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A couple weeks ago I was at the jail on my weekly visit of a prisoner. As I was waiting for the visiting time to begin several other men were also patiently waiting to visit prisoners. One young man asked a question of the rest of us. It seems that he wanted to talk about the need for humility to his prisoner. So he asked us what Scriptures he should use. I mentioned the Philippians 2 passage from yesterday’s post. Someone else mentioned John 13. Another excellent Scripture.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, the setting for John 13 is what is now commonly referred to as the Last Supper. Jesus is celebrating the Passover Meal with His disciples. Unbeknownst to them it would be His last Passover Meal. And His last earthly meal. Period. All of a sudden Jesus gets up from the table, lays aside His outer robe, and wraps a towel around His waist. Then He pours water into a basin and begins to wash each of His disciples’ feet. Foot-washing was a common and accepted practice in that culture. Mostly everybody traveled on foot. And as they traveled they wore sandals. On dusty, dirty roads. You can guess why foot-washing was important. It helped to remove the dust from people’s feet. And it probably helped a bit with the smell. A very good practice in my book!
In the more well-to-do homes a servant would perform this menial task. In the average home this was the chore of the youngest child. With a room full of men and no servants or children in sight, the foot-washing had been neglected. Intentionally. Numerous times the disciples had been arguing over who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Not a single one of them wanted to humble themselves and wash everyone’s feet. They were not servants. They were very important disciples of a very important Master. It seems like the customary foot-washing was not going to happen this particular evening.
Until Jesus went into action. In the Philippians 2 passage it talks about Jesus taking on the form of a servant. This is the picture we have here. The all-powerful, glorious Son of God humbled Himself and performed a menial task that none of His disciples would perform. Why? Because they weren’t willing to humble themselves. I can only imagine how the conversation immediately stopped as the disciples realized what Jesus was about to do. Think of the shame they must have felt when He stooped down to do a task that they were too proud to do. Foot after foot, Jesus went around the table washing and drying all the feet of His disciples. When He finished Jesus sat back down. He said that if He, their Master, was willing to wash their feet then they ought to be willing to wash each other's feet. What a lesson in humility.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, the setting for John 13 is what is now commonly referred to as the Last Supper. Jesus is celebrating the Passover Meal with His disciples. Unbeknownst to them it would be His last Passover Meal. And His last earthly meal. Period. All of a sudden Jesus gets up from the table, lays aside His outer robe, and wraps a towel around His waist. Then He pours water into a basin and begins to wash each of His disciples’ feet. Foot-washing was a common and accepted practice in that culture. Mostly everybody traveled on foot. And as they traveled they wore sandals. On dusty, dirty roads. You can guess why foot-washing was important. It helped to remove the dust from people’s feet. And it probably helped a bit with the smell. A very good practice in my book!
In the more well-to-do homes a servant would perform this menial task. In the average home this was the chore of the youngest child. With a room full of men and no servants or children in sight, the foot-washing had been neglected. Intentionally. Numerous times the disciples had been arguing over who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Not a single one of them wanted to humble themselves and wash everyone’s feet. They were not servants. They were very important disciples of a very important Master. It seems like the customary foot-washing was not going to happen this particular evening.
Until Jesus went into action. In the Philippians 2 passage it talks about Jesus taking on the form of a servant. This is the picture we have here. The all-powerful, glorious Son of God humbled Himself and performed a menial task that none of His disciples would perform. Why? Because they weren’t willing to humble themselves. I can only imagine how the conversation immediately stopped as the disciples realized what Jesus was about to do. Think of the shame they must have felt when He stooped down to do a task that they were too proud to do. Foot after foot, Jesus went around the table washing and drying all the feet of His disciples. When He finished Jesus sat back down. He said that if He, their Master, was willing to wash their feet then they ought to be willing to wash each other's feet. What a lesson in humility.
I don’t know why we find humility so hard to come by. But we do. Especially when it’s something that’s not our job. Something that’s menial. Something that we perceive to be beneath us. ‘Let someone else do it’, we think. Unfortunately this is exactly what others are thinking as well. The result? A task that needs to be done goes undone. This is what is so amazing about Jesus. He’s willing to do what we are unwilling to do. He’s willing to humble Himself. To play the part of a servant. This should make feel us ashamed. And rightly so. How can we not humble ourselves and serve others when our Master is willing to?
Lord, I am deeply challenged by the humility of Jesus. The fact that He was willing to wash the dirty, smelly feet of His disciples. Would I have done the same? I don’t know. I admit that I have a long way to go in this area. Help me to be willing to humble myself and to serve others. To demonstrate that I do have the Spirit of Jesus living within me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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