How to See Life in 321 - a Guide to John's GospelSample

What is the secret of a happy life?

In John chapter 13, Jesus tells us. It was the night before his crucifixion, and he knew it. You might think he’d have other things on his mind, but with hours to go before a godforsaken execution, Jesus serves his friends and leaves the world the most extraordinary picture of love, of God, and of the good life.

“Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:2)

The whole of the Jesus story is a love story. From heaven he comes — a love gift for the world. And what does love do? He washes the filthy feet of his friends. This act of ancient hospitality was a job for the lowest of the low, and it was performed by the highest of the high. Yet Jesus does this, not as a departure from his divine nature, but as a demonstration of it!

At the end, he returns to his place and tells them:

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet…Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (v14, 17)

‘Blessed’ is the opposite of ‘cursed,’ and it very roughly means ‘happy.’ So, what is the secret to a happy life? Stop hiding yourself away from Jesus. Stop pretending you don’t need a spiritual wash. If you keep yourself to yourself, you will shrink your world even smaller — that’s the cursed life.

Do you want to live a blessed life? Let Jesus serve you. Allow him to lay hold of you and cleanse you — he does that by stooping all the way to the cross in order to take your sins. But then, having cleansed us, Jesus tells us to pass it on. That’s the happy life: receive the love of Jesus and pass it on.

As you read John 13, imagine yourself in the room as Jesus comes around the table with the bowl. He wants to get a hold of your life, to see your less presentable side, to cleanse you, and to send you out into the world to pass on his love. That is the secret of happiness.