2024-05-11 A Meditation on Jesus the Genuine Article

“13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”” (Jn 13:1-11 ESV)

“3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2 Cor 10:3-6 ESV)

Jesus took our sin. It wasn’t so much, shape up, as it was: know no Law around the matter; know no “Effort to retool” around the desire; know no “Let’s work on this” in the moment. For, the end of the Law meant the Grace oblivious to sin whether it was indulged or resisted. That is, we actually do have forgiveness not because we’ve “put all that behind us”, but because it was the Lord’s will to see us through to another day.

It was His will to mesh practical “first use of the law”—civil society, law-abiding citizenry, a safety net around clear and present danger to the community—with a “third use of the law”: not a legal device to help us either build up braggadocio or pat ourselves on the back, but rather a more wide horizoned intent. Use the law—in its third sense—to posit a wishful thinking, a “what if”, a way to face the fact of manifest sin indulged, yes in act and flesh indulged, while not losing sight of the higher Ideal. We do not lose sight that God has not only forgiven, He has stepped in and claimed the manifest “Sin” was sin against His person and none other. It was His body that took the pain. It was His flesh that was corrupted, until it revealed itself uncorrupted. It was His sensitivity and sensibility that was pagan-like awash with damnable offenses.

The soldier, then, gazed stolidly, firmly, at a world of floating, helium-like Ascent: bodies mangled, brotherly and sisterly affections ruined, an end of meek “getting along” when the tempter showed up and proclaimed his or her reign of terror: some sins might do well with a shout, a wild gesticulation to show what hidden and silent, whispering ruin has been dealt out. That is, as though the action-reaction calls for equal measure of patent horror: see what I or you have done!

For, the soldier is inducted into the Jesus set, a crew living up under Prophetic wealth and guile. Prophetic, that a wide gulf lies between you and the sinner, so wide in fact that you the soldier will be called-upon to do superhuman deeds. So wide that entire legions of demons will avalanche upon you. So wide that it will be a mystery hidden in plain sight, the miracle-working bottomless reserves and strength. For it is a strength that approaches with lifted intent, perhaps not with any ill touch, but also without ill words. We believe that the strongest in our midst—for who does not lean deeply on the strength of a parent or teacher—also need the prophetic vision for themselves too, the blessing, the upward ascending prognosis. The prophet gives prognosis and this charts a course; we cannot “hurt” some people, despite our worst fears; we cannot “unseat” our parent or our teacher; and if we can indeed do some hurt, it is gone “all the way through”, and absolved after.

Let your sins rain down. Let your sins know it a meet point, whether only in thought and mind or wild-eyed indulged, so wrongly, gone down so wrong the rabbit hole, hurting others, ruining our image unto the younger generation, we who were meant to be stoic and put-together. To be exemplars and agents of Mercy. Yes, the church-man’s—the servant’s or saint’s—call is for utter absence of any presenting sins, not because Jesus calls for this, but because it is impossible otherwise to overcome the false theology of the churches. The churches that believe one should be listened to until it is found out a presenting sin; that is, we make excuses and say, “ignore her”, “ignore him”: “they are a sinner”. And instead of eagerly doing the “third use of the law” thing, we do the first use: trying on our own efforts to clear the air of “someone in here who is in sin!”. If that be the case, let it be for a public proclamation: “someone in here is forgiven!”. The garments of salvation are shouted about, met with a lively cry, potent to undo the ravages of any one sin against a brother or sister in the faith; to dwell in that Holy City of all “Yes” and no “No”. For we are now the cleansed and the right-minded. We are now the cohort and military of a decidedly merciful column. Our war is to go for broke, not to settle for less, but to say that “just playing by the rules” will not actually be what saves us; we need radical war-ready principles and talking points, peacetime a fine time to make moves, give words, that will save many lives in a future war. And already are.