Day 81 | Unto the End

January 21, 2015 - WEEK TWELVE

J. Kirk Richards, Greatest in the Kingdom, Used with artist permission.

DAILY READING

John 13:1-20, 31-38; 14:1-14
For Younger Disciples

CONSIDER AS YOU READ

  • Why did Christ have to wash Peter’s feet for Peter to have part with Him?
  • In what way does Jesus wash your feet?
  • Whom does Christ send today, that if we receive them, we receive Him?

SUPPLEMENTAL READING

Jesus knew that his hour was come; He had promised His disciples that He would send the Comforter in His absence, but He also desired that they would have a more immediate and physical proxy for His love and personal ministrations. Accordingly, Jesus rose and set aside his outer robes. He wrapped a towel around His waist, poured water into a basin, and began to wash the others’ feet. One can only imagine the love and tenderness in His touch as He wiped away the dust on their travel-hardened feet—and the emotions of shame and gratitude the disciples felt as their Master performed the menial task.
Upon finishing, Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). In Jesus’ absence, we are to follow His example in serving one another; in essence, we act as His proxy in “loving unto the end” (John 13:1). To complete the picture, Jesus gave a “new commandment”—to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34). Thus we shall be known as His disciple. This new commandment of love summarizes the new and everlasting covenant in the same way that the former commandment to “love thy neighbour as thyself,” summarized “the law and the prophets,” that is, the Law of Moses (Matt. 22:38–40).
Loving our neighbors with a finite love—loving them as ourselves—cannot exalt us. Using the Savior as the measure of our love and service gives infinite range and possibility to our potential for growth; thus we are known as disciples of Him who, loving us more than Himself, bore the sins of all (Toni Thomas, Come unto Christ, 2013).

ADDITIONAL MEDIA


How Do I Love Thee?

FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES


Other Teachings at
the Last Supper

QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES

  • Why did Jesus want the apostles to remember Him?
  • Does he want us to remember Him for the same reasons?