neljapäev, märts 24, 2005
from the Ravi Zacharias web site
from http://www.rzim.org/publications/slicetran.php?sliceid=860
A Slice of Infinity
by Danielle DuRant
More Than Words
It is only hours before Jesus will be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and handed over to be crucified. And Jesus knows this.
As we might expect, he spends his last hours on earth with his closest companions, his disciples. Yet unlike a man approaching his … death, Jesus celebrates Passover and tenderly washes his disciples’ feet—even the soiled feet of the one who would betray him. He speaks of his coming death, yet inconceivably, his words are filled with life, hope, and comfort.
Today we observe Maundy Thursday. We remember both Jesus’s intentional act of love in washing his disciples’ feet and his mandate (“Maundy” is the Middle English for “mandate”) to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).
After giving this command, in his longest recorded conversation, Jesus comforts his disciples: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn. 14:1). Then in a stunning revelation Jesus declares, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (Jn. 14:16-18)….
On this eve of his disciples’ impending sorrow and confusion, Jesus offers them more than words of reassurance; indeed, he vouchsafes God’s very presence with them. Moreover, says Jesus, this promised Presence is nearer than you can imagine: “You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (Jn. 14:17b)….
Jesus assured his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans, and he did not. He makes this same promise to us, his followers. He is our Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, and Defender, who actively intercedes on our behalf, reveals God’s truth, assuages us with his presence, and upholds us with his righteous right hand.
© 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
A Slice of Infinity
by Danielle DuRant
More Than Words
It is only hours before Jesus will be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and handed over to be crucified. And Jesus knows this.
As we might expect, he spends his last hours on earth with his closest companions, his disciples. Yet unlike a man approaching his … death, Jesus celebrates Passover and tenderly washes his disciples’ feet—even the soiled feet of the one who would betray him. He speaks of his coming death, yet inconceivably, his words are filled with life, hope, and comfort.
Today we observe Maundy Thursday. We remember both Jesus’s intentional act of love in washing his disciples’ feet and his mandate (“Maundy” is the Middle English for “mandate”) to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).
After giving this command, in his longest recorded conversation, Jesus comforts his disciples: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn. 14:1). Then in a stunning revelation Jesus declares, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (Jn. 14:16-18)….
On this eve of his disciples’ impending sorrow and confusion, Jesus offers them more than words of reassurance; indeed, he vouchsafes God’s very presence with them. Moreover, says Jesus, this promised Presence is nearer than you can imagine: “You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (Jn. 14:17b)….
Jesus assured his disciples that he would not leave them as orphans, and he did not. He makes this same promise to us, his followers. He is our Advocate, Counselor, Comforter, and Defender, who actively intercedes on our behalf, reveals God’s truth, assuages us with his presence, and upholds us with his righteous right hand.
© 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
