The Deliverer

Luke 8:26-39 Holman

26 Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,[e] which is opposite Galilee. 27 When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. 
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me,[f] Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

1. Luke 8:26 Other mss read the Gadarenes
2. Luke 8:28 Lit What to me and to You

I relate to this man - driven by inner torment

uncontrolled by any external constraint

living in deserted places 

among the dead

no connection to living persons

unable to live and function in community with others

this passage is difficult because it raises so many difficult questions

How did this man come to be in this condition?

Was it something of his own choice?

in our modern era we like to be able to explain things in terms of natural causes and assign problems to some level of human control or blame

This passage forces us to acknowledge there are forces beyond our control and understanding that do intersect with our existence

How? Why?  not sure

it is sanity to acknowledge there are tings beyond my limited understanding
not to make them a scapegoat 
but that their are malevolent forces that I cannot deliver myself from

What exactly is the dividing line between human weakness, frailty, failing
and powerful spiritual influences that bring torment?

I don't know

But Jesus came to this man

the man no one could help
no one control
no one reach 
soothe
calm 
reason with 
comfort 
or redirect

He was completely and utterly alone

driven to torment inside and out 

Oh Lord, 
I don't understand all of the whys or the hows of how I came to this place
but i relate to this man
so full of pain and fear and misery
terrified of even you 
who came with love and deliverance

Only you can help us, Jesus

Only you have both the power and the love to reach the unreachable
the tormented

Please help me to not run away and shut you out in my place of terror
It may be frightening and uncomfortable 
but you come to bring me to peace
you come to set me free

from what is all I know
from the familiar entrapments

Help me to let you in 
to let you work

Do your work of deliverance in me

30 “What is your name?” Jesus asked him.

“Legion,” he said—because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss.

32 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 34 When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside. 

35 Then people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man the demons had departed from, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Meanwhile, the eyewitnesses reported to them how the demon-possessed man was delivered. 37 Then all the people of the Gerasene region[g] asked Him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, He returned.

Oh Lord, 
we pray for change
for transformation 
for revival

but when you work your wonderful work
we become more terrified than we were before

because you are amazing 
and we cannot explain or control you

it threatens the fragile realities we try to construct 
to shelter us from what we cannot understand

You came in love 
to this whole region

but only one experiences your great deliverance
only one 
was brought 
to peace
covering 
and a right mind

Oh Lord 
help us to not ask you to leave
when we are frightened out of our wits
by the unknown
by you

You are so gracious
you listened to their request
you left 

Please don't leave me, Jesus

I need you 
and there is no other
like you

38 The man from whom the demons had departed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He sent him away and said, 39 “Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him.

Oh, Lord, 
thank you
because you died for us
we never have to be sent away from you

we can always be with you
no matter what our situation 
no matter how we feel
no matter what others may be saying and doing
or how they view us

you have made a way for us to abide in you 
as we are honest with you 
in confessing our sins and our need 
and trusting what you alone have done

Thank you, you just want us to share what you have done
we don't have to convince anyone
or change anyone
just tell the truth
of who we are 
of who you are
of what we know you have done

you are reaching out in love to those around us
even to those who have known us well in our deepest torments

Oh Lord, 
I love you
you are so wonderful
thank you for loving me 
and seeking me out even in my torments
for bringing me to 
sitting at your feed, 
clothed
and in my right mind. 
a mind of worship and gratitude 
to you

Amen

2 Timothy 1:7

KJ21

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

ASV

For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.

AMP

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

Mindful of Christ - envy

Like a red hot poker shoved into my soul is envy

a piercing burning that goes straight to the core

of the deepest levels of who I am and what I long for

Oh Lord, it hurts

coming suddenly and unexpectedly

a sudden boiling swirling typhoon of the soul


the pain of what I deeply wish and long for

but has not been granted


what I think would make things better
would make me better

what you have not given at this time
and quite possibly might not give

Oh Lord, I don't want this green poison in me
choking out you and blinding me toall the good you have so graciously given me

1 Corinthians 4:7-8The Message (MSG)

7-8 For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? 
And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for?

 Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? 

So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? 
You already have all you need.
You already have more access to God than you can handle. 
Without bringing either Apollos or me into it, you’re sitting on top of the world—at least God’s world—and we’re right there, sitting alongside you!

"Isn't everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God?"

Yes, everything, everything is a gift from you

You are the source of all life, all goodness, all everything that I need

You give different gifts to different people at different times in our lives

stop comparing

we all need you, desperately and deeply

we all receive from you, deeply and generously

What you want most to give, is YOURSELF

What I need most right here and now is YOU

You alone can cool the burning

You alone can fill to the brim and even overflowing with your love

your care, your goodness, your peace, your kindness, your self-control

your hope, your joy

Galatians 5The Message (MSG)

The Life of Freedom

5 Christ has set us free to live a free life...

13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. 

For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

Dear Lord,

there is so much in this passage that I need to hear and deep down absorb.

please help me to receive your words

to trust and receive you into our deepest parts

whatever pain we are experiencing right now

you want to set us free to know your love for us   deeply     truly

and to be enabled to love others

help me right now where I am today to receive the gift of your love

of your Holy Spirit 

to let your fruit grow in my life and let go of all I am clinging to to try to desperately meet my deep need of you

you give me yourself

you hold nothing back

you intend good for me

fill me with you

and your love 

enable me to love 

you are the greatest gift

i love you Lord

amen

Do You See This Woman?

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 She stood at Jesus’ feet, crying, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her hair, kissed them many times and rubbed them with the perfume. 39 The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”

40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

Simon said, “Teacher, tell me.”

41 Jesus said, “There were two men. Both men owed money to the same banker. One man owed the banker 500 silver coins.[a] The other man owed the banker 50 silver coins. 42 The men had no money; so they could not pay what they owed. But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. Which one of the two men will love the banker more?”

43 Simon, the Pharisee, answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”

Jesus said to Simon, “You are right.” 44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. 45 You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in! 46 You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear because she showed great love. But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, “Who is this man? How can he forgive sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”   Luke 7:36-50 

Footnotes:

1. 7:41 silver coins A Roman denarius. One coin was the average pay for one day’s work.

International Children’s Bible (ICB)

The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a division of Thomas Nelson. 

Do You See This Woman?

Simon saw only a sinful woman

repulsive, undesired, rejected

But Jesus truly sees us as who we really are

both the need, the failure, the shame 

and who He means for us to be by his grace

What He Saw

O Praise you

What Jesus saw was a lost child coming home

What He saw was love and worship

gratitude and faith

What He saw was a gift that ministered to Him

The Gifts

"... you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair.

 45 You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in! 

46 You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume."

Even her tears,  even her tears

were a blessing to him

her love was a refreshment to Him

her gratitude a beautiful fragrance to anoint him

What Do You See?

How do I see myself, others?

So many ways to see    

        or not see as the case may be....

SEE HIM  and how he sees

then I will see aright

" Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon,

 “Do you see this woman? 

When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. 

45 You did not kiss me, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in! 

46 You did not rub my head with oil, but she rubbed my feet with perfume.

 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear because she showed great love. But the person who has only a little to be forgiven will feel only a little love.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, “Who is this man? How can he forgive sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace."   

True Peace =Your Peace

"You, Lord, give true peace. 
You give peace to those who depend on you.
You give peace to those who trust you. 
So, trust the Lord always.
Trust the Lord because He is our Rock, forever"
Isaiah 26:3-4 International Children's Bible


MY PEACE....
my peace is like a Hallmark Card
or a
G-rated movie made for 2-3 yr olds
very little conflict
easily solved with a few words
everyone happy and getting along together in a wonderful way

YOUR PEACE
but your peace is
strong
durable,
deep
lasting
enduring storms
rugged
not flimsy or fragile
 like cookies made of delicate icing
beautiful to behold but shattered with the least pressure

your peace is like the rocky cliff that endures the battering and bashing of pounding waves
and stands still
it can be counted on
it can be depended on
it can be the rock on which the foundation can be built for a house that will stand through any storm


A SURE FOUNDATION

"Everyone who hears thes things I say 
and obeys them 
is like a wise man. 
The wise man build his house on a rock. 
It rained hard and the water rose.
The winds blew and hit that house.
But the house did not fall, 
because the house was built on the rock.

But the person who hears the things I teach and does not obey them 
is like the foolish man. 
The foolish man built his house on sand. 
It rained hard, the water rose, and the winds blew and hit that house. 
And the house fell with a big crash."  Matthew 7:24-27

Both houses might have looked just the same
Both individuals heard the teachings of Jesus
but only one responded beyond just the hearing

They looked the same
until the storms came


GOD'S WAY FORWARD

I have learned that pretty much anytime I pray for a better relationship with someone
what comes to my mind is beach sunsets and lots of smiles and quick understanding and comfortable times together

what I tend to experience is:
 Conflict
not just Conflict but

CONFLICT !!!!

nail bitting,  up all night for days at a time kind of stress

this always comes as a shock and surprise to me

but I begin to see You in this


MY WAY - SLIGHT HEALING

"They try to heal my people's serious injuries 
as if they were small wounds. 
They say, 'It's all right, it's all right!"
But really, it is not all right."

Jeremiah 6:14 International Children's Bible


"They have also healed the hurt of my people slightly, 
Saying, 'Peace, peace!' 
When there is no peace."

Jeremiahh 6:14 KJV


I want to smooth things over with something nice
and it is always wonderful to show love and kindness to others
a soft answer does turn away wrath

but I see that I really wish to avoid dealing with the unpleasantness that is lurking below the surface
this is where sin lurks, hides and grows

like a poisonous plant
like a cancer cell
silently  mutating microscopically
but then duplicating itself over and over again
over time
until
many times
by the time it is known
it is too late

ROOT OF BITTERNESS

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:  looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled.
Hebrews 12:14-15 NKJV

"Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God.  Make sure no one gets left our of God's generosity.  Keep a sharp eye our for weeds of bitter discontent.  A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time." Hebrews 12:14-15 The Message

all plants grow from a tiny seed
hidden under the soil

we only see the plant springing up
the fruit it bears
("You will know them by the fruit they bear" Matthew 7:20)

but the root grows below the surface
hidden and unseen

I may cut off the part I see
but the root persists
it springs anew and afresh

It seems, for me, anyways, that it is only in deep seated difficulties
with those whom I am very close to and love deeply
 and/or are in consistent and close levels of interactions with

that the roots of things become clear

I can put up with a lot
or at least I try anyway

but it these deep and intimate relationships
I cannot

and the truth of what is in my heart is made manifest
for those who have eyes to see it


LIGHT MAKES MANIFEST

"The secret things in his heart will be made known. 
So he will bow down and worship God. 
He will say, 'Truly God is with you.'"
I Corinthians 14:25 ICB

this passage is not talking about an individual alone with God and a Bible
it is describing the community of believers
together
I have found this to be true
it is in relationships with others
that the revealed truth of God is made clear to me

the truth  - not what I think is true about myself and my behaviour
but actually what is truly true

I need you to help me see what God is trying to show me
about myself and what He wants to heal, change, transform
where He wants to get worship and glory
I cannot see it clearly on my own
because my own point of view most likely will distort it

"Every person who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches"
Revelation 3:13 ICB


OPPORTUNITY

right here in this relationship
in this difficulty and conflict

is an opportunity to hear You, to really hear You

Oh Lord, grant me the eyes and ears and heart to really see, hear and receive the truth you are wanting me to face
to not sugar coat it
excuse it
defend it
point the finger out to another
or to the circumstances

What are you trying to communicate to me?

Regardless of what another may be saying, doing, thinking,
You are at peace
You are not perturbed
You are not agitated
You are at rest
You are full of love
Even when you must take strong actions and words
They are done in your wisdom
and rightousness
and for the ultimate good of another

This is the only path to your peace

PEACE WITH GOD

Your peace that came through shedding of blood, betraying, mocking, whipping, scourging, rejecting, nailing, crucifying
dying

no smooth, simple, easy peace here


"We have been made right with God because of our faith. 
So, we have peace wtih God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Through our faith, Chriat has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. 

And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. 

And we also have joy with our troubles 
because we know that these troubles produce patience. 

And patience produces character, 
and character produces hope. 
And this hope will never disappoint us, 
because the God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. 
God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit whom God has given to us. 

Christ died for us while we were still weak.  

We were living against God, but at the right time, Christ died for us. 
Very few people will die to save the life of someone else. 
Although perhaps for a good man someone might possibly die.

But Christ died for us while we were still sinners. 

In this way, God shows his great love for us. 

We have been made right with God by the blood of Christ's death.

Romans 5 :1-9 ICB


"You, Lord, give true peace. 
You give peace to those who depend on you.
You give peace to those who trust you. 
So, trust the Lord always.
Trust the Lord because He is our Rock, forever"

Isaiah 26:3-4 International Children's Bible

Please take this splinter out

Yesterday afternoon I looked down to discover that a 1/4 in splinter had wedged itself somehow under the skin on the middle finger of my right hand. I have no idea how it got there or when it happened but there it is.

There is not enough of an edge to pull out either way.

Being in my finger means that I only have the 5 other fingers on one hand to try to do the job of  trying to grasp and remove this foreign object from inside my first line of defense for my body - my skin

I cannot do this job myself.

It is a relative simple job and will only take 10-15 min and the right tool(s).

But I cannot do it alone.

I need help from another.

I got so busy last night that the tiny pressure from the splinter, while mildly discomforting, was not enough to remind me to ask someone to help me.
It got put off and forgotten.

I woke up at 5 in the morning. Oh, my finger hurts. Why is that?

Oh yeah I forgot about that splinter

the offending object shoved into me
the small break off point of something I handled
remains lodged in me still

how I let things that happen to me
words that are said to me
actions of others that I experiece
get under my skin
lodge into me
remain with me long after I am no longer around that person or event
affecting me long after

It is when all is quiet and calm that the pain and pressure present themselves
perhaps this is why so many of us avoid the quiet and the calm?

It is 9 am now
there is a red area around the splinter about 1/4 inch in diameter
The pain is stronger now and not so easy to forget about

My body is trying to remain healthy
but this foreign object is fighting against that
 a continual source of contamination as long as it is jammed inside of me.

It will still only take 10-15 min to remove
but now I had better use some antibacterial cream
and soak it in hot water a few times
to make sure the germs that are rapidly multiplying are vanquished

again the lesson - my body needs help and support from somewhere outside of itself

but now the amount of effort it will take to heal has gone up dramatically

With the passing of time and left untreated
 this will turn into a trip to Urgent Care
the germs do not care about my scedule or the other plans I had for this time
they have their own agenda...

I am home alone

I have asked a friend and neighbor to help me

I am afraid others will be busy
will be annoyed at the interruption of my need
the claim my need will make on them

but it is a need
I must seek help
I need help

no matter how someone may respond or not respond

I must seek out assistance

Matthew 7:1-5J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

7 1-2 “Don’t criticise people, and you will not be criticised. For you will be judged by the way you criticise others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive.”

3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own? You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins

We all need help so be careful how you look at and treat others

How interesting

a splinter, a log, a plank, not just in my finger affecting what I can and cannot do but in my eye distorting how I see and view others and their words and actions

over time the body can build a callous around something and you no longer feel it anymore

it becomes part of you

Oh Lord, I see I see

I see how my own pride, my own self-pity, my own resentments, my own pain and insecurity have stuck into me

in my eye

twisting and distorting all I see and how I respond to others

the remnants of past wounds still remain to poison the present

Yet you tell me to remove my own splnter

in my eye no less!

HOW?

Maybe this means to come before you and let you show it to me, make me aware of it

but then ask you to remove it

Oh Lord, I need you 

I need you so much

I need you to help me face the pain I bury

the hurts that have festered

there is nerve damage

I no longer feel or am aware of these splinters in my soul

until someone inadvertently hits one and WOW

such a reaction

they are confused

what I am saying and doing is so out of porportion to what they said or did

Why?

Oh Lord, 

I need your healing touch in me

O Divive Doctor you

diagnose for your diagnosis is always spot on

peel back the layers of denial, anger, blaming and excusing

to cut to the core of the problem

my hurt and need of you

help me to not make excuse or blameshift

to lay still and quiet as you use your word (it is perfectly sterile and will not add in further contamination) to slice in

to grasp 

to pull out

it is painful and humiliating 

but oh what a relief

to see clearly

to understand truth in each situation and relationship

to be unencumbered to respond in love to what another needs

instead of reacting out of my____________

Matthew 7:7-12J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”

9-11 “If any of you were asked by his son for bread would you be likely to give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish would you give him a snake? If you then, for all your evil, quite naturally give good things to your children, how much more likely is it that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him?”

12 “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them—this is the essence of all true religion.”

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins

Matthew 6:22-23New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

22 “The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body will be full of light. 23 But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Copyright © 1996, 1998 by Biblica

John 13 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now showed them how much he really loved them.

2 The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God.

4 So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter.

“Lord,” Peter said to him, “are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”

9 “Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!”

10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.”

11 Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.

16 “What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. 17 Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.