At the Table

No encounter with Jesus is portrayed more powerfully than those Table moments Jesus had with the disciples on the night before His crucifixion.  While the first three gospel writers focus on the broken bread and the poured out wine, John shares the memory of his feet and the feet of the other disciples being washed by Jesus.  Surely, it was a memory poured in concrete.  It was impossible not to remember.  It must have been the same for Simon Peter who was at first reluctant to submit to this act of service. "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"  (John 13:6)  Peter knew he should have been the one doing the serving, not Jesus.  Jesus responded with a Word many of us have surely heard in our own lives.  "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  (John 13:7) 

 

We may not have heard Jesus speaking to us as He did to Peter, but surely we can pause and remember those encounters where those words were whispered in our ear, or perhaps, shouted through the noise of our life.  We have heard it when we found ourselves asking why He allowed some hardship to slip from His hand, through His fingers, and into our life.  We have heard it when we felt like good had passed over us and gone to another.  We have heard when a hindrance fell in front us, slowing us down, or maybe even keeping us away from something thought to be absolutely necessary for our own well being.

 

How many times have we wondered "why" in some present moment of our life only to realize much later that what we did not understand was completely inside the plan of God.   Romans 8:28 is surely a Word which tells us that God is always working for good in the lives of those who love Him.  Not understanding does not take us out from under the umbrella of His love and protection.  It may seem that way when a storm is heavy upon us, but it always remains true that what we do not understand now will one day be clearer than the bright shining stars on the darkest of nights.