He Began To Wash

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. John 13:3-5

WASHING THE DIRT off guests’ feet was a task reserved for only the lowest-ranking Gentile servants. Jewish slaves were usually exempted from this demeaning duty. But there were no slaves in the borrowed room where Jesus and his disciples had gathered to share the Passover meal. So there was no slave to wash the feet of the disciples —no slave except the one who, though he was God, did not think of equality with God as something to cling to, but instead gave up his divine privileges and took the humble position of a slave.

Even as Jesus adopted the dress of a slave and took the position of a slave to wash everyone’s dirty feet, he was preparing to die the kind of death that was usually reserved for slaves —crucifixion. “He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Probably all of the disciples felt uncomfortable as Jesus took hold of their dirty, smelly feet. But Peter was the one who resisted, saying that Jesus would never wash his. Clearly Peter didn’t recognize that Jesus was doing far more than washing feet. He was giving his disciples a picture of the way he would, in his shameful death on the cross, provide the cleansing they needed most of all —a washing away of their dirt and shame that couldn’t be seen with the human eye, a cleansing of the soul.

Sometimes we give our children the idea that the Christian life is all about what they must do for God. But at the heart of what it means to be a Christian is the willingness to accept the cleansing touch of Jesus so he can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Lord, I want ________ to serve you. But more importantly, I want ________ to be served by you, to experience the cleansing that only you can provide. Help me to get the gospel right as I talk about it day by day with ________. It’s not primarily about what ________ must do for you, but about what you have done for ________, and what ________ must receive from you.