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July 5,2007; Jesus, Prince of Preachers and Premier Prophet (9 of 12)

Focus Text: John 13.5-12

“After that, He [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.’ Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’ Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’ For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean.’ So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you?’” (John 13.5-12).

In the focus text, your attention is directed to Peter’s question and our Lord’s response. “Lord, are You washing my feet?” “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter’s question seemed to have an obvious answer, but it did not! It would seem that after seeing Jesus’ actions upon the other disciples, Peter would have known Jesus’ intentions! However, Peter missed the significance of the event on at least two fronts: First, he missed the obvious as to the fact that Jesus fully intended to proceed with His activities and that included Peter! This is apparent by our Lord's statement when He said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” Secondly, He missed the significance of the events in that Jesus said, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

Surely Peter knew what Jesus was doing! After all he wasn’t blind; the custom of washing a weary traveler’s feet had been for centuries embedded in the Jewish culture, yet Jesus said that Peter did not understand what He was doing. The lesson was not the obvious! Rather, the lesson of the moment was somewhere obscured behind the events of the moment. Peter did not see it then, but according to Jesus, he would see it later. What Peter did not know at that moment was included in other things which he could not see at that time. Later that evening Jesus said to all the apostles, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16.12-13). It was not that they, including Peter, did not want to see; rather, it was the case that they could not see; they were limited by their own human weaknesses and immaturity. However, all was not lost; they would understand after the Spirit of truth had come and guided them “into all truth.”

Did Peter ever get the point? Tomorrow’s devotional will show that indeed he did. For us, we need to understand that sometimes even Jesus was limited in what He could teach by the readiness (or lack thereof) of His audience. We should not think it strange that we (or those we try to teach) cannot see everything at once but are limited by time and circumstance (maturity)!

Questions:

1. Did Peter want to know what Jesus was doing? If yes, why did he not know?

2. Later that night, what promise did Jesus give Peter and the rest of the apostles concerning “all truth?”

3. According to Jesus, why could they not listen at that very moment to all they needed to hear?

4. Are we ever forced to wait to learn? Why or why not? Is there a larger lesson here about leaning as things become “age appropriate”? Is yes, state the lesson.

"Bible verse and quote" from Jan Couns

Bible and Quote - February 3-7