Class Assignment: Reflection on John

            Upon reflecting on the Gospel of John, during the Last Supper (John 13:21-30) John recounts what Jesus was saying specifically about his betrayer Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. The symnoptic Gospels focus more on Jesus serving the first communion, and while it is not easy to dismiss the deep reflection that Jesus shared with his disciples, those same insights of the breaking of bread and drinking the cup are referenced in the Gospel of John.

             “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.’” John 6:53-56

            The curious part of this observation, one would assume that because John was “the Beloved” his account of the Last Supper would have intimate details of those precious last moments before the crucifixion. Why would John focus on the betrayer rather than his experience as the beloved? Instead he shares an intimate action that happens before the serving of the bread and the wine. John describes the humbling experience of having his feet washed by Jesus, an account that is only listed in John’s Gospel.

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.’” John 13:12-17

It was this memory that John share, for it was this one that had more significance for him. There is an identifying with community and with Christ in the sacraments, but in Jesus washing John’s feet, he was identifying John as his own. It was after John’s feet were washed that he leaned on the Lord’s chest and before partaking. The intimate insight of John sharing that he was claimed first before choosing communion with others is a powerful message of belonging before becoming.