April 5, 2012

  • Lenten Reflections: Carpenter Parking Only? Holy Ambitions: The Blessedness of Washing Feet

    Luke 22:7  Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8  So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” ...

    14  And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 15  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16  For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18  For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

    24  A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25  And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26  But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27  For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

    Having been born of the first man Adam and being subject to the effects of the Fall, not a single one of us is any different than the disciples in our fleshly desire to be regarded as the greatest. Instead of having a Theocentric, Christocentric viewpoint, apart from the grace of God, my universe and your universe revolves around me, myself, and I !

    "Satan is the leader chief,
    Bringing pride and unbelief,
    Stubborn wills and tempers vile,
    Wanton lusts that will defile."
    (John Berridge, Hymn 118)

    I loved this picture. → → → → → →

    Jesus the carpenter didn't come to earth expecting or seeking a reserved parking place. The Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant. The Son of God came as one who serves! Our Lord was willing to take the lowest place. He was willing to wash feet. He was willing to die the most excruciating and humiliating of all deaths: death on a Roman cross. (Read Philippians 2.) He came not to be served but to give His life as a ransom for many! (Mark 10:35-44) Consider Christ's unfailing and willing obedience to His Father and His marvelous and perfect condescension to make a way for unrighteous and unworthy sinners to be reconciled to a holy God: the only true God who is light and in whom there is no darkness, the God who is holy, holy, holy, and cannot abide sin in His presence or even behold evil or look upon wickedness! (I John 1; Hab. 1:13; Psalm 5:4-5)

    In marked contrast, left to our own ways, each and every one of us ends up feeling entitled to get all the gusto we can get! We shout and pout and whine at even the scantiest offense against us: "I deserve!" "I have a right to ... "It's only fair!" "Did you see what that person did to me? I don't deserve this!"

    Well, what is it that we really deserve, my friends? The only thing we rightly deserve is eternal damnation, as Jonathan Edwards reminds us in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God":

    "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell."

    The fact that we have been given another day to live, and we are not cast away from the presence of the Lord into the lake of fire is all due to the mercy and grace of God in Christ. Our God is longsuffering, and Jesus Christ tarries returning, and all the while He calls out to lost, tired, thirsty, and hungry souls: "Whosoever will may come to Me! Come to Me and be saved from the wrath to come! Come to Me and find rest! Come to Me and drink! Come to Me and eat!"

    It is by the grace of God alone that any of us have repented of our sins and believed on Christ and received the gift of eternal life. Thanks be to God that our Judge is our Justifier and our eternal Intercessor – but apart from the Lord Jesus Christ where would we be? It was God's kindness which led us to repentance in the first place. Even our faith is not our own, it is the gift of God. What do we have that we have not received? How could the mind which was enmity against God ever begin to seek after God and be saved?! How could the soul which is dead in sin and transgressions ever come alive apart from the quickening breath of the Holy Spirit?

    And regarding what we think is fair...

    Was it fair that the Lord Jesus Christ bore the sin of many?
    Was it fair that the spotless Lamb was punished in the place of vile sinners?

    Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
    when his soul makes an offering for sin,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
    the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
    (Isaiah 53:10)


    Matthew 23:1  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2  “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3  so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5  They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6  and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7  and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9  And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10  Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11  The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

    When we are honest with ourselves (by God's grace alone – for our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked!), each and every one of us would admit we love and lust after those places of honor and the best seats. We obsess over and we seek the affirmation and approval of men in one form or another.

    However, as Christians, because we are God's holy nation, we are to have holy ambitions. I regret to say that all too often our ambitions are no different than those of unbelievers. Our ambitions are focused on the here and now, rather than eternity, and so we end up filling up barn after barn after barn, but what treasures are we laying up in heaven? Are we gaining the world and losing our souls? Is not Christ far superior and all-satisfying to any and all things the world has to offer? Let us ask God's Spirit to come and examine ourselves and our affections. For those who know Christ, these things ought not even be named among us because we have been born again of the last Adam, the One who humbled Himself, and Christ's holy nature now dwells in us through His Holy Spirit, so we are enabled to humble ourselves and follow in His steps:

    John 13:2  During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3  Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4  rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  5  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him...

    12  When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

    Blessed are we if we do them.
    Blessed am I if I do them.

    Romans 12:1 starts off with Paul's urgent appeal:

    I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

    In other words, IF we have truly known the glorious mercies of God in Jesus Christ in saving us, how can we do anything but present ourselves and all our affections and all our ambitions to God, so He might purify us and conform us to the image of His Son? The phrase spiritual is the Greek word logikos, meaning "rational" or "reasonable." In other words, IF we are Christ's, it is only rational, it is only reasonable, it is only logical for us to present ourselves to God, or as the KJV puts it, such a offering of ourselves is our "reasonable service." Any other response to the love of God in Christ is patently irrational, illogical, unreasonable, and unspiritual!

    1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
    Blessed are we if we do them.
    Blessed am I if I do them.

    By the power of God at work in us, may we be strengthened to will and to do them, and enter into and enjoy God's all-surpassing and unparalleled blessedness: the life, peace and joy of the LORD!

    "When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of glory died,
    My richest gain I count but loss,
    And pour contempt on all my pride."
    (Isaac Watts)

    "Lord, give me humility, or I perish."
    (George Whitefield)

    Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
    who do his just commands;
    seek righteousness; seek humility;
    perhaps you may be hidden
    on the day of the anger of the LORD.
    (Zephaniah 2:3)

    Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
    (Matthew 5:5)

    But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.
    (Psalms 37:11)

    The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
    (Isaiah 29:19)

    Related:

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Photo credits:

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_Christ_on_the_Cross_(sketch)_1845.jpg / CC BY-SA 3.0 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FootWashing.jpg / CC BY-SA 3.0 / PD-US

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TwinBarnsBarnstars.jpg by Royalbroil / CC BY-SA 3.0

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naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

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