Here’s a link to today’s lectionary text – John 13:1-17, 31-35

The commentaries for today’s scripture remind us of a couple things. 1) There is a meal in John, but it is not the Lord’s Supper in the traditional sense but it connects to it. 2) The foot washing is something crucial to community to whom John writes and need to be reminded to do it for one another so they can find their place with Christ and each other.

As I was discerning what to write, vs. 7 jumped out at me: 

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”

I think this verse is a helpful reminder. It is a reminder that Holy Week is a mystery to us, no matter how hard we try. It has the answers to salvation and God’s Kingdom tied up in it, but every time we think we get it right, Jesus slips away again. The messianic secret is one that is never truly revealed. We only get glimpses.

The title of this post connects to a song by Gabe Lee. In fact, he runs into Jesus in the song. Here’s a link to the song:

Here are the relevant lyrics:

Bumped into Jesus at the diner, where he was blessing a bowl of mac and cheese.
Now there’s a man who spends his whole life fighting evil, best fill that boy up
With all the carbs that he can eat.
He says the king’s buffet upstairs is overcrowded and the TV’s always stuck on CNN.
Says he just wants to catch the score before the work comes in, fast food commercials flicker by
30 seconds at a time.

The whole songs speaks to rural realities, however, encountering Jesus at the end of this ties it into Holy Week. Jesus is eating a meal, knowing the work is coming soon. We don’t understand it now, but we will.

Eat some carbs today. Jesus did.