Jesus. Creator. God in flesh. King of all kings. Lord of all lords. Mighty. Powerful. Truth. Life.
This Jesus arranged his robe, slipped a towel into the belt, lifted a basin and poured water into it. Then he kneeled down and washed the feet of those twelve followers who were his most beloved and most ardent—even Judas.
A king kneeling before His subjects? Unheard of! Unknown!
Can you imagine their faces? Can you hear their thoughts? Peter expressed his, and Jesus rebuked him, saying that this was absolutely necessary.
These words inspired by the Spirit of God and penned by John tell us why this act of Jesus was so very important. He had to physically show His followers how to behave.
None of us are so high and mighty powerful that we are not obligated to slide up our sleeves, tuck a towel in our belts, and kneel down to wash the feet of our fellow believers. We are expected by God to do this.
Does it mean literal washing of feet? Possibly, but let’s look further. This task was one of the most menial of any. Feet that walked in open sandals every day were dirty and to wash them meant bowing low, showing reverence.
I think God expects believers to show reverence (not worship) to other believers. We’re to take ourselves out of our usual to bow low and attend to their deepest needs. We’re to know them so that we know those needs. We’re to see them, really see. Then, when we see a menial task that needs done for them, we’re not to call someone else to take it on, we are to do it.
Don’t get me wrong! If that believer there needs their car repaired so they can get to work and they have no money for that repair, they don’t want me getting my hands greasy—it wouldn’t do them any good. I’ll call the mechanically minded folks to handle it, but I can manage that task, remaining with the person who thinks they’re about to lose everything because this one issue touches so many—I might even drive them to work and home if need be.
Basically, we’re to SEE the needs of fellow believers and we’re to ACT on what we see and we’re to LOVE them well through that time.
Let’s take this challenge of Jesus to heart. Let’s look for the believer with ‘dirty feet’ today and serve them well, giving reverence and dignity to them through our tender care.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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