The shadow of the cross

 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him.  --1 John 3:1

When we started our study of the Gospel of John, we saw a prologue in chapter one that set the tone for Jesus's ministry.  John painted Jesus as the Son of God descending from heaven.  "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world" (verse 9).  We see the Jews were His intended audience.  "He came to what was His own" (verse 11).  The Jews, however, received him with hostility.  "His own people did not accept Him" (verse 11).

As we read chapter 13, the focus shifts.  It's like John is writing The Story of Jesus, Part Two.  John begins this section with another mini-prologue.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.  And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God...  --John 13:1-3

 John marks all significant events around the life and teaching of Jesus with Jewish feasts.  Here he identifies the time as the season of Passover.  It will be the last Passover that Jesus will celebrate here on this earth, and He spends that time with His disciples.  Jesus knew "His hour had come," and He spent these last precious hours to serve and prepare the Disciples. 

Bible commentator David Guzik writes, "The cross is not specifically mentioned in John 13:1 but casts a shadow over almost every word. We see the shadow of the cross over 'His hour had come'. We see the shadow of the cross over 'loved them to the end'. But we also see the shadow of the cross over 'depart this world'. It is phrased softly, but there is an iron-hard reality underneath the soft cover. Jesus would only depart this world through the cross."

The Old Testament often uses the imagery of God’s shadow to convey protection and refuge, which can be spiritually linked to the cross. Key passages include:

• >Psalm 17:8: "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of your wings."
• >Psalm 36:7: "How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings."
• >Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."
• >Isaiah 51:16: "I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand."

These verses illustrate the protective and sustaining aspect of God’s presence, which believers experience through the cross.

The cross was the ultimate expression of God's love.

John said He loved them, the ones He called His own, and that He loved them "to the end."  Commentator Merril Tenney wrote, "'To the fullest extent’ is a better rendering of the original eis telos than KJV ‘unto the end.’ It does not mean that Jesus continued to love his disciples only up to the end of his career but that his love has no limits."  David Guzik wrote:

To the end means a love that will never end. Jesus will never stop loving His own. It isn’t a love that comes and goes, that is here today and gone tomorrow.

To the end means a love that reaches to the fullest extent. Some translations have “He loved them to the uttermost.” Jesus poured out the cup of His love to the bottom for us.

Jesus loved the disciples enough that, even though He lived under the shadow of the cross, knowing that His time had come, he interrupted the Passover meal to wash the disciples' feet.  We will read more about that next time, but it is significant to note that Satan had already put into Judas's heart that he should betray Jesus.  Nevertheless, Jesus washed the feet of Judas, too.

Matthew Henry's Commentary says this about a possible reason that Jesus washed the Disciples' feet:

First, Judas being now resolved to betray him, the time of his departure could not be far off; if this matter be determined, it is easy to infer with St. Paul, I am now ready to be offered. Note, The more malicious we perceive our enemies to be against us, the more industrious we should be to prepare for the worst that may come.

Secondly, Judas being now got into the snare, and the devil aiming at Peter and the rest of them (Lu. 22:31), Christ would fortify his own against him. If the wolf has seized one of the flock, it is time for the shepherd to look well to the rest. Antidotes must be stirring, when the infection is begun. Dr. Lightfoot observes that the disciples had learned of Judas to murmur at the anointing of Christ; compare ch. 12:4, etc. with Mt. 26:8. Now, lest those that had learned that of him should learn worse, he fortifies them by a lesson of humility against his most dangerous assaults.

Thirdly, Judas, who was now plotting to betray him, was one of the twelve. Now Christ would hereby show that he did not design to cast them all off for the faults of one. Though one of their college had a devil, and was a traitor, yet they should fare never the worse for that. Christ loves his church though there are hypocrites in it, and had still a kindness for his disciples though there was a Judas among them and he knew it.

 Jesus then reiterates what He had told Nicodumus in John 3:35: "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand."  This had to be some comfort to Jesus, who knew that his time had come.  Again from David Guzik:

at this particular time, and in this particular circumstance, it was important that Jesus knew the Father had given all things into His hands.

i. It was important because of the hour. Jesus was about to face the agony of crucifixion and the terror of standing in the place of guilty sinners before the righteous wrath of God the Father. At the same time, Jesus went into this situation as a victor, not as a victim. He could have backed out any time He wanted to, because the Father had given all things into His hands.

ii. It was important because of the circumstance. Jesus was about to lower Himself, literally stooping in humble service to His disciples. As He served in this humble way, He did not do it from weakness. He did it from a position of all authority, because the Father had given all things into His hands.

 Philippians 2:5-1 says,

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!