[SPEAKER_00]: Christian parenting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Finding the perfect gift for the people you love most should feel joyful, not stressful, but between busy schedules and crowded stores it's easy to lose the joy of giving.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's why Christian parenting created the 2025 Christmas gift guide, a one-stop collection of thoughtful faith-filled gifts for every age and stage.

[SPEAKER_00]: Inside, you'll find meaningful ideas for kids, parents, grandparents, and friends.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll design to point hearts back to the true reason for the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Plus, we've included some of our very favorite admit resources from family activities to devotionals just for kids, so you can keep Jesus at the center of Christmas.

[SPEAKER_00]: Best of all, it's completely free.

[SPEAKER_00]: Check out the guide today at ChristianParentine.org forward slash Christmas and make this Christmas your most meaningful and least stressful yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome to the Truth Seeker's podcast, a Truth Seeker is someone who wants to know the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: They search for what's true and they won't rest until they find it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am a Truth Seeker and if you are to then you've come to the right place where we will search for truth, each week in the stories of the Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: As we continue to walk through the days of Holy Week, we come to the day that Jesus and his disciples began to prepare for the Passover meal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now you might want to go back and listen to Episode 20 because Episode 20 is where we learned about the Passover in Exodus.

[SPEAKER_00]: The blood on the outside of their doors kept them from experiencing the final plague upon the Egyptians.

[SPEAKER_00]: When God saw the blood on their door post, he passed over their homes and they were spared.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is why it is called Passover.

[SPEAKER_00]: God instructed the Israelites to take time every year to remember and celebrate when God passed over their homes and delivered them from Egypt.

[SPEAKER_00]: So every year for hundreds and hundreds of years, [SPEAKER_00]: The Israelites would remember Passover with a special Passover meal.

[SPEAKER_00]: They would sacrifice a pure spotless lamb and eat the meat of the lamb to remember what God had done for them that night so long ago in Egypt.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well now, it was time for Jesus and the disciples to celebrate the Passover.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was that time of year.

[SPEAKER_00]: As a Jew, Jesus had grown up celebrating the Passover every year.

[SPEAKER_00]: He knew the story of the Exodus.

[SPEAKER_00]: He knew the importance of the Passover.

[SPEAKER_00]: The disciples came to him to ask him where they should prepare the Passover meal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus told Peter and John to go into Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: There you will see a man carrying a jar of water, follow him and speak to the owner of the house to which he goes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ask him to show you the room in which your teacher will celebrate Passover with his disciples.

[SPEAKER_00]: He will take you to a large upstairs room which will have in it everything you need.

[SPEAKER_00]: There you will stay and prepare for the feast.

[SPEAKER_00]: The two disciples did exactly as Jesus told them, and when everything was ready, Jesus and the rest of the disciples arrived at the house and went into the room upstairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then Jesus did something the disciples did not expect.

[SPEAKER_00]: He took off his outer robe and wrapped a towel around his waist.

[SPEAKER_00]: He poured water into a bowl and then knelt in front of each of the 12 disciples, washing their feet and drying them with his towel.

[SPEAKER_00]: This would have shocked and surprised the disciples.

[SPEAKER_00]: You see, in those days, they did not have concrete roads and sidewalks like we do today.

[SPEAKER_00]: They wore sandals and their feet would get very dirty walking everywhere in the mud and dirt.

[SPEAKER_00]: So whenever a person entered a home, there would usually be a basin of water to wash the dirt off their feet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes in a rich person's home, they would have servants to do that job and wash their feet in the feet of their guests.

[SPEAKER_00]: For Jesus to kneel down and wash His disciples' feet, this was an act of humility.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was an act of service.

[SPEAKER_00]: He wanted His disciples to follow in His example.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when Jesus came to Peter to wash His feet, Peter said, why do you do this Lord?

[SPEAKER_00]: I cannot allow you to kneel and wash my feet.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then Jesus said, if you do not let me wash your feet, then you have no part with me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then Lord said Peter, not just my feet, but my hands and head as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus had finished washing their feet, he put on his robe and returned to his place.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you understand what I have done for you?

[SPEAKER_00]: He asked them.

[SPEAKER_00]: You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so, for that is what I am.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now that I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Very truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

[SPEAKER_00]: When it was time for the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples were reclining at the table.

[SPEAKER_00]: And while they were eating, He said, truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.

[SPEAKER_00]: They were very sad and began to say to Him one after the other, [SPEAKER_00]: Surely you don't mean me, Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus replied, the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man.

[SPEAKER_00]: His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.

[SPEAKER_00]: Simon Peter was sitting next to John who was sitting next to Jesus and he motioned to John and said, ask him which one he means.

[SPEAKER_00]: Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, Lord, who is it?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus answered, it is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon, a scariot.

[SPEAKER_00]: As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then Judas, the one who would be try him said, surely you don't mean me, rabbi?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus answered, you have said so.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus told him, what you are about to do, do quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.

[SPEAKER_00]: But as soon as Judas had taken the bread, he knew this was his opportunity.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was time to go to the leaders and betray Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went out into the night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then, while they were reclining at the table, Jesus did something else that surprised the disciples.

[SPEAKER_00]: He took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it.

[SPEAKER_00]: and gave it to his disciples saying, take it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is my body.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

[SPEAKER_00]: He said to them, [SPEAKER_00]: Truly, I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: When they had finished eating, they sung a hymn and then went out to the Mount of all lips.

[SPEAKER_00]: Dear True Seekers.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did Jesus mean when he said the bread was his body and the wine was his blood?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus meant that his body was about to be broken on the cross and his blood was about to be shed on the cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: You see Jesus was the Passover lamb.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was the lamb that was to be slain and just as the Israelites placed the blood of the spotless lambs over their doorpost that night in Egypt.

[SPEAKER_00]: so that death would not pass over them, so the blood of Jesus covers us so that we do not receive the punishment of death.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus took our punishment for us and his blood covers our sins.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are protected under the blood of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus broke the bread and drank the wine, he told his disciples to continue to do that to remember what he had done for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: We still do this today as Christians, and we call it Communion.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can you say Communion?

[SPEAKER_00]: Communion usually happens in church with other believers, as we take a piece of bread and a small cup of grape juice and eat the bread and drink the juice, just like Jesus did with His disciples the night before He died.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we take communion, we remember what Jesus did for us by giving His body to be broken and His blood to be shed for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to read about the last supper in your Bibles, you can find it in Matthew, chapter 26, Mark, chapter 14, Luke, chapter 22, and John, chapter 13.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me pray with you before we go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Dear Jesus, we thank you for giving us an example of what it looks like to serve others, help us to never be so proud that we miss helping those around us who need our help.

[SPEAKER_00]: When you wash the feet of the disciples, you show us that you are not a proud king, you are not too great to serve.

[SPEAKER_00]: You served us by giving us your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Please show us ways that we can serve others around us, for when we serve others we show them what you look like.

[SPEAKER_00]: May the world see you in us.

[SPEAKER_00]: May we reflect your love and generosity and service to those around us so that they might want to know what it is that makes us different.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when they look at us, we will say, it's Jesus in me.

[SPEAKER_00]: We choose to never forget what you did for us by giving your body and shedding your blood, we will remember it until the day you return, until then we are so grateful in Jesus' name.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining me again two seekers and I look forward to our time together tomorrow.

[UNKNOWN]: You