ON BORROWED TIME
Whoever Believes In Me
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 6:35.
How the Gospel of John Can Transform Your Life
Jesus not only taught about what living in the presence of God was like; he also lived it. When God abides with his people and his people abide with him, their own lives reflect his character and heart. No one knew this better—or lived it more fully—than Jesus. And of all the examples he gave, none is more poignant—or better demonstrates the subversive qualities of such a life—than when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13). In Jesus’ view, the most honorable person is the one who most fully lives God’s sacrificial love.
The disciples understood how subversive this concept was to their world. Hellenistic culture was strongly class-defined, and individuals rarely acted outside of the limitations of their social stratum. Honor and shame were the two sides of the coin that held first-century, Graeco-Roman society together: Servants and slaves received no public honor and had no public voice, and the elite deserved the highest courtesies, honors, and attention. In the minds of all good citizens, the reversal of these ideas would seem to level society, creating social chaos out of perfectly reasonable order. Dishonoring the honorable simply wasn’t done—you don’t let your teacher, an honorable figure, wash your feet. Likewise, a teacher wouldn’t honor lower members of society. Jesus reverses everything, and it’s beautiful.
Today, our version of the honor-shame paradigm is a prioritization of the self, a driving concern for one’s image or reputation. This idea of dignity or importance prevents us from abandoning our desires and reputations in favor of self-sacrifice and the betterment of others. But didn’t Jesus provide a better example?
John D. Barry et al., eds., DIY Bible Study (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Whoever Believes In Me
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 6:35.
How the Gospel of John Can Transform Your Life
Jesus not only taught about what living in the presence of God was like; he also lived it. When God abides with his people and his people abide with him, their own lives reflect his character and heart. No one knew this better—or lived it more fully—than Jesus. And of all the examples he gave, none is more poignant—or better demonstrates the subversive qualities of such a life—than when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13). In Jesus’ view, the most honorable person is the one who most fully lives God’s sacrificial love.
The disciples understood how subversive this concept was to their world. Hellenistic culture was strongly class-defined, and individuals rarely acted outside of the limitations of their social stratum. Honor and shame were the two sides of the coin that held first-century, Graeco-Roman society together: Servants and slaves received no public honor and had no public voice, and the elite deserved the highest courtesies, honors, and attention. In the minds of all good citizens, the reversal of these ideas would seem to level society, creating social chaos out of perfectly reasonable order. Dishonoring the honorable simply wasn’t done—you don’t let your teacher, an honorable figure, wash your feet. Likewise, a teacher wouldn’t honor lower members of society. Jesus reverses everything, and it’s beautiful.
Today, our version of the honor-shame paradigm is a prioritization of the self, a driving concern for one’s image or reputation. This idea of dignity or importance prevents us from abandoning our desires and reputations in favor of self-sacrifice and the betterment of others. But didn’t Jesus provide a better example?
John D. Barry et al., eds., DIY Bible Study (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).