NOTES for Joh 13:16-20

Before us are words of Jesus (John 13:16) that can provoke different reactions. On the one hand, how could it be otherwise? Can a servant or a messenger be greater than their masters? Yet, on the other hand, how often do pride and the desire to exalt oneself arise in the soul of the person carrying out an assignment? Sadly, this also happens in our relationship with God... These words vanish from our minds, and we want to create on our own, without remaining under anyone’s authority. What happiness there is when the heart is in accord with God’s will, when the messenger brings not their own message but that of the one who sent them, and when the servant “co-creates” with the Lord. This is what Jesus says: “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). Blessed, too, is the heart that does not seek to exalt itself but longs to fulfill the Lord’s will. Then whoever receives such a person receives Jesus Himself, because He abides in that person (John 6:56).