus came to earth as a man to present His Father’s plan of grace, which would purchase the redemption of every human who will believe. He lived among us until the appointed time and then He executed that perfect plan. It is finished. He is the ONLY way. This discourse with the eleven took place before the physical execution of the plan, but the plan was a reality from eternity past. Those who lived before looked forward to the atonement of the cross. We who live after are looking back to the atonement of the cross. Same plan. Same atonement. Same Savior. Same means of access: faith in Him.

Same eternal dwelling place: the Father's house. 

Lord, who is it?

By the time of this writing, John had become a mature Christian and an authoritative leader of other Christians. As an old man, having lived most of his life believing in and honoring Jesus as Savior and Lord, he now teaches us from the perspective of solid Church-age doctrine.

Then, however, John was one of twelve befuddled young disciples. Eleven were newborn believers in Jesus Christ, trying to grasp the mysterious meanings of His instruction. The unique God-Man of the universe was preparing His inner circle for the terrible events that would occur before His departure from the earth. One of the twelve would play a hand in the horror that was coming soon. Jesus’ humanity was feeling the dread of what His men would face, and how they would certainly fail to stand fast, because of their weakness and confusion. He also had a dread of His own, being the only one who realized what pressures He was about to endure.

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” John 13:21-25

“That disciple” was John. This is another indication that the eleven did not know of Judas’ hypocrisy. He played the part of a believer so well that real believers couldn’t discern the evil that corrupted his soul. We must never let outward appearance lead us to judge others, for good or bad. Morality is not Christianity. Human good masquerades as divine good. By all indications, Judas Iscariot was an honorable man of good deportment and even those who lived closely with him for three years did not know his beliefs and motives. Jesus did, however, and the moment of revelation had come.

Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. John 13:26-30

Even as Jesus followed through on exposing the traitor, the disciples’ minds were inventing other explanations for what they just saw. The elderly apostle John, remembering this event, now knew exactly what had taken place.  V 27 “Satan entered into him.” A born-again believer cannot be Satan-possessed or demon-possessed. More proof that Judas had never believed. He accompanied them in ministry day after day, observing the Master’s work, participating in the work, yet he remained spiritually dead. The time had come now for Judas to do Satan’s bidding and get the wheels moving for the fulfillment of Christ’s mission. Jesus urged him to get it over with.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:31-35

Jesus’ glorification was near at hand, and through His glorification God the Father would also be glorified. The Father and Son are one in essence and they complement each other in every word and action. The Lord was becoming more explicit in His words of farewell to His men, plainly telling them He’d be gone soon, into a dimension they could not enter. They now received a new commandment from Him: “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (affectionately, benevolently). 

Please notice Jesus designates this as a NEW commandment. Therefore it is not the same as “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).That is an old commandment, and it constitutes unconditional love for all mankind. That has not changed. It means to maintain a relaxed mental attitude toward all humanity, just as God’s grace extends to all. It means to treat others as we wish to be treated (Luke 6:31). Many unbelievers and mixed-up believers try to make this the gospel. This is not the gospel.

This new commandment is specific to Jesus’ family of believers. He issued it in private to those closest to Him. It is the familial love of those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and share the hope we have in Him. It is a reciprocal relationship of those who reflect His own deep, personal love for His children. This love for one another as we navigate life in the devil’s world demonstrates our relationship with Him. We experience this by loyalty to the Body of Christ and like-minded faith in His finished work. We who believe in the perfect atonement of Jesus Christ always have that characteristic in common, knowing it is what makes us His children, and knowing that we have no fellowship with unbelievers. We owe unbelievers the gospel, but not fellowship. This love He has commanded is for our brethren.

“Love one another” is also not the gospel, but is the manifestation of the gospel’s effect on believers.

Of course, the disciples did not understand, so Peter simply asked:

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. John 13:36-38

Peter just couldn’t get that Jesus always knew exactly what He was talking about. His protestations always read like a small child, arguing with Mother over something she has warned him about. “But, Lord, I wanna go with you NOW. No matter the cost. Even if it kills me.”

He Who knows all knows all about me, and all about you, and all about Peter. He knows our capacity for love and loyalty and our tolerance for adversity and fear at any given time of our life. He knew precisely how little adversity it would take to make a sniveling coward out of big, blustery Peter.

How it must have hurt Him to tell Peter.

…afterward you will understand.

As we enter chapter 13 of John’s gospel, the atmosphere changes with our Lord moving from public ministry to quiet intimacy with those closest to Him, His own disciples.  These men would be part of the infant Church in just a few weeks. He would have no more words for the outside world. This is important to realize, as we read through the remainder of John. The private teaching Jesus delivered to these personal friends and followers is specific to those who believe in Him, and not general information for humanity. He was about to leave them, under very stressful circumstances. This was His time to prepare them for that reality as He strengthened their bonds with one another and with Himself. Their relationship would be that of a family. Jesus’ family. His instruction was for their love and encouragement of one another after His departure. This night began His farewell to His own.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1

“to the end” means to the uttermost, or to the fullest extent. He loved His own completely. This was to be Jesus’ last Passover celebration with His disciples. John knew after the fact that Jesus was facing His departure from the world, so he shared that knowledge in this narration. He also shared what he and the other disciples had learned about the former disciple, Judas Iscariot, though at the time of this event they apparently took Judas at face value, trusting him as a brother in the faith.

During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:2-5

Even as Jesus anticipated His own torturous trials and death, His present concern was for the reassurance and well-being of his disciples. It was important that they learn the meaning of humility and brotherly love. We know that these were men of various temperaments. At times they were childish and competitive. Of course, they were shocked that their Master would stoop to serve them.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not 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, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” John 13:6 -11

Peter’s volatility was always apparent. He fluctuated between direct disobedience (“you shall never wash my feet”) and silly over-exuberance (“not my feet only…”). Jesus’ quiet authority calmed them all down as they submitted to this common ritual which represented deep spiritual truth.

1-20. The meaning of the Lord’s action. The Lord’s washing of the disciples’ feet illustrates the believer’s continual need of cleansing after the once-for-all bath of regeneration. ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you,’ 10 (Judas being unregenerate). The figure is of a person returning from the public bath to his home. His feet would become defiled. So the believer is once-for-all cleansed in the bath of regeneration (Heb 10:1-12), but must confess the sins involved in his daily walk in a sinful world (Eph 5:25-27; 1 Jn 1:9). A defiled saint, 8, cannot have communion with Christ; that is why Peter had to have his feet washed. The command, 14, involves the exercise of a spirit of forgiveness of one saint toward another (Eph 4:32).

Unger, Merrill F.; Unger, Merrill F. F. (2005-04-01). The New Unger's Bible Handbook (Kindle Locations 13592-13598). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

 Our Lord certainly knew which of the disciples truly believed in Him and which one did not. He performed this intimate ritual of washing the disciples’ feet as a lesson in humility to them and to us. Of course, it was a custom in all households to wash the feet of guests who visited. The streets were filthy, and their feet were, too, from their travel. Foot washing was normally a household servant’s  job. Peter’s protest indicated that he believed His Lord shouldn’t stoop to such a chore. Jesus assured Peter and the others that He, our Lord, must periodically cleanse us or we do not belong to Him. We do not need to be completely bathed, however, for that was a once-and-for-all cleansing of the soul (eternal salvation at the point of faith in Christ). The foot washing represented daily confession of personal sins by the believer, having been forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness by God the Father, through the atonement of the God the Son. Jesus knew that not all of the disciples had believed in Him for salvation, but apparently He washed the traitor’s feet also, as a demonstration of His grace. Foot washing didn’t clean the whole man. It was just a temporary fix for daily dirt. If the whole man isn’t clean, the foot washing is meaningless ritual. Lesson: daily confession of personal sins is for the believer only! Unbelievers (spiritually dead people) confessing personal sins does nothing for their spiritual condition. Only faith in the perfect atonement of Jesus Christ can remove the curse of Adam’s original sin and give eternal life. Judas had been with Jesus for three years and had played the part of a disciple, but had never truly believed in His deity or His mission. Judas was not saved.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant  is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. John 13:12-16

If our Lord will do such a thing for us, we believers can do it for one another.  We can humble ourselves to attend to the needs of fellow believers. We servants are not better than our master. It is our great honor to be and do just as our master is and does. Foot washing is not part of our modern culture, but there are many ways to serve fellow believers’ needs, daily, as we grow together in the faith. Foremost among them is to forgive our brothers’ human failures.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’  I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. John 13:17-19

He knew that not all the disciples would follow His lead. Our Lord had deliberately chosen each man there. The one who would betray Him had just supped with Him. He wanted His true disciples to realize later that He had expected the betrayal, because He is omniscient God. They didn’t know at supper who the traitor was, but Jesus did.

He established a bond between Himself, His messengers and those who would believe on Him through their message. The messenger represents the one who sends him. Those who receive the message are receiving the sender as well as the messenger. We are part of a spiritual organism. We are ambassadors for Christ, representing Him wherever we go.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”