May 28, 2012 – John 12:37 – 13:20

We are finishing the Book of Signs in the Gospel of John.  Here is a recap of the 7 signs and what they point to.  I found several list of these.   

Water to Wine - 2:1-11 – Power to Transform

Cure of Nobleman’s Son - 4:46-54 – Lord of Life

Cure of Paralytic - 5:1-18 – Restorer of Lost Power

Feeding of the Multitude - 6:6-13 – Master of the Food by which we live

Walking on Water - 6:16-21 – Master of Nature

Sight to the Blind - 9:1-7 – He is Our Light

Raising of Lazarus - 11:1-45 – Lord of Eternal Life

I wanted to focus on the Washing of the Feet.  I developed a prayer service for husbands and wives.  It is basically a chance for the husband and wife to offer themselves to each other in a renewed way and asking the God’s will be done in their lives.  We went through it at a Lifeteen event and everyone seemed to get something out of it.  The last part of it is the husband washing the feet of the wife.  This is one of the most powerful ways Christ shows us how we are to live and how we are to serve those we love.  There are so many negative things out there about what a normal relationship between a husband and wife is suppose to be about.  There are even people that use the Bible to put the husband in a certain domineering light when it comes to marriage.  When you really stop to reflect on what the Bible says about husbands and wives, you see that Christ example of washing the feet of the Apostles is right to the point.  Ephesians 5:22 says “Wives, submit to your husband’s as to the Lord.”  This is used to show that women are inferior to men and need to know their place.  That is completely taking it out of context.  They do need to know their place, because they do have a special place and role God has created them for, but it is not a negative or demeaning role.  Ephesians 2:25 comes a few verses later and is never talked about when verse 22 is mentioned.  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  As Christ loved the Church and washed their feet and served them.  The husband serves his wife and lives his life in service for the family.  This is no more demeaning than to say Christ service for all of us was demeaning.  It was His purpose, and it is our purpose as husbands to serve.  Here is the marriage prayer service.  See what you think.