John 13:1-19 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world to the Father… The two are different. You copy the outline of a model; you imitate the spirit of an example. You might copy the life of Christ, and make Him a model in every act, and yet you might be not one whir more of a Christian than before. You might wash the feet of poor fishermen as He did, live a wandering life with nowhere to lay your head. You might go about teaching, and never use any words but His, never express a truth except in Bible language, have no home, and mix with publican's and harlots. Then Christ would be your model; and you would have copied His life like a picture, line for line, and shadow for shadow; and yet you might not be Christ-like. On the other hand, you might imitate Christ, get His spirit, breathe the atmosphere of thought He breathed, do not one single act which He did, but every act in His spirit. You might be rich, whereas He was poor; never teach, whereas He was teaching always; lead a life in all outward particulars the very opposite of His, and yet the spirit of His self-devotion might have saturated your whole being, and penetrated into the life of every act and the essence of every thought. Then Christ would have become your example, for we can only imitate that of which we have caught the spirit. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. |
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