"Jesus, knowing that his hour had come. loved them to end."
The life of everyone is colored and directed (you might even say consecrated) by some private moments—the moment your mother really spoke to you, heart to heart, the moment your father kept a promise, or your friend gave you a piece of advice.
It was the same with Jesus' apostles that evening. He was alone with them in that upper room. He had invited them, they had eaten, drunk, broken bread, and shared wine, just as we do. For them, however, that evening had been much more private, much more personal, especially when he had washed their feet.
Having your feet washed is something very private, very personal, and very powerful. After a tiring trip have your feet ever been washed by someone who loved you? Did you ever wash and massage the feet of someone you loved? Do it once, and you, too, will know what I am talking about.
He had washed their feet, he had dried them—in a way he had consecrated them. And it was at that moment that he had said to them: "I am sending you, you have to go, if you want to be faithful to me." And though they were very ambitious, very shallow, very consumer-minded, very competitive, and very contentious, they never forgot that moment.
Moments like that kept them together with him and with one another. It is those private moments with someone we love and respect that keep us together, that keep us faithful at unexpected moments in our lives.
Don't you remember a happening, an event, a private moment that determined and still determines your life's direction?
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I do! I do! One doesn't easily forget moments like that. Mine came to me in a dream. (I never remember my dreams. And if by some slim chance I do, by 8:00 am I can't remember a thing.) I will never forget this one. I was very sad in this dream, I was sitting on the floor with my head down. As I looked up to see who the man in the robe was, a sense of calm and peace came over me like nothing I had ever experienced in my life. It was a very vivid dream that gave me an almost unbelievable sense of serenity, security and peacefulness. I wanted to linger in that moment forever. That was over a year ago & everytime I think of it, I am transformed back into that moment for just a second. Kind of sappy, but true.
ReplyDeleteNow, someone ask me who's face it was I saw.