BY HIS STRIPES

Intense week for me--Holy Week--three services in the week and three Sunday, plus an Easter Vigil Saturday night.  Counseling load is amped, too--so I turn to my friend and fellow blogger Tammie Gitt for a guest post from living3368.-steve

BY HIS STRIPES

by Tammie Gitt

The cup did not pass from him. The will of the Father was done. As the final “Amen” lingered in the air, the stillness of the night was broken by the clatter of shield against sword and the heavy footsteps of soldiers in motion. A question, a kiss and the Son of Man, who came to free the world, was placed in chains.

Every crack of the whip, every false accusation, every malicious taunt brought the prophecy of Isaiah to life as Jesus met them all with utter silence.

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
- Isaiah 53:3-7 ESV

As the dawn broke, an illegally convened court turned Jesus over to a Roman leader all too willing to wash his hands of the whole affair. Pilate submitted to the will of the people and turned Jesus over to his soldiers to be crucified between two criminals.

In the early hours of a Judean spring morning, on a different hill, the One the people who had welcomed Jesus nearly a week ago was nailed to the cross. Our punishment became his to bear.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-  2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

WASHING THE FEET OF JESUS - THE REPRISE

As we begin Holy Week, I have chosen to reach into the archives of THRIVING IN CHRIST.  This is the all-time most popular post for this devotional blog.  It was originally published April 1, 2010.

WASHING THE FEET OF JUDAS

Reading: John 13

John, chapter 13, records the feetwashing that took place at the Last Supper. When you put all of the accounts together from the four gospels something important emerges. Jesus washed the feet of disciples prior to the communion. Judas left during the communion but he was still present for the feetwashing. This means Jesus washed the feet of the one who was about to betray him.

This adds a whole new significance to this act of servanthood on Jesus' part. He wasn't just washing the feet of the men who he would make the first members of the Body of Christ, but also the one who would reject Jesus and never see that day of fruitfulness.

Servanthood is hard. We easily do it to those who love the Lord. We work a little harder at those who need help but may not be grateful. But washing the feet of one who would stab us in the back, who was an enemy? Perhaps that, too, is what John meant when he said that through this feetwashing Jesus was revealing the full measure of his love.

God's love loves and even serves God's enemies.

(C) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn