Journey to the Cross 
Pause
The shadows are gathering and you are called to come away. Come away to think, to pray, to rest – and to prepare.
There are many things – right now – pulling at your mind and heart. But commit yourself to this time, these moments; God is here as always, your companion along the journey of faith, to help you focus on what awaits you now.
Open your mind and heart to Word and Spirit and Truth. Allow love to move you and to change you, even in small ways that will call you forward.
Listen
Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.
Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing.When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”
“No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”
Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”
John 13:1-9
Think
Every conflict we observe or experience is about power. That’s because every one of us wants to have control. Control of our time, our decisions, our actions.
Everything.
Often that need for control extends to controlling others as well or resisting someone who seems to want to control us. It’s all about authority – who has it; and fear – who is driven by it.
So it is fascinating to watch what Jesus does just after we are told he knows that God has “given everything into his hands.” Jesus takes on the role of the lowliest servant, a person with the least amount of power.
It’s no wonder Peter refuses to let Jesus wash his feet. Peter is embarrassed for his Teacher. But Jesus insists that this is the very definition of what it means to belong to Jesus, to follow him.
This is the exercise of power like no other, the kind of power that will change the world.
Nick Foster
Pray
Lord, I want to be part of what you are doing to change the world. Help me yield to your control and your will. Help me to be less concerned about me and more concerned for others. Amen.
Go
Out from the shadows God is calling you.
Even when all seems lost,
Love will not be denied.
Go now to leave the shadows;
Live into the light
Even as you await the dawn.
