Surely every Bible teacher feels this pain:  there are SO many “J” names in scripture!  My tongue gets so tangled up when I am teaching that I can manage to call the entire roll of all the “J” Bible names before I finally land on the correct one.  Beginning in March 2022, we move from Joseph to Jesus.  Surely we can remember this “J” name!

 Our unit title is “Living Life Connected to Christ.”  So, how do we accomplish that?    First of all, we don’t!  When we place our faith in Him, He connects TO us and WITH us by living IN us through the power of His Holy Spirit.  Christ does the connecting while we do the living! 

 So, each week leading up to Resurrection Sunday April 17, 2022, we will be looking at moments and events in His life to see how He lived and served and reacted to these situations.  In the looking, we will be learning how we should respond to our own moments and events of life so that others will desire to be “connected” to Jesus as well!  Our lives need to look like His.

 These lessons are taken from the gospel of John.  We will focus on some of the events that happened on the night before the crucifixion of Jesus. The disciples are with Jesus in the city of Jerusalem.  They are actually in a borrowed room in a home in the city celebrating the Passover meal together.  Supper is done.  This is Thursday night. In a few short hours, Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, tortured, mocked, scourged,falsely condemned and crucified.  The sun is about to rise on the very first “good” Friday.

 A full moon is rising eastward over the Mount of Olives, shining through the trees in the beautiful Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus knows that soon they will be gone from this room and headed across the Kidron Valley and into that garden.  His time to face Calvary’s cross has come.  So settle in, take a seat in the corner of this “upper” room and observe Jesus and His relationship with these 12 chosen disciples. 

 If you have a red-letter Bible, notice that John chapter 13 through chapter 17 spills LOTS of blood-red ink.  These are the famous last words of Jesus to His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion.  He will leave them with amazing memories to relish and mull over and cherish from that evening.  The first thing you need to do is read John 13:1-2.  You can literally feel the pathos of John as he pens these descriptive words.  The bracelets all read, “What Would Jesus Do?” Jesus washed 24 feet.  That’s what He did.

 It wasn’t His job.  He didn’t care.  This was His plan.  He had already sent the water pot earlier in the afternoon. He knew He would need water to wash feet.  A house servant usually washed feet for guests as they lounged around the elbow-high table.  They would literally recline on the floor, prop up on one elbow with legs and feet extended, using their free hand to reach for food on the table.  Dirty feet were easy to access for a kneeling servant with a basin of water and a towel. 

 It is easy to see why they did not notice Jesus when He left the table and prepared to personally illustrate His marching orders for their future ministry.  He was not a Commander or an Admiral, but His plans and commands were admirable.  They were also non-negotiable.  Jesus wanted these men to plan to be servants. In this memorable, teachable moment, Jesus showed them how.  It was a visual lesson they would not forget.

 Summer camp staffers removed my horse-poo-reeking boots and spurs and washed my stinky feet in the summer of 2002.  I cried.  Such a humbling thing.

 Please note that Judas, the betrayer, left that table with two clean feet.  Shortly, the other 11 disciples took their 22 clean feet and forsook The Foot Washer on His way to Calvary.  Fill the basin with water.  Pick up the towel.  Kneel down.  Serve.  Jesus showed us how.