So Jesus washed the feet of his disciples

[markdohle]

“Ponder these words: He and I.  Live them. I and you: I in you. 

He and I
Gabrielle Bossis
(Pauline Books)

The pull of love is towards union.  Our hearts desire it and as well fears it.  To let go means dropping many obstacles so that the beloved can enter in.  The deeper the love the more longing there is for union.  Good friends can always get closer; the only barrier is trust, which is an immense one.  To love another person is also to serve them, be there for them and to sacrifice for them if necessary.  So Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he became a servant and could not be their Lord unless his disciples allowed Him to wash their feet; as he related to Peter.  The Lord is always flipping reality for us.  Love is a grace if it is freely given no matter the cost.  God love is also given without need of payment; all we need do is to open up our hearts to this realty.  Intimacy is a dance of two souls, as well as a dance between the finite and the Infinite.  Yet we must learn to trust and to allow that which is beyond form or comprehension into our finite hearts and minds, for a journey of growth that is eternal.—Br.MD

[Your closest friendnt]

5 hours ago, markdohle said:

“Ponder these words: He and I.  Live them. I and you: I in you. 

He and I
Gabrielle Bossis
(Pauline Books)

The pull of love is towards union.  Our hearts desire it and as well fears it.  To let go means dropping many obstacles so that the beloved can enter in.  The deeper the love the more longing there is for union.  Good friends can always get closer; the only barrier is trust, which is an immense one.  To love another person is also to serve them, be there for them and to sacrifice for them if necessary.  So Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he became a servant and could not be their Lord unless his disciples allowed Him to wash their feet; as he related to Peter.  The Lord is always flipping reality for us.  Love is a grace if it is freely given no matter the cost.  God love is also given without need of payment; all we need do is to open up our hearts to this realty.  Intimacy is a dance of two souls, as well as a dance between the finite and the Infinite.  Yet we must learn to trust and to allow that which is beyond form or comprehension into our finite hearts and minds, for a journey of growth that is eternal.—Br.MD

The real world is different.. 

[markdohle]

9 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said:

The real world is different.. 

I agree my friend.  The 'real' world is something that we have created apart from the will of God, which is to simply love one another.  I struggle with it every day.

 

[markdohle]

Moses, David, all the Prophets, St. Paul, heard the voice of God.  She says nothing that goes against the scriptures ;-).  Though she is Catholic.

 

[Zemke]

19 hours ago, markdohle said:

“Ponder these words: He and I.  Live them. I and you: I in you. 

He and I
Gabrielle Bossis
(Pauline Books)

The pull of love is towards union.  Our hearts desire it and as well fears it.  To let go means dropping many obstacles so that the beloved can enter in.  The deeper the love the more longing there is for union.  Good friends can always get closer; the only barrier is trust, which is an immense one.  To love another person is also to serve them, be there for them and to sacrifice for them if necessary.  So Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he became a servant and could not be their Lord unless his disciples allowed Him to wash their feet; as he related to Peter.  The Lord is always flipping reality for us.  Love is a grace if it is freely given no matter the cost.  God love is also given without need of payment; all we need do is to open up our hearts to this realty.  Intimacy is a dance of two souls, as well as a dance between the finite and the Infinite.  Yet we must learn to trust and to allow that which is beyond form or comprehension into our finite hearts and minds, for a journey of growth that is eternal.—Br.MD

The exhortation to love is not missed in this post and commendable. It's calling others to experience a "deeper" love.  Anyone speaking against it would seem a bit unloving but we need to remember the exhortation of the apostle "And may your love grow more and more through real knowledge and all discernment". Phil. 1:9

The real knowledge Paul is speaking of is experientual knowledge. Not learning from experience but experiencing the application of knowledge, head knowledge. Growing, growth by living doctrine. Peter in speaking about never falling starts with knowledge, head knowledge, and later down the list he speaks of experientual, true, knowledge and of coarse love.

This is really one of the biggest battles churches go through. The Ephesian church in Revelation was commended for their discernment but what did they lack? Their first love. Leaning so far on the side of doctrine and really being right and commendable but what good is being right when we have not love. The church grows cold.

On the other hand we can lean to the side of experience in a way that doctrine takes a side chair and eventually leaves the building. I would say any of us that have been saved for thirty years have experienced this dynamic numerous times and hopefully we have grown more mature by it and haven't fallen away in frustration. 

Mystics are called such because they seek the experience to go "deeper" to "let go" dropping barriers and a whole process so God can then enter in. Prayer circles and the like that somehow create a space for God to be in us what He desires for us. 

I think most of us can understand the desire for more of God in our lives but I believe sound doctrine is the only way of right living and we won't know what right living is unless we have sound doctrine. Anytime doctrine is wrong we will eventually be living wrong. But again Paul places real knowledge, experience through application, along with discernment when he prays that our love may grow.

She got it right when speaking of reaching out to others, many times we can wash our brothers feet by simply listening.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Zemke

[missmuffet]

Question: "What was the significance of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples?"

Answer: Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:1–17) occurred in the upper room, just prior to the Last Supper and has significance in three ways. For Jesus, it was the display of His humility and His servanthood. For the disciples, the washing of their feet was in direct contrast to their heart attitudes at that time. For us, washing feet is symbolic of our role in the body of Christ.

Walking in sandals on the filthy roads of Palestine in the first century made it imperative that feet be washed before a communal meal, especially since people reclined at a low table and feet were very much in evidence. When Jesus rose from the table and began to wash the feet of the disciples (John 13:4), He was doing the work of the lowliest of servants. The disciples must have been stunned at this act of humility and condescension, that Christ, their Lord and master, should wash the feet of His disciples, when it was their proper work to have washed His. But when Jesus came to earth the first time, He came not as King and Conqueror, but as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The humility expressed by His act with towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross.

Jesus’ attitude of servanthood was in direct contrast to that of the disciples, who had recently been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24). Since there was no servant present to wash their feet, it would never have occurred to them to wash one another’s feet. When the Lord Himself stooped to this lowly task, they were stunned into silence. To his credit, though, Peter was profoundly uncomfortable with the Lord washing his feet, and, never being at a loss for words, Peter protested, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Then Jesus said something that must have further shocked Peter: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8), prompting Peter, whose love for the Savior was genuine, to request a complete washing. Then Jesus explained the true meaning of being washed by Him. Peter had experienced the cleansing of salvation and did not need to be washed again in the spiritual sense. Salvation is a one-time act of justification by faith, but the lifelong process of sanctification is one of washing from the stain of sin we experience as we walk through the world. Peter and the disciples—all except Judas, who never belonged to Christ—needed only this temporal cleansing.

This truth is just one of several from this incident that Christians can apply to their own lives. First, when we come to Christ for the washing of our sins, we can be sure that is permanent and complete. No act can cleanse us further from our sin, as our sin has been exchanged for the perfect righteousness of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). But we do need continual cleansing from the effects of living in the flesh in a sin-cursed world. The continual washing of sanctification is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, through the “washing of water by the Word” (Ephesians 5:26), given to us to equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Further, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He told them (and us), “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). As His followers, we are to emulate Him, serving one another in lowliness of heart and mind, seeking to build one another up in humility and love. When we seek the preeminence, we displease the Lord who promised that true greatness in His kingdom is attained by those with a servant’s heart (Mark 9:35; 10:44). When we have that servant’s heart, the Lord promised, we will be greatly blessed (John 13:17).

http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-washing-feet.html

[markdohle]

20 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

Question: "What was the significance of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples?"

Answer: Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:1–17) occurred in the upper room, just prior to the Last Supper and has significance in three ways. For Jesus, it was the display of His humility and His servanthood. For the disciples, the washing of their feet was in direct contrast to their heart attitudes at that time. For us, washing feet is symbolic of our role in the body of Christ.

Walking in sandals on the filthy roads of Palestine in the first century made it imperative that feet be washed before a communal meal, especially since people reclined at a low table and feet were very much in evidence. When Jesus rose from the table and began to wash the feet of the disciples (John 13:4), He was doing the work of the lowliest of servants. The disciples must have been stunned at this act of humility and condescension, that Christ, their Lord and master, should wash the feet of His disciples, when it was their proper work to have washed His. But when Jesus came to earth the first time, He came not as King and Conqueror, but as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The humility expressed by His act with towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross.

Jesus’ attitude of servanthood was in direct contrast to that of the disciples, who had recently been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24). Since there was no servant present to wash their feet, it would never have occurred to them to wash one another’s feet. When the Lord Himself stooped to this lowly task, they were stunned into silence. To his credit, though, Peter was profoundly uncomfortable with the Lord washing his feet, and, never being at a loss for words, Peter protested, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Then Jesus said something that must have further shocked Peter: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8), prompting Peter, whose love for the Savior was genuine, to request a complete washing. Then Jesus explained the true meaning of being washed by Him. Peter had experienced the cleansing of salvation and did not need to be washed again in the spiritual sense. Salvation is a one-time act of justification by faith, but the lifelong process of sanctification is one of washing from the stain of sin we experience as we walk through the world. Peter and the disciples—all except Judas, who never belonged to Christ—needed only this temporal cleansing.

This truth is just one of several from this incident that Christians can apply to their own lives. First, when we come to Christ for the washing of our sins, we can be sure that is permanent and complete. No act can cleanse us further from our sin, as our sin has been exchanged for the perfect righteousness of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). But we do need continual cleansing from the effects of living in the flesh in a sin-cursed world. The continual washing of sanctification is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, through the “washing of water by the Word” (Ephesians 5:26), given to us to equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Further, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He told them (and us), “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). As His followers, we are to emulate Him, serving one another in lowliness of heart and mind, seeking to build one another up in humility and love. When we seek the preeminence, we displease the Lord who promised that true greatness in His kingdom is attained by those with a servant’s heart (Mark 9:35; 10:44). When we have that servant’s heart, the Lord promised, we will be greatly blessed (John 13:17).

http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-washing-feet.html

Thank you for the beautiful post.

[missmuffet]

3 minutes ago, markdohle said:

Thank you for the beautiful post.

You are welcome Thank you for your kind reply.

[markdohle]

29 minutes ago, Zemke said:

The exhortation to love is not missed in this post and commendable. It's calling others to experience a "deeper" love.  Anyone speaking against it would seem a bit unloving but we need to remember the exhortation of the apostle "And may your love grow more and more through real knowledge and all discernment". Phil. 1:9

The real knowledge Paul is speaking of is experientual knowledge. Not learning from experience but experiencing the application of knowledge, head knowledge. Growing, growth by living doctrine. Peter in speaking about never falling starts with knowledge, head knowledge, and later down the list he speaks of experientual, true, knowledge and of coarse love.

This is really one of the biggest battles churches go through. The Ephesian church in Revelation was commended for their discernment but what did they lack? Their first love. Leaning so far on the side of doctrine and really being right and commendable but what good is being right when we have not love. The church grows cold.

On the other hand we can lean to the side of experience in a way that doctrine takes a side chair and eventually leaves the building. I would say any of us that have been saved for thirty years have experienced this dynamic numerous times and hopefully we have grown more mature by it and haven't fallen away in frustration. 

Mystics are called such because they seek the experience to go "deeper" to "let go" dropping barriers and a whole process so God can then enter in. Prayer circles and the like that somehow create a space for God to be in us what He desires for us. 

I think most of us can understand the desire for more of God in our lives but I believe sound doctrine is the only way of right living and we won't know what right living is unless we have sound doctrine. Anytime doctrine is wrong we will eventually be living wrong. But again Paul places real knowledge, experience through application, along with discernment when he prays that our love may grow.

She got it right when speaking of reaching out to others, many times we can wash our brothers feet by simply listening.

Thank you.  I agree, if a communication is against what is in the Scriptures it is to be set aside.  Doctrine is important, it gives us a place to stand from to evaluate.  Without it, we can get into murky waters.  I do believe that the intimacy we are called to is not experienced by many, yet the call is always there.  Mystics are no different from us, they just experience deeper but their writings are for us, in the Body of Christ we are for one another, each gift we have is for the Body of Christ.

[RustyAngeL]

Who is Gabrielle Bossis?

You used the word mystic.  Are you speaking of a mystic as in something like New Age mystic?  if that is the case it has nothing to do with the Bible.  The Bible is very clear telling us to stay away from such people.

That is why I would like to understand who and what this person is.

Thanks, RustyAngeL