Lasts of Jesus
Week 1
Last Teaching
Scripture Reading: John 13:1-17
Opening Question
What word or phrase stood out most to you in this scripture passage?
Core Question
1
What is the setting (time & place) of this passage?
Core Question
2
What are the relational dynamics of this moment (Interactions, emotions, etc.)?
Core Question
3
John prefaces his account of Jesus’s foot-washing with the words: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end…” How is Jesus’s lesson on foot-washing a way of showing them love?
Core Question
4
According to Mark Buchanan in his book, Your God Is Too Safe:
The deeper difference between Jesus’ ethic and that of the Pharisees was this: The Pharisees had an ethic of avoidance, and Jesus had an ethic of involvement.
The Pharisee’s question was not “How can I glorify God?” It was “How can I avoid bringing disgrace to God?” This degenerated into a concern not with God, but with self—with image, reputation, procedure. They didn’t ask “How can I make others clean?” They asked, “How can I keep myself from getting dirty?” They did not seek to rescue sinners, only to avoid sinning.
Jesus, in sharp contrast, got involved. He sought always and in all ways to help, to heal, to save, to restore.”
How is foot-washing about getting involved in the lives of other people? What are modern-day equivalents of foot-washing?
Closing Question
What impact do you think Jesus’s foot-washing lesson has on His disciples moving forward? What impact does it have on us?