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John 13:3-5 – Living a Tense Life
How can we better handle stress? The answer is at the bottom. Verb tenses bring vitality to language and to life. Verb tenses stress the past, present, and future which converge upon us every day in choosing paths and building relationships. Knowing where we come from, who we are, and where we are going, are the daily verb tenses in action.
John 13:3-5 – Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, (4) *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. (5) Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Did you notice the tenses? Jesus’ future is secure. Jesus’ past is empowering. Jesus knows that God had given Him all things. Jesus knows where He came from and where He was going. Jesus’ past and future leads to present action – serving others.
But when did Jesus do this? The last week of His life; the night of His betrayal, the day before His crucifixion. Among all the stresses and tense situations of life, Jesus focused not on His suffering but on serving. Jesus was free here and now to serve even Judas.
Too often we only live in the present, and our myopic view of life keeps us from freely serving, especially our own “Judases.” We become bundled in present problems, burdened by tense filled stress, instead of living life in the tenses of the past and future so that we can be stress free in the present. So how can we better handle stress? By living a “tense” life.
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