SCRIPTURE:
“You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and fittingly enough, for that is what I am. But if I washed your feet – I who am Teacher and Lord – then you must wash each other’s feet. What I just did was to give you an example: as I have done, so you must do.”
- John 13: 13-15.
JESUS AS GOEL:
Leviticus 25: 47-49 talks about redemption of property: “When one of your countrymen is reduced to such poverty that he sells himself to a wealthy alien who has a permanent or a temporary residence among you, or to one of the descendants of an immigrant family, even after he has thus sold his services he still has the right of redemption; he may be redeemed by one of his own brothers, or by his uncle or cousin, or by some other relative or clansman.” The way the family redeemed their enslaved kinsman was by taking their place. Thus the slave became free, and the free clansman became a slave. A redeemer is therefore a person who buys back the freedom of another by becoming a slave in their stead. In Hebrew the term for redeemer is Goel which is translated as kinsperson or clansman. In other words the redeemer is a member of the slave’s family.
Jesus is our Goel. Through his incarnation he became our family member or kinsperson. And he obtained our freedom by becoming our price and taking upon himself our bondage to sin so that we could become free. While paradoxically our sins alienated us from God, on his part God refused to treat us as aliens. The decision that Jesus would become man and join the Human race in order to bring it into the Divine Embrace and Life, was made by the Triune God. All three Persons of the Trinity participated in this decision and were equally passionate about its fulfillment. In a very real sense the Father and the Holy Spirit participated in the kenosis or emptying out that Paul talks about in Philippians 2: 6-7: “Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus’ own emptying out, climaxing in his crucifixion and death, led to his Resurrection and the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation.
JESUS’ WAY OF HUMILITY:
Oddly enough, Jesus is immensely attractive in his lifestyle of humility. He has no hesitation to mingle with “sinners and tax-collectors,” men and women who were loathed by established society and religious leadership. He brings them the good news of God’s reign, inviting them to repent and receive God’s forgiveness, and filling their hearts with peace and joy. In his ministry he is free of any attachment to his honor and reputation among the influential and powerful segments of society. He chose ordinary and unsophisticated men to be his inner circle of disciples. Even after three years of formation at the hands of the best Teacher in the world, they did not show much promise. Paradoxically, it seemed that the Holy Spirit could really “fill them up” with the transformative power and peace of the Risen Lord only after they had encountered the abyss of their own lack of faith and abject impotence. While Jesus had all, he chose to live with very little wealth, convenience, and honor among circles that truly mattered in the eyes of the world. He steadfastly refused to kowtow to the ways of the world, rejecting riches, honor, and pride, and replacing them instead with a lifestyle of poverty, and humiliations leading to humility. His hour of greatest humiliation and by the same token, greatest love was his passion, crucifixion, and death. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10: 11)”
JESUS, RESURRECTION AND LIFE:
Why then did Jesus choose the path of poverty, humiliations, and humility? Why then does he ask us to wash one another’s feet as he did the feet of his disciples? Only non-Jewish slaves were given the task of washing the feet of the invited dinner guests because it was considered to be a very degrading gesture. Jesus voluntarily took it upon himself to identify with a non-Jewish slave when he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. His disciples could not possibly have mistaken the message in the gesture: love one another and all those you serve even to the extent of becoming a slave out of love and selflessness. If He is the Head and we are the members of His Body, then everyone is due the regard and consideration that we offer Jesus!
There are two divine realities that radiate through the lifestyle of Jesus and his call to discipleship. While Jesus worked miracles, he was not interested in showing the world what an extraordinary miracle-worker he was! Nor was his purpose to show what an extraordinary prophet or messenger from God he was. His one intent was to show the world that he came from his Father and that He was God. Disciples who steep themselves in the message and lifestyle of Jesus by entering into a covenantal relationship with Him, slowly realize the power and peace that lie in forgiving and loving one’s enemies, in loving without counting the cost, in trusting God over material security and comforts, in desiring to be the last rather than the first, in thanking God for and in every circumstance. Slowly they realize that Jesus walks with them in the messiness of their lives; that in the suffering and burdens of life the peace and joy of the Risen Lord are present. Gradually their faith in Jesus is strengthened to the point where His divinity is manifest in every circumstance of their lives. They begin to see that the Holy Spirit has strengthened their discipleship to the point where they are able to move mountains. In other words the two divine realities are 1), that Jesus is God and the Second Person of the Trinity, and 2), that we will experience Him as Lord and Savior when we eschew every other enticing basket that life seduces us with and place our eggs in His basket alone! Obviously this is a covenantal relationship which will take patience and time to blossom and mature, but blossom and mature it will as the Holy Spirit is the architect and builder of our union with God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT, OUR GUIDE AND COUNSELOR:
There is an amazing contrast in the lives and behavior of the apostles between their years with Jesus and after His Resurrection and Ascension as noted in the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts we witness the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to His apostles and to us that the Holy Spirit “remains with you (us) and will be within you (us) (John 14:17).” And this same Holy Spirit “will instruct you in everything, and remind you of all that I told you (John 14: 26).” The apostles were witnesses of Jesus whom they had heard, seen with their own eyes, looked upon and touched with their own hands. Through the action of the Holy Spirit their lives were transformed, they became witnesses of the Risen Lord and experienced joy in suffering, and hope and trust in very trying circumstances. The Holy Spirit dwells among and within us. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. God’s invitation to share in His life and be transformed by the Holy Spirit is both astounding and unfathomable. We can only respond in profound gratitude and praise of our Triune God!
HELPFUL ATTITUDES FOR PRAYER:
· Jesus is our Goel. Through his incarnation he became our family member or kinsperson. And he obtained our freedom by becoming our price and taking upon himself our bondage to sin so that we could become free.
· While paradoxically our sins alienated us from God, on his part God refused to treat us as aliens.
· Oddly enough, Jesus is immensely attractive in his lifestyle of humility. He has no hesitation to mingle with “sinners and tax-collectors,” men and women who were loathed by established society and religious leadership. He brings them the good news of God’s reign, inviting them to repent and receive God’s forgiveness, and filling their hearts with peace and joy.
· Paradoxically, it seemed that the Holy Spirit could really “fill the apostles up” with the transformative power and peace of the Risen Lord only after they had encountered the abyss of their own lack of faith and abject impotence.
· The two divine realities are 1), that Jesus is God and the Second Person of the Trinity, and 2), that we will experience Him as Lord and Savior when we eschew every other enticing basket that life seduces us with and place our eggs in His basket alone!
· God’s invitation to share in His life and be transformed by the Holy Spirit is both astounding and unfathomable. We can only respond in profound gratitude and praise of our Triune God!
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER:
· Be faithful to your time of prayer, and make it between 20 and 30 minutes daily.
· Begin every prayer session with an earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit like the one I have composed for you: Come, Holy Spirit, and overshadow me with your gentle wisdom and power as I endeavor to sit at the feet of Jesus during this period of prayer. Purify my mind and heart as I seek to make the teachings of Jesus my priority in life, thinking, speaking and doing as He desires. You are the keeper of my soul, leading me into God’s heart. May I be docile and submissive to your wisdom and guidance. May my life be a pleasing offering in your sight. Amen.
· Take one of the passages suggested for prayer. During the week you might want to ponder the question, “Has the Holy Spirit truly become Emmanuel for me and have I become the temple of God’s Spirit?”
· Lastly, during your prayer make sure you also address God directly and listen for the Holy Spirit’s responses.
· You can end your prayer with the following: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank you for your gracious companionship. I praise you for being my Creator, Savior and Lord. May I take your blessings to my day, and may your presence envelop and permeate all my thoughts and actions. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PASSAGES FOR PRAYER:
Matthew 5: 3-12: The Beatitudes
Matthew 5: 42-48: Love of Enemies
Matthew 7: 12-29: The Golden Rule and End of the Sermon
Luke 12: 1-34: Courage under Persecution; Trust in God; Dependence on Providence;
The Heart’s treasure.
John 14: 16- 17; 26: Promise of the Holy Spirit.
John 16: 7-15: The Holy Spirit’s job description
Galatians 5: 16-26: Proper Use of Freedom
SPIRITUAL READING:
The Imitation of Christ:
After the Bible, this classic is the most widely read. There are four books and 114 chapters in all. You could savor this book three times over if you read a single chapter each day of the retreat. For this week the following chapters might be useful:
Book III:
Chapter 3: Listen Humbly to the Words of God
Chapter 4: We must walk before God in Humility and Truth
Chapter 5: The Wonderful Effect of Divine Love
Chapter 10: To despise the World and serve God is sweet!
The Bible:
It would be even more important for you to become familiar with the Bible, especially with the New Testament. For this week choose a few passages from the New Testament. You could read Jesus’ Great Discourse.
Matthew, chapters 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount
John, chapters 13-17: The Great Discourse
JOURNALING:
- Journal for a few minutes daily about your experience with God in prayer and during the day.
- Your journal will help you with your sharing in spiritual direction
- Gradually patterns of insights, themes, consolations, and resistance to God’s promptings will emerge.
- Your journal will help you appreciate the Holy Spirit’s action in your being.
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