To: Bigdaddy and Pilgrim
Thank you for responding to the exercise, of which I am including the questions at the bottom of this post as well.
Also, I will give some background for the questions, as is appropriate.

I should say that I was intentionally provocative with the title and the questions for this post.
The provocation was more to engage thought than to be critical.
Also, I know that the questions are open-ended and vague, thus resulting in some “ricochet” directional variations. That’s okay too.
However, the underlying point, that I had hoped to open to critical thinking, involves self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, without any “carnal” benefit to oneself.

So, the issue of using “common-sense” to tie your shoes is valid, but what happens if we change the dynamic a little bit.

Maybe, we could instead tie a stranger’s shoes, so that they will not trip and fall.
The Lord did take just such an opportunity to give his disciples, (us), an example of uncommon-sense, when He washed the feet of the disciples.
We must not forget this example. It applies to everything we do, as disciples of His.
We must read John 13:1-17 and answer for ourselves what it means when the Lord told the disciples, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
This statement is in the context of foot washing. But, does it only apply to foot washing, or does it even, ultimately, apply to foot washing?
• 15, I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
• 16, How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them.
• 17, You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.

To my understanding of verse sixteen, Jesus is appears to be making a manifest claim to be “master” and “sender of the messengers.” This follows the context and the relationship of teacher to student.
However, in our, now post crucifixion, perspective, we have a more complete context of what Jesus actually intended by this example and His teaching to the disciples. Because, in verse one, John tells us “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love.”
This refers to Jesus’ death on the cross, not only Christ’s foot washing event.
It would be almost sardonic to say that Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice was washing a bunch of dirty feet.

Therefore, the foot washing that happens, is not separate from the death on the cross. The foot washing ceremony is intended to, graphically, highlight the fact that Jesus’ disciples will be expected to respond to their fellow man, in exactly the same selfless manner as Jesus Christ.
Hence, Jesus’ reminds the disciples of the appropriate hierarchy, i.e. Master is superior to servant and Message Sender is superior to message carrier.
In other words, Jesus tells us;
• ‘I am Master and I am the Message Sender.’
• ‘Do you see what I do for my slaves and couriers?’
• ‘Do you see that I wash their feet?’
• ‘Do you see that I lay down my life for them?’
• ‘Therefore Peter, you should not think that you are too important or too superior, and thus hand off the menial tasks of foot washing and life sacrifice’
• ‘God’s servants are exact images of God, in every detail and every drop of self-sacrificed blood.’

Bigdaddy, in your answer to “Q2: Is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? yes–He alone could die for our sins”, I understand the point that you make and I concede that it was true.
Yet, when we receive Jesus’ Holy Spirit, we are no longer ourselves alone. We become Christian, i.e. we become Christ to the world.
• We are holy, as Jesus is holy.
• We become “participants of the divine nature”, according to 2Peter 1:4.
• We have the opportunity to glorify the Holy Father in the same way that Jesus Christ brought glory the Father.
• We may show uncommon faith in the Father’s ability to carry us through self-sacrifice for our fellow man.
• We may show hope in resurrection to a new life.
• We may deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

You see, I don’t see myself as carnal any longer.
I look at the carnal man on the cross everyday. The carnal man who worries about getting ahead in a “dog eat dog world” is put back on the cross everyday. This leaves me sinless. This puts me in a confident position, so confident in-fact, that I may sacrifice my own life to save the life of him, who may be my enemy, just like Jesus did for me (Romans 5:10).
I am exactly like Jesus, by God’s inexplicable grace.

My point is that while Jesus could only offer Himself for me, prior to my cleansing, I now am recreated in His image, thus giving me the privilege of offering myself for others and completing the exhortation from John 13:17, which is, according to our Lord, the “path of blessing.”

God bless,
DSM
p.s. My answers, to the previously posed questions, follow below, so please continue to read, it is important to understand my reasons for the questions, which I’ve stated above, as well as my answers to the questions, which will follow. dsm

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the “example” for all humankind? Yes, I suspect that most Christians will agree that Jesus is the perfect example for humanity. But, this also creates difficulties with our spiritual/carnal filter. For example: What actions, from within Jesus’ life example, may we exclude from ourselves or from teaching other disciples.
2. If you say “yes”; is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? Pilgrim, I believe that you have hit the target, squarely, in the “X ring”. Your answer also addresses the point that I make above to Bigdaddy’s answer for this question. Because, while Jesus tells Peter that he may not come to the cross at that time, He forewarns Simon that a day will come for him to do the same thing, i.e. he will be called on to sacrifice himself for the church. Most are familiar with the historical legend of Peter’s own crucifixion.
3. Who is a “disciple” of Jesus? I agree with both answers. Interestingly, to Pilgrim’s answer, we see, in Acts 19:1-7, that Luke calls disciples, 12 men who had not be baptized into Christ. However, the lesson of discipleship continues, because the 12 men are baptized in the the name of the Lord Jesus upon hearing about, what was an heretofore missing component of their belief.
4. Do you think of yourself as a disciple? The answer to this question is almost reflexive for all who call themselves “Christian.” But, it is my opinion that discipleship holds requisite conditions that are not present in many who feel as if, they are indeed “disciples.” (Again I say LOUDLY, “THIS IS MY OPINION”) The conditions that I see for discipleship are, in the following specified chronological order; 1st) A Seeker of God, 2nd) An Acceptor of Truth, 3rd) A Follower/student of Jesus, 4th) An Employer of knowledge & example. The 12 men of Acts 19:1-7 as well as Apollos from Acts 18:24-28, meet these criteria for discipleship. They were seekers of God, they accepted truth, they followed the way of Jesus, and finally they employed their acquired knowledge, by acting on their faith, via baptism into the name of Jesus Christ.
5. Does the Father expect disciples of Jesus to use “common sense”? With this question I am dealing with personal demons. As you’ve read above, this goes to the issue of “carnal-sense” or simply doing what is expedient without regard to Jesus’ self-sacrifice and the most visible defining characteristic of His disciples, as stated by the Lord Himself in John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Jesus is not limiting this love to fellow “Christians”. Remember He has already given the Sermon on the Mount, where He tells us, in Matthew 5:43ff “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”
6. Did Jesus use common sense in any part of His incarnation, ministry, and sacrifice? Without going too much further, you now understand what my thinking is concerning “common-sense”. I use the term, because I have heard this phrase many times, when people desire cover for their giving into fear and rage, and in contravention of Jesus’ obvious teachings, both in His words and in His deeds. I won’t confess here what my greatest fears are, but suffice it to say that I am praying daily for courage and strength to say “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” My fears have motivated me to hide my gifts. I have buried them and have not invested them. I have honored the one who encourages me to fear and hate, instead of the One who promises me, that He will keep that which I’ve committed to Him, but only that I show courage and love.
7. Can you cite the examples of Jesus, using “good judgment”? Jesus didn’t turn the stone to bread, He didn’t throw Himself down in a test of the Father protection and He did not worship the “prince of the earth & air”, all of which would have been expedient by worldly carnal-judgment.
8. Was His, giving up the throne of heaven and being born as a helpless baby to an unmarried mother, “good judgment”? Pilgrim, Paul states that Jesus did have this decision to take and therefore it was His prerogative to decline. Look at Philippians 2:5-11 “5) Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6) Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7) He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. 9) Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11) and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Pilgrim and Bigdaddy, you are correct about Mary and Joseph, but the stigma of Mary being yet only betrothed, when she became pregnant was, by carnal standards, “unwise”.
9. Did Jesus use good judgment when he selected His band of apostles? Carnal judgment says that He should have picked big warrior class men, who had political connections and military training and experience.
10. Was God the Father using good judgment, when He placed His “only begotten Son” in Bethlehem under a narcissistic homicidal maniac, such as King Herod the Great?
11. Did the Lord use anything even close to “good common sense”, when He refused to answer the Jewish High priest and the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate? Good judgement (carnal) would get Him out of jail and silence the crowd, with no fuss and no mess.
12. In what way, can Jesus be said to be our “example”, if we, for our own carnal will & reasoning, seek to exclude all meaningful representations of the Father’s & Son’s love, mercy, and compassion, as being unique to Jesus’ ministry, and therefore, should not to be followed by His disciples? Men and women of God make compromises daily for why they should use “common sense” and not stop to help a stranded motorist. But, the example of Jesus says to stop and help. Godless men beat the Lord, yet He did not strike back. While Godly men and women seek preemptive strikes, to protect hearth and home. I hope to spur thought about when God’s example is a “bad example.”
13. I keep looking for the Lord to stand up and take matters into His hands and utterly crush the wickedness of humankind. But…, if He were to do the thing that I envision…, would I be swept away with all the other wickedness of humankind?
14. I wonder if there is any example in Jesus life, that the Father hopes that we will follow?
15. And I wonder if that example, might just be Jesus “in toto“?

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