FBC Glencoe ‘Blog

This week we looked at a passage of scripture that is very familiar to Easter and to most Christians. We read just briefly a few statements made by Peter and a few statements made by Jesus during the Last Supper. This was the last meal that the disciples would eat with Jesus before His death on the cross. I believe the statements Jesus made and the statements Peter made in this passage (John 13:8-9) were a foreshadowing of what Jesus’ death on the cross does for Peter and us.

The first statement Peter makes is simply “Jesus you shall never wash my feet.” I believe this statement is a staring point for Peter and for us regardless if we are a Christian or not. Peter understood how humbling, how lowly, and how filthy it was for a man to wash another’s feet. I believe Peter more importantly understood that Jesus was much more that a man, He was God. Peter had spent the past three years with a man who had raised men from the dead, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and made the lame walk. He had fed five thousand men with just one boy’s lunch, He had made a spectacle of the religious leaders of that time, and He had declared salvation for the weakest of people. And now He, God in flesh, sought to wash the calloused, dung covered feet of Peter. Peter had the guts to say NO! This statement tells us this: Peter understood how great, holy, and perfect God was and he also understood how filthy and unworthy he and his sin was. That was our first point; in order to accept the salvation and life that Jesus gives we first must understand how filthy we are, and we all are!

The next statement made in this conversation is Jesus’ statement. He says to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” I believe this is incredible foreshadowing of the work that God does in a sinner’s heart. He says to Peter and to us, “I know you’re filthy and I know I am not, but through me is the only way you can be clean.” Clean to be set free from the bondage, guilt, and destructiveness of our sin. We all come to church and act like sin is not destroying our families, our loved ones, or even ourselves but it is. I would dare say that each of us know someone who is feeling the effects of divorce, alcoholism, adultery, murder, theft, selfishness, or lies. The world around us is falling down and if we are a part of this world we too shall fall, but Jesus’ death on the cross sets us apart, raises us up, and changes everything.

The third statement is Peter’s reply to Jesus’ promise. Peter says, “Then wash all of me!” We bathe regularly but Peter didn’t. I believe he is saying what every person who has ever trusted in Jesus says in their own language. He’s saying Jesus have all of me, everything I was, everything I am, and everything I will be. Peter doesn’t care that it may be awkward for one grown man to bathe another man. Peter says it doesn’t matter what you want just wash me clean. I believe that is what God moves us to do as we trust in Him as Savior and Lord and receive the blessing of eternity in Heaven not Hell. I also believe that this is the process that we as Christians should continue in until we die.

We closed with and invitation to the lost and undone. We invited them and I invite you now to trust in Jesus as Your Lord and Savior. We also closed with a challenge to the Christian to surrender a current struggle to the will of the Father. I encouraged them that there is freedom and confidence in the change that worship brings.

walk brave, dustin

This week we had a very clear starting point. The question was “What is God’s name?”  I believe that in learning the name that God gave Himself we find a great deal of information and explanation of who He is and also who we are. We found the answer to this question in Exodus 3:13-14. In this passage Moses asks God what he should call Him. God says, call me I AM. This is God’s name. As we look further into the name of God we find the name Yahweh, which is defined “The Great I AM”. In this name we find some very interesting information. “I am” is the present tense from of “to be”. In other words God’s name screams “I am the being that exist supremely, the one who exist eternal, the one who exist above all”. In the terms of a story He is what the story is about. We on the other hand have a name ourselves. We are not the being that exists above all. We are not what the story is about. Therefore we should be called the i am nots. I believe this is a principle that our society as a whole and most of the human race refuse to believe. If we are honest, we ourselves at times don’t even believe it.

After learning this truth we moved on to look at a very familiar scripture with this truth in mind. This scripture is John 14:6 - Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. This scripture is often used to explain that Jesus is the only way that we can get to heaven. I believe that to be true, but I also believe through this scripture Jesus is revealing the gospel. I believe Jesus is answering three separately asked questions.

The first statement Jesus makes is “I am the way”. He is suggesting to us that He is the only path that leads to the Father in Heaven. So often we try to make our own way by being better than someone else or by just being the best we can be.

The second statement Jesus makes is “I am the truth”. I also believe that this is a singular statement in which Jesus is saying I am the one absolute, the real thing. I am unchanging and unwavering and all that is unchanging comes from me. So often our generation tells us that what we feel to be right is right. They tell us that what is true for you is not always true for me, depending on my problem and circumstances. However this is not true according to Jesus being the one real truth. He goes on in verses 7-17 to tell us that because He is truth what He says is truth, and that as Christians He will give us a Spirit of Truth. Jesus is speaking against logic. It is not logical to trust in something that you cannot see to hold all that is right and also to hold your eternal destination. We must trust in Jesus to receive that which He has promised.

The third statement is “I am the life”. Theologians believe that Jesus is speaking to Peter’s question and statements. Peter says that he will do all he can, even die for Jesus. Jesus is correcting Peter’s statement. He further explains in verses 18-20 that we must live in Him to live the life we are supposed to live. This is awesome, the Great I AM pours strength and ability into us as we turn our lives over to Him. Then that pours out of us onto the people that are around us.

The problem with all these statements is that so often we miss God’s name. We begin to consider ourselves to be God. We try to make our own way, we try to say how we feel is what is true, and we try to live our life as best we know how. This however is exactly the opposite of what Jesus came and died to set into motion. We closed with a challenging question, Are you I AM or I am not?

                                                              dustin