John Chapter 13

John 13. John gives us a five-chapter account of Jesus' dinner with his disciples in the Upper Room. It is by far the longest and most detailed account of this evening by any of the gospel writers, except that John does not explain the symbolism of the Last Supper. Instead, he chooses to focus on Jesus' personal relationship with his disciples. This was the last evening John got to spend personally with Jesus before the crucifixion, and perhaps ever, and it had a profound impact on him.

The word love (Greek agape and agapao) is used only 8 times in chapters 1-12, but is used 31 times during Jesus' time with his disciples in the Upper Room. John recounts for us an experience of Jesus' deep and abiding love for his followers. It begins with an act of humility and servanthood, as Jesus takes the place of a servant and washes the disciples' feet. Foot-washing is not something we relate to in the 21st century, but for 1st century people who wore sandals and walked on dirt all day, it was a necessity and a task reserved only for servants. It was the first "dirty job." Jesus does not wash their feet because they need to be washed--he makes that clear to Peter in verse 10. He does it to model the relationships his followers are to have with one another. Compare Jesus' washing of the disciples feet here with Mary's anointing of his feet in Chapter 12 (see my notes on male and female styles of worship in my post on ch. 12).

The Upper Room is the first church model. Jesus is crystal clear about the importance of his followers expressing love to each other and serving each other, and the early church fulfilled this. The key attractional element of the early church was the love and care among her members. How could we have strayed so far from Jesus' example and that of his first followers? Our current way of doing 'church' doesn't even lend itself to loving each other. Sitting in an auditorium full of strangers or acquaintances and listening to a preacher bears no resemblance to what Jesus and the disciples modeled for us. Jesus did a great deal of teaching in the Upper Room, but in a context of people who knew each other well and cared for each other; these teachings would have no meaning to an anonymous crowd.

We are serious about following this example. Each of us as followers of Christ must intentionally invest in the lives of other Christians, and you can't do that in a crowd or an auditorium, or even in a group that meets a couple of times a month. If you have not yet been willing to join a table in your area or start one (with our help), I urge you to take the plunge. If you're still hanging on to a 'go to church' model instead of a 'be the church' model, then keep reading. We have four more chapters of this table experience to go!

Even the Lord's Supper itself is robbed of its original intimacy by being institutionalized and retooled for mass consumption. This was a dinner among close friends. Ironically, Jews who don't recognize Christ in the symbolism of the Passover Seder still observe it as a feast with family and friends, while we Christians recognize Christ in the bread and the wine while stripping the meal of its intimacy and fellowship. Christianity is for friends, not crowds, and people who only experience their faith en masse have never come close to the experience of the disciples and the early church. Don't settle for the crowd!