“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God …” (John 13:3)

The word “knowing” here is a crucial one: “Jesus, KNOWING …”. The scripture indicates here that what Jesus “knew” was the foundation of His life, strengthened Him in His time of trouble, and enabled Him to serve others.  What was it that it says He “knew”, that gave Him such confidence and power?

— “knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands”: Jesus knew what He had been given by God.

— “and that He had come forth from God”: Jesus was absolutely confident of where He came from, and in His eternal relationship with His Heavenly Father.

— “and was going back to God”: Despite the tremendous trial He was now facing, He was also certain of His ultimate destination.

The certain knowledge of these things was the foundation which gave Jesus such amazing strength to face an unprecedented guantlet of tribulations — and even to serve others in the midst of it, as we see Him do in the next verse.

Knowing these things will do the same thing for US too:
— when we KNOW that our ultimate destination is heaven
— when we KNOW we have a relationship with God
— when we KNOW scripturally all that He has blessed us with …

… it gives us an anchor in life which stabilizes us in the fiercest storms, and even allows us to serve others out of that strength. It makes a huge difference in life, when you know where you came from; when you know what you have; and when you know where you are going.

The question of your life is: DO you have that firm foundation that comes from “KNOWING”?

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.” I John 5:13