It’s one of the darker moments in any story in the Bible.

Jesus, having dropped a few hints, is visibly troubled. His insides are showing on the outside. He finally says it plainly: “One of you is going to betray me.”

One in twelve. Not exactly good odds when the stakes are this high. Of course the disciples were dismayed and shaken, at a loss for words.

Will turn against you. This is just a fact of life. It’s only a matter of who and when.

David wrote a song about it. Jesus quoted a line from that song while sitting around the Passover table with his disciples—what would prove to be their last together. The gears of betrayal, as he was trying to explain, were already in motion.

But in the doing.

To be blessed is to be deeply happy. Fulfilled. Content. Living the eternal life that Jesus promised—not merely a life that lasts for eternity, but a life that is fueled by eternity.

If there’s one lingering handicap Modernism has left us with in our attempts to follow the way of Jesus, it is that we still believe that it is sufficient to know a lot about him. To know his teachings. To know about his miracles. To know some theology about his death and resurrection.

We no longer walk everywhere now that we have motorized vehicles.. But even if you live in a really walkable town, most people there probably wear shoes most of the time, not sandals. And even if people do a lot of walking with sandals, your streets are likely paved, so they’re not going to get caked with dust and dirt. And even if they were a little bit dusty when they showed up at your house, you (or your non-existent servant) would not bend down with a basin of water and a towel and give them a quick foot bath.

So Jesus’ command that “you should do as I have done for you” poses a bit of an interpretive challenge.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?”

Is there some level of mental cognition going on? Can you explain it to me in your own words? Can you see the significance? Are you beginning to think and process what you experience in the world differently? This isn’t an essay question that is going to be on a final exam, but I’m still checking to see what’s gotten through. Let’s at least start here.

Has the symbolic power sunk down into your heart? Are you different in some kind of way? Do you sense a new longing and desire rising up within you to live in a different way? When I say “heart,” I don’t so much mean emotions, although that can be a part of it. What I mean is where your energy for life comes from—it can feel as if you’ve plug in a new kind of battery into your soul.

To first century Jews, cleanliness was a big deal, with practical reasons blended with religious beliefs.

There were detailed instructions for how priests were to prepare themselves and vessels for temple use. There were then those—the Pharisees—who wanted to make those same ritual washing laws applicable to common life. The bottom life being that outward cleanliness was to be a marker of inward cleanliness.

Sometimes we resist the work of Jesus. Whether it’s conscious or not, whether we state it aloud or not, our inner response is, “No.”

Sometimes we expect more of Jesus than is necessary. Or more than he is offering. Our expectations can exceed his good purposes.

For anyone seeking to live a spiritual life is, “What is God up to in my life.” I often ask it to those that I pastor, especially when I get them one-on-on: “What is God up to in your life?” Or, if they are going through some sort of particular rough patch in life, “What do you think God is doing in you during this season?” I find it to be a great, open-ended doorway into some meaningful conversation.

Not surprisingly, the individual I’m talking to doesn’t often have a solid answer. And—if we’re being honest here—neither do I whenever my spiritual director asks me such questions. I don’t ask such questions because I’ve cracked the code, but because I’m always seeking the same understanding for myself.

When you know where you’ve come from, and where you’re going, and what you’re capable of, then you can know what your purpose is.

Origin + Destination + Potential = Purpose

Take Jesus, for example: He knew he came from God. He knew he was returning to God. And he knew that all things were under his power. So what did he do with that divine origin, divine destination, and unlimited potential? He washed his disciples’ feet. Surprising, to say the least!  If we’re being honest, it actually seems kind of foolish, backwards, and ridiculous.

You can just feel it all around you. There is a tension and a breathlessness as you sense that something is coming to a close. There is a sense of shifting weight, as if you’re leaning from one era into another.

A common human tendency in such times is to check out, to begin to withdraw and pull away from others. Mostly, I think, from both my own experience and in observing others, this is largely unconscious. Maybe we’re already so excited that we’re half living in the future. Maybe we’re hoping to lessen the pain of goodbyes. Or maybe to avoid the goodbyes altogether. Maybe we’re hoping for a gentle and slow fadeout, like the end of a movie.

This is common, and maybe not always or entirely bad, but I can’t say that I recommend it as a best practice. Why? Because most of the time our distancing and withdrawal from others is received as unloving.