The Heavenly Servant

"Christ Washing Peter's Feet" by Ford Maddox Brown (19th C British Pre-Raphaelite Artist)

The Heavenly Servant

John 13:1, 3-10 (ERV)

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival.

Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. 

Jesus had always loved the people in the world who were his. 

Now was the time he showed them his love the most...

The Father had given Jesus power over everything. 
Jesus knew this. 

He also knew that he had come from God. 
And he knew that he was going back to God. 
So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 
Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet. 

He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist. 

He came to Simon Peter. 

But Peter said to him, “Lord, you should not wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know what I am doing now. 
But later you will understand.” 

Peter said, “No! You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.” 

Simon Peter said, “Lord, after you wash my feet, wash my hands and my head too!” 

Jesus said, “After a person has a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you are clean...” 

In this Scripture passage, Jesus is giving His disciples a powerful visual metaphor of His mission on earth, who He is and why He has come.

The Apostles will not understand the full scope of His mission until after His death on the cross and resurrection though.

"So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe." 

Here Jesus is showing that He laid aside His Heavenly Throne temporarily and in the words of St. Paul,  "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:6-7 NASB)

"(Jesus) got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet. He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist."

Jesus, their Master and Lord, performed this humble task of washing His disciples feet, a menial chore that normally a slave or common household laborer would have done, in order to graphically demonstrate His mission from the Father. 

He also wants to remind them that He is their example in all things. Whatever He does, they must likewise do. 
Be humble. Love one another. Serve one another. 
Why? Because He is their Lord and has asked them to, just as He is now on His earthly mission because His Father has asked Him to do it. 

You can never have love without obedience in true worship.

Why does Jesus need to clean the disciple's feet? 
Because they are stained with sin. 

Jesus is showing them that His mission is to cleanse people of their sins. 
What would have been the filthiest part of the body in a time when most people walked everywhere over rugged roads and basically wore sandals? 

Jesus came to cleanse the filthiest part of each of us---our hearts. 

Matthew 15:19-20 (NASB) "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man...” 

Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB) “The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 

Jesus came to cleanse away the stain of sin that each of us are born with and to  make us whole, to redeem us from the curse of death and hell and to give us His own righteousness which we could not ever earn by being good enough on our own. 
Only Jesus Christ can wash our sins away.

Detail: Ford Maddox Brown Artist 19th C British

Peter said, “No! You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”

Jesus Christ told Peter that if He did not wash him, he could not be one of His people. 

Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can wash away the stain of our sins. 

Jesus Christ was the spotless Lamb of God sent to bear our sins on the cross as a blood sacrifice. He died in our place so that our sins could be forgiven. 

In Christ's demonstration to His disciples He had wrapped the towel of a slave around Himself and washed their feet as a slave would have. 
We are all slaves of sin apart from salvation in Christ.
Sinless Jesus took off His beautiful Heavenly spotless sinless robe and put on our robes stained with the slavery of sin and bore them on the cross.

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." ~2 Corinthians 5:21

Hebrews 9:22 "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

On the third day God raised Christ from the dead. All who receive Jesus into their hearts as their Lord and Savior will be raised from the dead and given eternal life with Christ in Paradise.

John 11:25-26 (NASB) "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” 

By washing their feet, Jesus wanted to leave His disciples with a powerful visual reminder of what His earthly mission was all about.

His humble, selfless act still speaks to us today about our need for His cleansing from our sins.

It tells us to follow His example of obedience and love to His Father and to serve one another humbly out of our love, obedience and worship to Him.

John 3:16-17 (NASB) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Thy only Son to cleanse us from our sins. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for laying aside Your Heavenly Throne for a season so that You could suffer & bear our sins on the cross & die in our place; 

Thank You Holy Spirit for making Thy truth known to our hearts,

We love You, Lord,  in Jesus' name, amen. 

"The Heavenly Servant" © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. //Bible Illustration by Ford Maddox Brown, 19th century British Pr-Raphaelite Painter, //Photo of Jesus holding Lamb via Pinterest//Scripture Quotations (NASB) New American Standard Bible, © 1995 The Lockman Foundation All Rights Reserved.// (ERV) © 2006 World Bible Translation Center All Rights Reserved. /"Nothing But The Blood" Music Video & Vocals © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden

Houses Built On Sand

Matthew 7:24-27

 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, 

I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  

and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; 

and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, 

will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 

 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; 

and it fell. And great was its fall.”

HOUSES BUILT ON SAND

© 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

Houses built upon the sand

Though castles grand they be

Will someday crumble to the ground

And wash into the sea.

No matter if their walls are gilt

With all the finest gold

Nor if their floors are marble,

The finest that is sold.

For all the houses built on sand

Cannot withstand the tide

That swallows all upon its shores~

Nothing on it abides

Except the million grains of sand

That form the boundaries

Of the ever restless waves

That dance upon the sea.

Only those who build their house

Upon the Rock of Christ

Will withstand the constant tides

Throughout the Sea of Life.

For the ever flowing tides

Are not as strong as He

Who controls the wind and waves

And calms the surging sea.

Jesus said that those who build

Their house upon His word

Were founding it upon a Rock

That ever would endure.

Lord Jesus, help me build my house

Upon Thy holy word,

Hold me through the Sea of Life

In You, my heart secure,

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Prayer 

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for all the times when we have listened to Thy word 

and have not obeyed. 

Search our hearts, oh Lord. 

Reveal to us where we have been blind and deaf to Thy Holy Spirit's promptings within us. Reveal to us all the ways where we have grieved Thy heart in not loving and forgiving others as You have commanded us. 

For in disobeying You we have built our houses on sand. Thank You that Thy word declares that"there is forgiveness with Thee that thou mayest be feared." 

We repent now of all disobedience to Thy revealed will and ask forgiveness for being hearers and not doers of Thy holy word,  

in Jesus' holy name.

Thank You, Lord, we love You, Amen. 

*The Illustration "Building Sandcastles" by Suzanne Davis Harden is available as an 8" x 10" Inch Triple matted  print at Wings Publications on Etsy: Visit Suzanne's Etsy Shop at this link for more  information:Wings Publications

 

Houses Built On Sand Prayer Poem  © Suzanne Davis Harden & *Illustration "Building Sandcastles" © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Unto The Least Of These. Scripture Pictures courtesy You-Version Online Bible, NKJV Bible Translation © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
  

Lord, Help Me Walk

John 15:4-5 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

Lord Help Me Walk

© 2015 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved.

"Lord Jesus, help me walk with You

Day by day, in every way,

In my heart, in all I say,

In all I do, oh Lord I pray.

To know you Lord, within my heart

Let Thy Light drive out the dark 

Within my soul and mind and heart 

And never from You let me part.

Help me know Thy will, oh Lord,

To listen to Thy every word,

To listen, Lord, and to obey,

To walk with You, Lord, every day."

In Jesus' name, Amen

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Heavenly Father, thank You for Thy measureless love for us and for the priceless privilege we have of knowing You through Thy Son Jesus Christ. 

Help us to never take this precious gift of our relationship with You for granted.

Help us to abide in You every day; draw us closer to Thy heart, and help us to know and discern Thy voice within our hearts more and more, that we might see clearly each day what Your will is for us. Thank You, Lord. We love You, in Jesus' name, Amen.

"Lord Help Me Walk," (Prayer Poem) © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. 

Scripture Quote: King James Version Bible

Scripture Picture: via Pinterest 

Unto The Least of These, February 2, 2015 © 2015 All Rights Reserved.

Lord, Give Me Faith

LORD, GIVE ME FAITH

© 2014 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

Lord, give me the faith of Abel

Whose sacrifice to You

Was born out of obedience

To Thy word of truth.

Lord, give me the faith of Enoch

Who walked with You each day

Ever drawing closer

Till Thy Love swept Him away

Into Thy heart of Truth~

He never died, You took Him home

To always be with You.

Lord give me the faith of Sarah

Who trusted and believed

The promise that you gave to her;

Thy promise she received.

Lord give me the faith of Abraham

Who waited many years

For the promise that You gave,

By faith he persevered.

He waited and he trusted

Though he saw no sign

That what You said would be fulfilled

In Your own way and time.

Lord give me the faith of Noah,

Who trusted and obeyed

Thy word to him to build an ark

Though he saw no sign of rain.

"Build Me an ark, “ said God,

~Noah saw no reason why~

Yet He patiently worked and built God’s boat

While hundreds of years went by.

"This world will end, dear Noah,

This ark you build will save

You and all I give to you,

Just do all that I say."

 

Lord give me the faith of Moses

Who faithful to You stayed;

Through every trial and temptation

He willingly obeyed.

You sent him to the Pharaoh

"Let my people go!"

And every time you sent him there,

The Pharaoh shouted, "No!"

He asked and sought and knocked,

Yet every door was closed,

But Thy will prevailed for him~

One day the king said, "Go!"

Lord give me the faith that lasts

To all eternity

That never doubts Thy promises

Will always come to be.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

                                           

“But joyful are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.” ~Psalm 146:5-6 (NLT)

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us with such immeasurable love and for believing in us so much that You entrust us with beautiful dreams that we could never hope or imagine could ever be fulfilled except by faith in Your strength and power and ability to help us accomplish them. 

For You are to be honored and glorified in each of us 

by our lives on this earth in all that we do,

 and when we accomplish what would 

seem impossible in our own strength,

 all glory and honor goes to You, our awesome Creator. 

We love You, Lord and thank You 

for keeping every promise forever. 

In Jesus' name, Amen. 

"Lord, Give Me Faith," Prayer Poem © 2014 by Suzanne Davis Harden, All Rights Reserved. Bible Quote: New Living Translation: 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved. Photo Illustration/ S.D. Harden/ Unto The Least Of These © 2014 All Rights Reserved.

Lord, Teach Me

"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; 

I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, 

which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." 

~Isaiah 48:17 (KJV)

Lord, Teach Me 

(A Prayer Poem~Inspired by Isaiah 48:17-21)

© 2014 Suzanne Davis Harden

Oh Lord, you are my God

Teach me, Lord, I pray,

Teach me what is best for me,

Lord, teach me every day.

Oh Lord, you are my God,

Please lead me where to go,

Guide me down Thy holy paths,

Thy will I want to know.

Oh Lord you are my God,

Lord, help me to obey,

To hear Thy voice, Lord, in my heart

And do all that You say.

Thy word says if I listen

And walk within Your Light

My peace will be a river

That never will run dry.

My righteousness will be like waves

That role upon the sea,

Ever rolling on and on

If I follow Thee.

My children will be like grains...

Of sand upon the shore

Measureless as the grains of sand

And live forever more

If I will obey Thy voice

And follow Thee, oh Lord.

Oh Lord, You are my God

And to Thy path of faith,

Is where You call my heart to go

And follow You each day.

You call me to the sea,

And there You make a path

Upon the rolling waves You say,

"Trust Me and hold My hand.

You will not let me fall

Beneath the rolling tide

I am always safe with You,

For Lord, You are my Guide.

You carry me to Your shelter,

Despite the wind and waves

We'll walk upon the water

Till on Thy Shores we're safe.

Oh Lord, You are my God,

Please teach me, Lord, I pray,

Please teach me what is best for me

Lord, teach me every day.

~In Jesus' name, Amen.

"Lord, Teach Me" ~(A Prayer Poem inspired by Isaiah 48:17-21) © 2014 Suzanne Davis Harden

All Rights Reserved. Photo Illustration from an original photo by Nikki Shum Harden