Tag Archives: Jesus

by

Being God’s Beloved: Day 21: The Foot Washing Parable

Being God’s Beloved: Reflections on God’s Love.

John 13 presents us with the story of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. This well-known story is related only in John’s Gospel. In many churches we re-enact the washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. It is, for us, symbolic of servanthood and humility. Of course, in Jesus’ time and context, feet needed to be washed – they would have been dusty and dirty from walking in sandals on dry dusty roads, and servants would have washed guests’ feet. In our church, feet are probably in less need of washing. Nevertheless, we do it every year, because it gives us a picture of the humility and servanthood of Jesus, which he calls us to emulate: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:14-15).

I have come to think of this story as an enacted parable. Jesus told many parables – indeed, he was renowned for using parables in his teachings. They were earthy, relevant, vivid and practical. Moreover, they made for interesting listening. And helped people remember his message. But we do not get any parables in John’s Gospel (though some do consider the Vine and the Good Shepherd to be parables). The Jesus we meet in John is much more inclined towards long, deep speeches and sermons. Nevertheless, I think this is a parable acted out – not a story told, but a story demonstrated.

A parable tells a story at two levels. On the surface is a story about something that did or could have actually happened. It is a story in its own right. Below the surface is a second story that has some spiritually important meaning. The story can be understood at either or both levels, but the second story is not always that obvious, which is why Jesus is often asked to explain the parables (e.g. Matthew 13:1-23).

An enacted parable is not a story that is told, but something that is done. The actions have two levels of meaning, which is what makes them a parable. On the surface, the actions are what they are – the doing of something that may be functional and purposeful. But below the surface the actions have another meaning that is spiritually important. I think of the foot washing in this way – on the surface, Jesus was cleaning his disciples’ feet, which is something that needed to be done, and in so doing he took on the role of a servant, which made the disciples uncomfortable. But at another level, Jesus was telling the disciples a story about his whole life, a story that we yesterday called the Kenotic U (based on Philippians 2:5-11).

It seems that John understood that this was an enacted parable, because he opens the story with a commentary:

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. … Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God” (John 13:1-3).

John says that Jesus “now showed them the full extent of his love.” But washing someone’s feet, even if they are smelly and dirty, is not really a demonstration of the full extent of Christ’s love. We know that Christ’s love was much larger than just that. And within their time and culture, foot washing was not uncommon – it was just that someone of a higher status would not have washed the feet of those who were subordinate. So, it is likely that John is giving us a clue that there is more to this story than just feet being washed.

The text around this phrase speaks about Jesus’ reflecting on the fact that he had come from God and was soon to return to God. This is very reminiscent of the U is it not? John sets up the enacted parable with reflection on where Jesus comes from and where he is soon to go, related to his great love for humanity.

John now steps into telling the story itself – the parable:

“[Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:4-5).

What we have here is the first half of the U, the left side, the descent. Jesus would have been reclining at the senior position at the table, at his place of authority as Teacher. This is like Jesus enjoying equality with God in Philippians 2:6. The Trinity is where the Son belonged – this was his rightful place.

But Jesus gets up from this place – the Son did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Jesus is willing to relinquish his status as Rabbi, Teacher, in order to begin a descent towards humility. Similarly, the Son was willing to give up perfect fellowship and Deity.

Jesus takes off his outer clothing – the Son emptied himself, making himself nothing. Our clothing is a sign of who we are. When I serve as a lay minister in church I wear a white robe and a medallion, which serve as signs to parishioners that I am licensed to perform sacred duties in the sanctuary. When I attend a graduation ceremony at the university I wear a red robe, which serves as a sign to the students and their parents that I am a professor. Our clothes are signs of who we are, and some clothes are signs of status and power. Jesus divests himself of his outer clothing, thereby casting aside any sign of his status and role. Similarly, the Son emptied himself of his privilege, power and attributes as the Second Person of the Trinity.

Jesus wraps a towel around his waist – the Son took on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. As much as clothes can signify status, clothes can also signify the lack of status. We may think of a domestic worker’s (maid’s) uniform – no-one would wear clothes like that to give the impression of wealth or status! Jesus, having removed his outer clothing, dons a towel around his waist, which is what a servant would wear. Similarly, the Son took on the form of a servant and humbled himself, becoming far less than he had been before.

Jesus begins to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel – the Son became obedient to death, even death on a cross. The course of action that Jesus had initiated reaches its natural outcome – he does, in fact, wash the disciples’ feet. He does not merely give the impression that he might wash them, expecting that someone else will take over. Instead, he does what he set out to do. Similarly, the Son continued the downward curve of the U to its natural outcome – he offended the Jewish leaders to such an extent that they eventually agreed to get him killed. The Son did not merely move towards the cross, expecting God to rescue him. Instead, he was resolute and did what he set out to do.

In these two verses, Jesus enacts the downward curve of the Kenotic U, symbolising his incarnation, life and death as a humble human. John, in writing this, recognises that this is obscure, but he recalls Jesus explaining to a confused Peter, “You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (John 13:7). This is a strong clue that there are two levels to this story – foot washing is the upper level and obvious; the Kenotic U is the basement story, not so obvious and needing time to recognise. John is widely recognised to be the New Testament writer who really grasped the deeper meanings of Christ’s earthly sojourn.

John 13:12 tells us the rest of the story:

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them.”

Jesus finishes washing their feet – God therefore turned the tide of events towards the Son’s glorification. There is no ‘therefore’ in John’s narrative, but it is clear that now that the feet are washed, Jesus is finished with this act of servanthood, with this emptying out of himself, with this kenosis. Similarly, once the Son had completed his work on earth, which resulted in his death, God was ready to start the second half of the Son’s journey, back to glory.

Jesus puts on his clothes – the Son was exalted to highest place. By putting on his clothes, which requires removing the now soiled towel, Jesus takes back his former role and status. Similarly, the Son, after being humiliated and cruelly treated, regained his former glory, exalted to the highest place, recognised as an important person in the eyes of every creature.

Jesus returns to his place – the Son was proclaimed as Lord, to the glory of the Father. Having reclaimed his clothes, Jesus resumes his place at the head of the table, takes up again his rightful position of authority among the disciples. Similarly, the Son was given not just a meaningful name, but also a title, “Lord”, and resumed his rightful place in the glory of God the Father, reunited in the Holy Trinity.

Immediately, Jesus asks if the disciples now understand what he has done for them, echoing his earlier comment to Peter. Of course, they did not. At most they heard Jesus’ message that they, like him, must be willing to serve others. But what was only later understood, and related to us by John, was that Jesus had here enacted the whole of the Kenotic U – the descent of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, from the side of the Father, into human form, into humility and to death, after which he was glorified and reinstated in the heart of the Triune God.

The importance of this for us is to reinforce Jesus’ demonstration of love in the incarnation, cross and resurrection. We return to John’s opening words: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1b).

Meditation for the Day

Continue your reflection, started yesterday, on the kenosis, on God’s emptying out of God’s self, in order become one of us, in order to redeem us. Reflect on the full extent of God’s love that this demonstrates.

Prayer for the Day

Three-in-one God, I am deeply grateful for the great sacrifice that you have made for me in sending the Son into the world as my brother and Saviour.

Being_Gods_Beloved_square_3

Video by

Being God’s Beloved: Talk 3: Sin, Love & Wrath

This is the third in the five-part series on “Being God’s Beloved”, delivered at St Martins Anglican Church in Irene, South Africa, on 26 March 2014. Today, we explore the relationship between human sin and divine love and wrath.

Click here to follow the link to YouTube

by

Being God’s Beloved: Day 20: The Kenotic U

Being God’s Beloved: Reflections on God’s Love.

In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul writes, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This magnificent Christ Hymn is a description of Christ’s incarnation, humiliation and glorification. I find it helpful to visualise this as a U:

Kenotic_U

On the left is the descent of Christ, through the incarnation, into human form, into the darkness of humanity, leading to his humiliation[1] and suffering. At the bottom of the U is the lowest point, his death on a cross. And then there is the ascent on the right, starting with “therefore God exalted him” leading to his glorification as the universal Saviour. This is the great story of Christ’s salvific work – his willingness to give up everything in order to join with humanity and win our redemption.

Today we give particular attention to the left side of the U, the descent. This descent is known as kenosis, a Greek word that means ‘emptying out’. Kenosis describes what the Second Person of the Trinity did in order to become human, and is thus central to the incarnation. Kenosis does not mean that the Son ceased to be God – gave up the divine nature.[2] The Nicene Creed says that two natures – both human and divine – coexisted in the one person of Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:9 also affirms that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” However, there is clearly an emptying, a diminishing and a humiliation in this passage from Philippians.

What is this emptying, this kenosis?

First, we learn that the Son let go of “equality with God” and “emptied himself”. The latter phrase is how some English Bibles (e.g. the NASB and NSRV) translate the Greek word kenosis. This may be a separating out of the Son from the perfect integration of the Trinity. Remember that Father, Son and Spirit had, from before the beginning of time, existed in perfect unity, harmony and loving relationship. This is the timeless essence of God and all that God had ever known. But the incarnation involved a separating out of one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, in order to take on a different kind of life – life as a human. This separating would require the Son to let go of – to not grasp – equality or unity with God.

Other translations of the Bible use “made himself nothing” for kenosis. We should not interpret that being human means to be nothing – we have seen by now that humans are far from ‘nothing’. Perhaps, rather, “nothing” describes the experience of the incarnation for the Holy Trinity. Perhaps the Son’s experience of emptying himself was one of becoming “nothing”. The radical contrast between the fullness, perfection, wholeness and relatedness of eternal triune fellowship and the isolation, finiteness and smallness of the incarnation may well have been experienced as becoming nothing. This is particularly so if we remember from yesterday that the incarnation took place at the level of a single cell, not the infant. The eternal and infinite Second Person of the Trinity was emptied into a strand of genetic material. That is an unimaginable diminishment. “Nothing” could well be what it felt like.

I think that the most helpful way of thinking of the kenosis is as a ‘becoming small’, being ‘diminished’. The omnipresent Son, who could be in all places and all times simultaneously, becomes constrained in a single, initially exceedingly small, body, a body that can be in only one place at one time. Surely that is an emptying out? A becoming nothing? It is a profound and complete limitation that the Son accepts in becoming the individual called Jesus of Nazareth. It seems that similar limitations were placed on the other divine attributes, such as God’s omniscience (knowing everything) and omnipotence (being all powerful). The Son must be fed, cleaned, clothed, burped and educated, just like any other infant. The Son is constrained, limited, confined and restricted in a way that God has never experienced. This is a whole new learning opportunity for God!

Second, we learn that the Son takes on the humble nature of a servant. The term ‘form’ (used by the NASB and NSRV, for example) is probably more appropriate here than ‘nature’ (used by the NIV), because we recall that in Jesus Christ we fully find both the divine nature and the human nature. So it is not that the Son changed natures. Rather, two natures – divine and human – became integrated. What is stressed here, however, is servanthood and humility. Twice Paul writes about becoming human: “being made in in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man.” These two phrases are sandwiched between two other important phrases: “taking the very nature of a servant, … he humbled himself.”

Becoming human certainly involves a diminishing, a becoming small. But the kenosis is more than just becoming human. It is also becoming a humble servant. One might have thought that if God were to incarnate into human form, it would be a splendid form. The God-man should be magnificent, big, imposing, powerful, wealthy, gorgeous, charismatic and well placed in society. But instead, this incarnation is into a person of no significance. The Second Person of the Trinity becomes a nobody, a servant. Small wonder that Jesus speaks out in support of the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40) and the “little ones” (Matthew 18:10). That is exactly what the Son became – a little one, a least of all people, a humble servant.

Third, kenosis leads ultimately to death. And not just any death – “death on a cross.” One might think that a God-man, even one born tiny and raised in obscurity, would grow up to be a superhero. We think of Hercules in Greek-Roman mythology, born of Zeus and a mortal woman, who had superhuman strength. In modern times, we might think of Superman. Surely this would be the destiny of God incarnate? Instead, Jesus dies prematurely and painfully on a cross, a most excruciating and humiliating death.

Jesus’ entire human existence from conception to death is characterised by kenosis – relinquishing divine status and privilege, becoming small and insignificant, having no authority or stature, dying in disgrace. The first half of this Kenotic U is a disappointingly sad story. Of course, there is another side to the U. The cross, which lies at the base of the U, is both the last step of his humiliation and the first step towards his glorification. We know that there is a happy ending that is heralded with the resurrection, leading to a glorious ascension and a magnificent glorification at the right hand of the Father, culminating in a universal recognition of his greatness. But at this point in our journey, that is still a long way off.

Today, as we reflect on the kenosis, as an important aspect of the incarnation, I invite you to reflect on the extent of love that must have motivated the Second Person of the Trinity to take this tremendous dive into humility. How much love must the Triune God have had to elect this course of action? Not even thinking of the cross, how great must God’s love be to take on human form, to limit God’s self to such an extent? Surely, only infinite love could motivate such a choice? Surely this is a love that is willing to risk everything, willing to give up everything, willing to lay down everything? This is love come down in human form.

Meditation for the Day

What would your own kenosis entail? What would you have to empty out of yourself to become nothing? What would it feel like to empty yourself like this? Now reflect on the kenosis of the Son. What does that mean to you?

Prayer for the Day

Jesus Christ, I thank you for the great gift of yourself to us, to me, and the extent to which you were willing to give up for me. Give me courage to walk in your footsteps.

Being_Gods_Beloved_square_3

[1] ‘Humiliation’ in ordinary language means to be publically embarrassed and shamed. It also has a theological meaning, which is similar, but more expansive. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Question 27) says that, “Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.”

[2] Erickson, M. J. (1985). Christian theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker House, p. 735.

by

Being God’s Beloved: Day 19: The Incarnation

Being God’s Beloved: Reflections on God’s Love.

Today marks an important transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. God’s love is continuous across both Testaments – there is no change in God’s attitude and feelings towards us. However, the New Testament heralds a new way of expressing that love! God now comes in person into humanity in the form of Jesus Christ. This is the greatest demonstration of God’s love since the creation. And it allows us to encounter God is a completely new way. God’s coming into the world – the incarnation – is a radical shift in God’s engagement with the world, and sets in motion a wonderful new experience of Being God’s Beloved.

You may recall that on Day 7, when we looked at Exodus 3, we heard God say:

  • I have seen…
  • I have heard…
  • I am concerned…
  • I have come down…

God drew near to Israel in their time of suffering in Egypt.

And now God draws near again, but in a new and profound way – God becomes human.

When we think of the incarnation, many of us think of the baby Jesus born in a manager, which we celebrate at Christmas. But in fact the incarnation took place roughly nine months before, at the conception. It must, surely, be at the conception that the incarnation took place, otherwise what we have is a human baby who is subsequently infused with God’s spirit – and that is no incarnation at all.[1]

Exactly how this works, we cannot be sure. But let us consider the possibility that in some mysterious way, by the Holy Spirit, there is a blending together of human and divine. Mary’s genetic material is spliced together with God’s to form a being who is both fully human and fully divine – two natures in one person, as the Nicene Creed says. It is at the conception that God incarnates into human form – God is woven into the very fabric of Jesus’ genetic makeup, forming a completely new entity: a God-man. This happens at a cellular level, starting with a single cell.

This is an important point, because it points to God’s new work of salvation, which starts at this conception. Let us think back to Genesis 3. Adam and Eve, created in perfection, chose to turn away from fellowship with God. We call that turning away ‘the Fall’, because in that moment something happened not only to Adam as an individual, but to the whole human race. The whole of humanity fell. Indeed, we can say that human nature fell. Something went wrong with who we are as people. As we heard Schaeffer say on Day 17, we are ‘glorious ruins’.

Paul writes about this in Romans 5:12, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” He continues to say this over the following verses (5:15-19): “…many died by the trespass of the one man… The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation… by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man… the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men… through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners.”

In these verses Paul expresses the consequence of the Fall – the sin of one man, Adam – as death, judgement and condemnation. It is human nature that was damaged by the Fall, and that resulted in estrangement from God – the intimate fellowship that Adam and Eve had experienced in the Garden, was shattered and they were cast out into the world. Paul emphasises repeatedly that the action of ONE man impacted the MANY; indeed the ALL. In other words, Adam’s sin (and we should not forget Eve too) changed humanity.

Therefore, the incarnation is a tremendous start to God’s plan to unravel the knotty mess that Adam made. By God inserting Godself into human DNA, God begins to transform humanity at a genetic level. The incarnation is not merely a human being with a particularly large dose of Spirit. The incarnation points to an interweaving of human and divine, to form an integrated, indivisible, whole person. In doing this, God begins to redeem human nature. This does not mean that the incarnation brings salvation to every individual person. Rather, it means that the fabric of what it means to be human is redeemed. God opens up the path to a total transformation of our being, just as Adam’s sin led to a total transformation of our being.

Paul writes about this too in Romans 5:12-20. Throughout this passage, he contrasts Adam with Christ – two individuals, whose lives impacted not only on themselves but on the whole of humanity. Adam impacted us negatively – sin, death, judgement and condemnation – while Christ impacted us positively: “…how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! …the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification… how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. …the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. …through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (5:15-19).

In these verses, which parallel the verses about Adam, Paul expresses the consequences of Jesus’ work: grace, justification, righteousness. And just as Adam’s individual sin impacted the whole of humanity, Jesus’ individual gift impacts the whole of humanity. Yet, twice in this passage, Paul says, “how much more” – Adam impacted everyone, but Jesus impacted everyone even more – the cure is much more powerful than the disease.

Paul picks up this theme again in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, where he explicitly contrasts Adam as “the first man Adam” and Christ as “the last Adam”. And in the same passage he writes of the “first man” and the “second man”.

Thus, the incarnation is Jesus coming into the world as a renewed and restored kind of human, infused from conception with the divine, setting in motion the redemption of humanity, of human nature, that continues through his ministry and teaching, culminating in the cross and resurrection. This whole sequence of work makes possible the salvation of humanity, and our transformation into the likeness of God.

Roman Catholic and Protestant theology (in other words, the Western Church) has tended to emphasise the cross as the heart of salvation, and this is certainly correct. But the Church Fathers and the Eastern Church (such as Russian Orthodox theology), while recognising the importance of the cross, also emphasised the importance of the incarnation as being central to God’s plan of salvation. Irenaeus, for example, writing in the second century, stressed that the “incarnation itself was redemptive, not merely a necessary step toward either Christ’s teachings or the cross event. Rather the becoming human of the Son of God – God’s eternal Word (Logos) experiencing human existence – was what redeems and restores fallen humanity if they let it. … For Irenaeus, then, the incarnation was the key to the entire history of redemption and to personal salvation. The incarnation was itself transformative… In a literal sense the entire human race is ‘born again’ in the incarnation. It receives a new ‘head’ – a new source, origin, ground of being – that is unfallen, pure and healthy, victorious and immortal. It is ‘fully alive’ – both physically and spiritually.”[2]

One of my books on salvation has a section entitled, “The incarnation: God’s basic act of forgiveness.”[3] I love this title! Think about this. Human nature had fallen into ruin through Genesis 3. Despite everything that we’ve been saying so far about God’s love, let us not forget that God is also holy and righteous, and that sin really is unpleasant for him. It may help to think of sin as something that smells really bad. A couple of days ago, my neighbour laid down fresh manure in their garden – it smelled something awful and invaded every corner of our home. Sin is something like that for God.

And yet in the incarnation God chooses to come close to humanity. God chooses to not just to come close, but to come into humanity. Yet even more than this, God becomes one with humanity! Despite our brokenness and inadequacy, despite the stink of humanity’s sin, God decides to merge God’s divine nature with our human nature. Does that not shake you to the core?

What would motivate God to do such a thing? What could be so powerful as to persuade God to pinch his nose, so to speak, and dive into the smelly world of humanity?

Just one thing: LOVE.

God’s eternal and persistent love for humanity – God’s chesed (God’s loving-kindness tied up in a covenant that God made with humanity) – is extravagant. This love is not genteel, polite, proper, tightly controlled and neatly expressed. It is wild and enthusiastic and joyful and energetic and risky and beautiful! From this heart of extravagant love, God plunges into human existence, taking on all of our ugliness and embracing us just as we are – in our human nature.

This choice – this act – is a demonstration of forgiveness. It is, as Gaybba says, “a basic act of forgiveness.” Not basic in the sense of simple; but basic in the sense of a foundation – the incarnation is the base of forgiveness. It is the first and radical step in God’s great new plan for salvation of humankind.

It is here that God begins to unravel the effects of the fall. It is here that God begins to change the fabric of our being. It is here that God bridges the sin-divide between us and God. It is here that we see God’s love in action.

Meditation for the Day

Consider what it means that God incarnated into the genetic material of humanity. Reflect on God’s demonstration of forgiveness in becoming human.

Prayer for the Day

Precious Saviour, I thank you for coming into the world, for becoming one of us, for becoming like me. Transform me, from the inside to the outside, into your likeness.

Being_Gods_Beloved_square_3

[1] There are, of course, many different perspectives on the incarnation, held fervently by sincere and true Christians. Feel free to differ from me – I do not have exclusive access to Truth. But these are views that I hold fervently and that make sense to me in light of what I understand in the Bible, of theology and my experience of God. If nothing else, let my thoughts stimulate your own thoughts.

[2] Olson, R. E. (1999). The story of Christian theology. DownersGrove, IL: InterVarsity Press, pp. 74-75.

[3] Gaybba, B. (2005). Soteriology. Pretoria: Unisa Press, p. 40.

by

Jesus, the Second Adam

Click here to listen to this 21 minute audio recording of today’s sermon.

In Romans 5, Paul draws parallels between Adam and Jesus (who he refers to in 1 Corinthians 15 as the first man and second man) showing both similarities and differences between them. This is a profound insight by Paul, who recognises that Adam’s (and Eve’s) actions introduced sin and death into the world for all humans, while Jesus’s actions undid sin and death and brought grace, justification, righteousness and life into the world for all humans. In this sermon, which includes quite a bit of congregation participation, I tease out this parallel. I also apply it to a view of the whole scripture as a love story in which God works to undo the negative effects of Adam and Eve’s Fall.

It will help to have Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 open in front of you before you start to listen.

I wish you God’s blessings as you journey through Lent.
Adrian