David, Israel’s warrior king, wrote in Psalm 144, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow” (vv. 1-4). The shepherd boy who conquered giants and ruled a nation understood that even the mightiest of men is utterly dependent on the Lord’s power, and that life and death are in God’s hands.

Joshua, God’s trusted commander, sought for guidance after Moses’ death in leading his people into battle for the Promised Land, and the Lord instructed him, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses…No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go…Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And Joshua commanded the officers of the people…” (Joshua 1:3-7; 9-10a).

Shortly before his death, the apostle Paul reassured the young pastor Timothy of God’s faithfulness in time of struggle:

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:1-13).

And finally, Jesus Christ, the First and the Last, the Eternal One, comforted his disciples with these words before he went to claim victory over the enemy at the cross, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends’” (John 15:8-13).

Our prayers go out to all the families and loved ones of the devoted men and women who have offered the ultimate sacrifice to our grateful nation. Thank you for your love and thank you for your courage. All gave some. Some gave all. God sees all that you have given, and he does not forget.

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep your voice from weeping,

    and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward for your work,

declares the Lord,

    and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

There is hope for your future, declares the Lord...”

(Jeremiah 31:16-17a)

All scriptures are from the English Standard Version translation.

John chapters 13 and 14 happen in Jerusalem in the Upper Room, during the Last Supper. Chapter 13 opens with Jesus laying aside his garments so that he can wash the disciples’ feet. In the Ancient Near East, hospitality was considered a great virtue and it was the custom whenever one had invited guests to partake of a meal that the servants would wash the visitors’ feet as they entered the house.

Foot washing was considered the lowliest of tasks, and yet Jesus, who was the host of this gathering, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed the feet of his followers. “He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ 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’” (vv. 6-8).

Once Jesus had washed all the disciples’ feet, he put on his outer garments and resumed his place, and said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (vv. 12b-17).

Even though these eleven men had been with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry, at the end of three years they still could not understand that when Jesus set an example by washing their feet, he was demonstrating that even though he is King of the Universe, he came to serve, and he expected his followers to serve as he did.

Therefore, we can recognize the heart of the Father through the actions of the Son. As Jesus said, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:27-29). Jesus reveals the Father by showing himself to be gentle and lowly, not by being loud and proud. And he asks us to do the same. He is the Way, and the Truth, and he asks us to follow him by living and acting from the same humble willingness to serve others, in his name.

At the Last Supper, Jesus prophesied over his disciples, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” When we ask the Father for anything in Jesus’ name, it is not that we are simply saying the words, “in Jesus’ name,” it is that we come to the Father in the Spirit of his Son – in reverence, humility, and gratitude.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is not to say that our salvation unto eternal life is gained by our works. On the contrary, the people to whom Paul was writing were members of the Philippian church, who had received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. However, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is proclaiming the Truth that Jesus demonstrated: that the Way to Life leads from the manger, to the cross, to the empty tomb, to the demonstration of God’s unfailing love by each disciple who has been chosen by the Father to bear much good fruit, as ambassadors and servants of his kingdom. 

All scriptures are from the English Standard Version translation.