Last time, we examined Christ’s journey to the cross regarding the second half of Tuesday of His Holy Week. He first exposed the Pharisees’ prideful / sinful practices, which impaired the congregants’ entrance into the kingdom of God. Then Jesus rejected them and left the Temple forever. Afterwards, He would teach the apostles about the coming of and the nature of the ‘end times.’ (See Jesus Was Not Finished with Tuesday of the Holy Week.)
Now, it is Wednesday. Jesus informs the apostles of the exact time of His crucifixion:
“You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.” Mt. 26:2 AMP
Simultaneously, the chief priests and elders of the Temple were planning His demise:
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him. “Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.” Mt. 26:3 – 5. CSB
How did they find a way to snare Jesus (as if they could)? They had help from the devil himself:
Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and they promised to give him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren’t around. Lk. 22:3 – 6. NLT
So, we see that Judas Iscariot, one of Christ’s handpicked apostles, betrayed Him. Judas was sending the Son of God to His death for 30 pieces of silver.
Jesus and the apostles return to Bethany for the last time. They entered the house of ‘Simon the Leper’, (our merciful Jesus was always compassionate, especially to the ‘outcasts’ of this broken society).
While there, Mary of Bethany, accompanied by her brother Lazarus, anoints Jesus’ head and feet with pure spikenard (an extremely expensive perfume). The apostles complained, calling it wasteful, because the spikenard could have been sold to feed the poor. The one who complained the most was Judas Iscariot; and the Bible tells us why:
Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it. Jn. 12:6 AMP
Jesus chastises the apostles for their complaining:
“Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a good thing to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you will not always have Me. When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.” Mt. 26:10 – 12. AMP
Thursday: a glimpse of the Last Supper:
Jesus sent Peter and John to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal in an ‘upper room’ in the city, which was exactly where Jesus said it would be. They told the owner of the home that the Teacher wanted to celebrate Passover in that room, and he complied.
At this point, the Bible gives us access to the state of Jesus’ heart:
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. Jn. 13:1 NLT
Later in the evening, Christ and His apostles gathered to partake in the Passover meal. Jesus begins to speak:
“I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Lk. 22:15, 16. NLT
What Jesus means is that He would dine with all the children of God, at the end of time, when they enter the kingdom, attending what is called the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb.’
Christ is commencing a spiritual transformation for God’s children into Jehovah’s final Covenant with them. Jesus is becoming the sacrificial Lamb. It is His blood that will bring salvation.
The Last Supper ‘celebration’ (Communion) replaces the Passover meal for Christians, because at His resurrection, Jesus will become the ultimate liberator of God’s children. The Son of God becomes the Key to His Father’s kingdom.
During Supper, the disciples once again start arguing about who will be the greatest in heaven. Jesus sets them straight.
“But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.” Lk. 22:26, 27. NLT
Again, the Bible makes us privy of Jesus’ thoughts, and of the action that He decides to take to illustrate them:
It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist… Jn. 13:2 – 4. NLT
So here, Christ is preparing to wash the apostles’ feet, removing His outer garment, humbling Himself to demonstrate the role of a servant, yielding to His human nature. But He doesn’t give up His God nature. He begins with Peter, who protests, telling Jesus that it is he who should be washing His feet. Jesus rebukes Peter:
“Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me [we can have nothing to do with each other].” Jn. 13:8 AMP
Peter did not in any way want to be separated from His Savior. So, he relented and told Jesus to wash his whole body! What Jesus was inferring, was that a child of God only remains that way, if, regardless of his or her baptism, remains in a life-long cycle of confessions and repentance to stay right Him.
Jesus responds to Peter with another analogy to that effect:
“Anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, and is completely clean. And you [My disciples] are clean, but not all of you.” Jn. 13:10 AMP
The ‘bath’ represents one’s acceptance of Christ, the ‘washing of the feet’ is to clean the part of you that touches the world, where sin resides. ‘…but not all of you’ refers to the faithless Judas Iscariot, (who hasn’t been revealed to the other apostles yet).
Let’s recap:
1. There is no task too menial in terms of servitude.
2. We must submit to the will of Christ.
3. The washing of the feet was symbolic of the cleansing of the soul, by the blood of our Savior, to enter communion with the Father and Son.
Jesus then begins to drill down on the identity of His betrayer:
“I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’ I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I am the Messiah.” Jn. 13:18, 19. NLT (Jesus is quoting Ps. 41:9)
Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” Jn. 13:21 NLT
This He would demonstrate by using His omniscience.
Then, Jesus leans into John’s ear alone, to reveal the betrayer:
“It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” Jn. 13:26, 27. NLT
After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night. Jn. 13:30 CSB
Jesus instantly declared:
“Now is [the time for] the Son of Man [to be] glorified, and God is glorified in Him; [if God is glorified in Him,] God will also glorify Him (the Son) in Himself, and will glorify Him at once.” Jn. 13:31, 32 AMP
All the tumblers have fallen into place. Christ is now prepared to finish His journey to the cross and ascend to His Father.
To be continued…
Goodnight and God bless.