“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His
hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own
who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil
had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
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.” (John 13:1–5, ESV)
There are a lot of reasons that today’s passage is very
special to me. There is the common reason shared by all who know Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior which is that He was faithful to the end to do that
which He was sent to do. As His time was at an end John tells us that Jesus
loved His own here in the world and that He did this to the end. His love did
not quit when people quit on Him. He even knew who it was within their number
who was going to betray Him, and still we see every indication that He loved
Judas as well. He did this knowing that everything given to Him was given to
Him by the Father, that He had come from the Father and that He was returning
to the Father. There was no reason to resent or regret. He was totally
faithful, and because of that we know His faithfulness today.
In order to demonstrate that love He got up from dinner,
laying aside His own outer garments and tied a towel around His waist in order
to bend down and wash His disciples’ feet. These men who had called Him master
were now experiencing the deep love of their master as He personally humbled
Himself to do something as seemingly demeaning as washing their feet like a
servant. In this act Jesus demonstrated the power of the servant. As He humbled
Himself in service He proved to be an incredible blessing while also
demonstrating an important principle which is to mark all believers.
In Mark 10 when James and John approached Jesus with the
request that one of them sit on His left and the other on His right in glory,
Jesus told them that they did not know what they were asking. But even in this
He also told them that this was not His decision to make. A lot was going to be
demanded of them and they were going to suffer and even then be glorified with
Him, but He could not grant this request. We also read that when the others
heard this they became indignant. “Imagine the nerve of James and John asking
such a thing” they must have thought (my words, not theirs). “What about us?”
Responding to all of them Jesus said, “You know that those who are considered
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise
authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be
great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must
be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42–45, ESV)
At this Passover meal it was their last time together before
His arrest and crucifixion, and Jesus was demonstrating this teaching about
becoming a servant for their benefit. It is this teaching that holds special meaning
for me. In 2007 we were looking for a way to recognize people in the
congregation at Crossroads for their faithful service over the long haul. The result
was that we decided to give away a towel in remembrance of Jesus’ servant example
for us. On the towel we had embroidered John 13:5. At our annual promotion
Sunday in June that year we began giving away a few towels and continued doing
so each year while I was on staff. In addition our Women’s Ministry started
giving one towel each year to a special woman at their annual Ladies’ Tea. This
past year I was overjoyed to see my wife, Robin, be gifted with one of those
towels. As I looked back over the list of towels given away over those years I
was greatly encouraged to remember each of them and their different ways of
service. It was also a bit of a tug on my heart to know that several of them
have left this place for the presence of our Lord where I know that they have
received far more abundantly than we could ever give them. It also was a tug to
realize how deep the relationships are that we built together, knowing that God
is in the process of moving us elsewhere.
Jesus was washing His disciples’ feet as a last act of love
and a last demonstration of humble service on the last night they had together.
As I thought on this I could not help but think of the words from a simple song,
“Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be
called the sons of God.” The heart that led Jesus to wash our feet is the heart
that led Him to give His life so that we could become adopted into the family
of God, and the way we show our love toward one another is to model that love
through our service.
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