“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine that! We have just meditated, in our previous post, on the majestic figure of the Word of God. He is the warrior king, riding on a white horse, fully armed with His powerful word and ready to exercise His authority over the whole earth. 

In the next breath, this warrior king, disrobed, is on His knees, washing the filthy feet of His servants! What a contradiction! What a contrast! How is it possible that this God could become a servant to His own servants?

The answer to this question comes to us in the preamble to His action. Let’s read it again. 

“Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so…”

Can you get the impact of John’s explanation? It was all about Jesus’ attitude. First, He was acutely aware that, for Him, time was running out. He had a few hours left with the men into whose hands He was to entrust His entire mission. How they carried out His ministry on earth would depend on how they viewed themselves. Why?

Throughout His entire public ministry, Jesus had lived in submission and obedience to the Father. Never did He put Himself above the Father or any other human. Get that! All His words and actions were subject to the Father and said and done in humility. He was the “Ebed Yahweh”, the Servant of Yahweh. A servant has no will of his own. A servant’s will is to do the will of the master. 

Second, it was this lesson, the servanthood of the servant, that He had to hammer home before He left His disciples. How better than to carry out His teaching in a practical demonstration! He had often spoken of humble service being the hallmark of a leader, but…the principle was lost on them. They were still arguing about their pecking order shortly before His departure. Teaching had obviously left them unimpressed.   The only way to get their attention was to show them!

How could Jesus degrade Himself to the position of the lowest of slaves? As I have already mentioned, His action depended on HIs attitude. John gives two reasons for Jesus’ attitude of humility, and absolute subservience to the Father. Notice that His attitude to His disciples depended on His own self-awareness…Lord of all but a slave on earth. 

First, He loved His disciples enough to degrade Himself in their eyes to get the lesson through to them. Peter couldn’t handle that! His exchange with Jesus makes this clear!

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.””

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Second, He knew exactly who He was and His position in the greater scheme of things. 

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so…”

Jesus had nothing to prove and nothing to defend. He was who He was, regardless of what anyone else thought of Him. In this security, He could lower Himself to the lowest without changing who He was. 

How vital are these lessons for the  Lord’s servants! This is not about instituting another “Christian ceremony”. This is about a self-image that will protect us against the pitfalls of the “flesh”, that old sin-nature that persistently demands recognition. 

Love serves others at our own expense, not for self-gratification. Humility accepts who we are in God’s estimation, viewing ourselves from God’s perspective,   not our own…neither too high nor too low. We are His children, deeply loved, highly favoured, and greatly blessed but, at the same time, His love-slaves, utterly at His beck and call. 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Like Jesus, armed with the correct perspective and attitude, we can serve without losing one iota of who were are. We can reflect the nature of Jesus to a world that is bent on self-preservation which, in the end, fails. 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued…