THE FIRST WILL BE LAST

— Our Sister, Dawn Michelle Michals wrote an intriguing piece in her blog called: The First Will Be Last, in my comment, I dived a little deeper into the waters that she provided, and she in turn, as asked me to dive even deeper still… here then is my effort… before I drown—

by
moriba sababu

The Christ said:

…the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10 KJV) and further:

…the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. (John 14:24 KJV)

(The Christ never asked to be worshipped… in fact, He told us to consider only the Father.)

God told Samuel:

…the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7 KJV)

This tells me, that God wants us to look further than the obvious, or the simple first thoughts that come to mind.   The etablished first thought on the episode of the washing of the feet, mainly, if not only, speaks to the observation of the onlookers… and even this, is down to the maturity of the observer… as some may think the washer is humble, while others that the washer is trying to score points in the eyes of the onlookers, and even still others, that the act is mere hypocrisy… thus anyway it is looked at, it is a show… an outward appearance…

The message is meant I believe, for the reality of the washer in question, the one who thinks himself/herself of a higher station than others… since it grew out of the need for acknowledged prestige amongst His disciples… it was meant for them as a means of telling us not to think less of others… since thinking thus, lowers them/us in the eyes of God…

He asked them to consider welcoming a child in His name… but I do not believe He was referring to a child per se… but what a child represented then, and even now to many… a mini beast of burden, to be tolerated, until reaching the age of purpose… since only adults, (and only some at that), are considered worthy of absolute consideration…

I believe He meant the adults in our midst, those whom we look down on, whom we regard as insignificant, the surf, the peasant, the worker, those whom we consider little more than children… whom we push to one side when ‘we’ who are of more significance congregate amongst ourselves…

He was speaking of the untrained, untaught, uncorrupted amongst us whom the Father wished to know off Him, and thus those who would have in effect, brought them to the Father, would also be welcomed by the Father. ( Mark 9:37 KJV)

For three, and a half years He travelled with His disciples, yet He washed their feet only once, and that, only when He was about to leave.   He felt it was important for them to realize that although He was their teacher, He did not regard Himself greater than them… and what He was doing, was only an example, that they in turn, should not regard themselves greater than each other… and by extension, ‘we’ should not regard ourselves greater than another… for the Father would know, not by us making a show of washing feet, a mere outward appearance, but by our hearts… (John 13:3-17 KJV)

I believe the Christ meant by His words, ‘the first must be last,’ is that he who is the first to understand the words, and the message of the Father, would be the last to acknowledge those words, thus the message would be understood… so the complete spectrum of the Father’s will would be adhered to… from the beginning, to the end… or as Scripture many times words it: the beginning that has no beginning, and the end that has no end… or as close to the will of God (I AM) as humanly possible…

© Ralph Boothe
August 7th. 2021