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I read dictionaries for fun! There, I have said,
and I don't care! I like dictionaries. You know where you are with them.
They're so - alphabetical. I have been looking up 'Resolution' this
week. After all, we are seven days into a New Year and if we are going
to break them its just as well that we understand what we broke.
The familiar definition is:
A statement of firm intent e.g. New Year's
Resolution: firmness of resolve: the act of making a firm decision.
How many Christians this past week will have resolved to pay more attention
to their Christian duties in the year ahead? Read the Bible; develop
a better prayer life; grow in the fruits of the Spirit, the list can
be formidable. We will, of course, seek guidance in these things and
who better to guide us than our exemplar (Dict.
def. Ideal Example or Model) Jesus Christ?
We will be encouraged this year, in sermons, lessons, discussions etc.,
to look to his example as he prays, confidently uses Scripture, faces
temptations, puts the kingdom first, and defines his life by the dictates
of his mission. I am looking forward to it.
There is another definition that might help us as we look at this week's
text:
The capability, e.g. of a television or computer
screen, to produce a clear and detailed image, or the degree of clarity
of the image produced.
Jesus has just washed the disciple's feet and if developing a servant
heart is our resolution this year this is an example we must look at.
However, let's look closely at Jesus' words:
You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and
rightly so, for this is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher,
have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.
We have talked about Jesus our exemplar and in verse 15 Jesus goes on
to say, "I have set you an example, that
you should do as I have done for you."
The disciples called Jesus 'Teacher' and 'Lord' but notice how Jesus
reverses the order, "Now that, your Lord
and Teacher, have washed your feet…"
Some people see Jesus as Teacher first, and look on Christianity as
a set of teachings that can make your life better and more acceptable
to God. Tragically, this will not work. You see, before Jesus can be
Teacher, Exemplar, Model, and Ideal he must be Lord. If he is not Lord
we will be just like the teachers in the Law and Pharisees of Matthew
23 and on whom Jesus pronounced seven woes (esp. v.25).
To be like him we must be changed from the inside and there must be
transformation before there is imitation. Only with Jesus as Lord can
we have the capability to produce a clear and detailed image of the
One we are resolved to imitate.
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