When Jesus said on the Cross that "it is finished", He did not mean that there is not still a lot to be done. It is finished, but there is stil much to be brought to fulfilment. Death is dead- sin is broken- but we still contend with death and sin in this world. He warned them repeatedly of what they would face even though He was glorified and said it was finished. So where does that leave us, 2000 years later? Where did it leave the disciples huddled together in an upper room praying and waiting for God knows what- something that Jesus told them to wait for. It leaves us desperate and hungry for the one thing, the only thing, the absolute one thing in the in-between time while we prepare for his return, while we contend with our enemies, while we are being made perfect and Christified. And that one thing is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus makes the wild promise to the disciples when he tells them that whatever they ask the Father in the name of Jesus, he will give it to them, a little common sense tells us that Jesus is not talking about power ball, a reservation at Noma, a high IQ or even a miracle of healing. He refused that to Paul, and I'm pretty certain that Paul, being a good baptist, must have ended his prayer with "In Jesus' Name".

He still didn't get what He asked for. Neither did Job. I'll tell you who got their prayer answered: it was Satan, when he asked for access to attack Job. God granted Satan his request and refused both Paul and Job. He refused their prayer requests unto their salvation, and granted Satan's request unto his condemnation.

How important were these days for the future of the Church and the mission of the apostles. It was in these 40 days that Jesus instructed the apostles concerning the kingdom of God, He gave them commandments and commissioned them to build His Church.

In these sweet days of light and happiness their cups run over with joy even as he was preparing them to die- but they could not be sorrowful because he had Risen from the dead and they would die no more- in these days even death was a joy to them because in the Risen Lord they were witnessing the net result of a holy death- eternal glory.

The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and they know him. He has come to give abundant life for the sheep. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, while the hireling is only concerned for himself and when he sees the wolf coming he abandons the sheep and runs away. The sheep are left defenseless, the sheepfold is broken apart, the sheep flee and are separated from one another and dispersed into the wild.

There are many lessons to be learned from this but I want to emphasize one thing which is necessary for our perpetual gladness. In all the passages about bad shepherds and good shepherds there are three aspects which come up again and again, three things which the bad shepherds fail to do and three things which The Good Shepherd does. The Good Shepherd feeds the sheep, protects the sheep and gathers the sheep together into one flock. That is the last line of our gospel lesson today, Jesus says: "and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."

It seems to me that we know how to fast better than we know how to feast. Which is odd, if you think about it, I mean who would not rather feast than fast? Why would we do a better job at fasting than feasting? I think perhaps we have a a much better idea of the tools or instruments of fasting, and we are a bit fuzzy on the means of feasting. We simply don't know how to feast properly.

Ultimately, Jesus washing the disciples' feet was a prophetic act predicting His death. That is why they did not yet understand, that is also why Jesus said if I don't do this, you have no heritage with me. If you do not embrace the scandal of the cross, you are none of mine.

In addition to a prophetic act, the foot washing also has the symbolic power of demonstrating humble servitude as the norm amongst his family. But it is a humble servitude rooted in the willingness to die for one another because Christ has died for us. It is not just about servitude, it is about dying.

There was no noble motivation for Judas' betrayal, no deeper logic to it. It is a dire warning to all Christians that Judas fell into such depths of wickedness, his heart was utterly blackened as a culmination of repeated petty sin. It shows the power and danger of sin if it is not dealt with. How many people have betrayed Christ, perhaps not as famously as Judas, but nevertheless they have walked away one small step at a time, ever so slowly, just as John tells us they did in his day.