John 13 - The Time of Love

John 13

v1+ The Time of Love
v6+ You Are Clean
v12+ Jesus gave us an example. We should do as He has done to us.
v17 How to be Happy
v18+ Jesus even Loved the one who betrayed Him.
v31+ Love One Another

Meaning

v1 A friend Loves at all times. Jesus was a true friend, because He had the greatest Love there ever was. He laid down His life for His friends. He didn't just wait until the cross to show His Love. He patiently did a normal little job that people do all the time. We don't get to be crucified very often, but we can do little things to take care of our friends.

v10 I like the promise, "You are clean." Once I've turned to the Lord, and am not hiding my sin, but have admitted it to other people, He has forgiven me. But sometimes my conscience plays tricks on me and I still feel like the Lord will hold something against me. It's like water mixed with chlorine bleach, or like well water that's gone through a water softener. After you're done washing your hands with them, your hands still feel soapy or greasy, but they're actually clean.

That must be how Peter felt. Sometimes I worry that I've done sins that I don't know about or remember. Sometimes I feel like, "I've done it again. I knew better than doing it, how could He forgive me again, just like that, when I ask Him to?" In those cases, I'm being like Peter. I'm saying to the Lord, also wash my hands and my head. He promises that we don't need that. It's like He told Peter in that vision later: What God has cleansed, that call not thou common.

Application

v34,35 Since Jesus came from God, and since it was in the same hour in which Judas would betray Him to be crucified, it might not have seemed like the right time for Jesus to wash Judas' feet. A friend Loves at all times. We should lay down our lives for our friends every day, even when it seems like the wrong time, even when it's a hard time, and all the way to the end.