“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’
Jesus answered him,
‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’
Peter said to him,
‘You shall never wash my feet.’
Jesus answered him,
‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’
Simon Peter said to him,
‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’
Jesus said to him,
‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.'”
– John 13:3-10a
What are you not willing to do for others?
A while back, Melissa accidentally dropped a necklace down the drain in our bathroom sink. I knew that it was still retrievable thanks to the p trap in the pipes below the sink. I had a decision to make. Do I serve my wife and get the necklace or not? I knew it wouldn’t take much effort, but I also knew what I would have to dig through and the smell would be vile.
Not the Proper Order of Things
Jesus continued to serve and teach His disciples right up to His last day. The way He taught them on this final Thursday flipped everything on its head. A servant should have washed all of their feet. If there wasn’t a servant, then the least of the disciples should have done it.
There’s no indication there was a servant and it’s not until after Jesus starts washing feet that it even occurs to Peter that he should have washed Jesus’ feet and, even then, Peter doesn’t seem to offer to wash anyone else’s feet. Would he really offer to wash Andrew, his brother’s feet?
A New Way of Doing Things
Jesus wasn’t just being nice. He was also teaching. His message is pretty clear.
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’” – John 13:12-17
What are you willing to do for others?
Lent is a season of sacrifice and service as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter and reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice. He came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a sacrifice for many. Yet, it’s not just in Lent that we are to serve each other, to serve the least. May we serve and sacrifice for many, also.
Dear Jesus,
You deserve for us to serve You, yet You came and served us. Help us to love our neighbor with that same sacrificial love.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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