30 April 2015 - servant king

Jesus, you are the culmination of the Father's plans for us. The Father delivered his people from Egypt and drove out the nations before them. He gave them judges and prophets and kings. He raised up David, a man after his own heart. There is a sense in which one could say of David that the one who receives him receives the Father. But David was an imperfect image. He could say "You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior." But sin still tainted him even as great as he was just as it did everyone since Adam. His selfishness still tarnished the the family resemblance David bore to the Father. Rather than setting aside his own interests for the sake of his people David chose to sacrifice his people for his own interest and pleasure. He chose not to wash the feet of his people in service. He chose not to lay down his life in love. He chose to try to be greater than his master. And so your people had to wait until you finally came, Jesus.

From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. 

Jesus, like John, we are not worthy to unfasten the sandals of your feet. But you love us so much that you wash our feet. You are so humble in the way you love us. You cling to none of your rights. You do not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped but empty yourself. There is the real risk that we might misunderstand who you are. You accept this risk, but you take precautions against it.

From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. 

Even as you wash our feet you want us to realize that you are the great I AM. Even as you lay down your life you want us to realize that you are the great I AM. We do not receive merely the love of a servant. We receive the servant love of God. We have to know this to truly appreciate it. Only then can we receive both you and the one who sent you. We receive the Father as you wash our feet precisely because we could never deserve love of this magnitude. The very fact of this love opens and transforms us.

As we receive you you tell us, "no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one  who sent him." We must the feet of our sisters and our brothers. This is what it truly means to receive you and the love you first show us. As we receive it we are able to say with greater and greater sincerity, "You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior." Our song starts off stuttering and imperfect but as you love us it gains strength and confidence until we can say:

For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.