I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 12-13.

    One of the themes which is throughout the Gospel of John is the idea that people saw the miraculous signs which Jesus performed but still did not believe in Him. John seems to be saying that most of the people who witnessed Jesus ministry here on earth viewed it as great entertainment but did not take His teachings seriously. However, John points out that there were those who believed, even among the leaders of the Jewish people. Most of even those who believed were not willing to say so publicly because they did not wish to face the opprobrium they would receive from their peers for doing so. I wrote all of that as the setup for what I think is the central point of today’s passage and I still failed to actually set it up.
    Jesus tells His listeners in today’s passage that on the Day of Judgement it will not be Him, or even God the Father, who judges people. Rather, it will be the truth which Jesus has made known to us which will judge us. On the Day of Judgement all of the lies which we have used to shield ourselves from the truth which we do not want to acknowledge will be stripped away and we will be exposed naked to the cold, hard light of that truth. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to expose us to God’s truth in this life, the less harsh that day will be.

    Repeatedly throughout His ministry Jesus told His disciples that in order to be great in the Kingdom of God they needed to be a servant to others. In today’s passage He illustrates the meaning of this in a very profound way. As they prepared for their Passover celebration, Jesus took on the role of servant and washed each of His Apostles feet. If Jesus could do this for them, and, by proxy, us, how can they, and we, do any less? Jesus did not wait for an opportunity to serve others, He sought one out. Let each of us do likewise.