“Lord, Are You Going To
My Feet?”
Now
before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to
depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in
the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the
heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had
come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer
robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and
began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied
around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to
wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later
you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus
answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to
him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him,
“One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely
clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray
him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
After
he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table,
he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and
Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For
I have set you an example, that you also should do as
I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their
master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know
these things, you are blessed if you do them.
John 13:1-17
The
love of God was visibly demonstrated in Jesus when He was here on Earth. In
stooping to wash the feet of His disciples, He mirrored the submissive step He
took when He left heaven and became a man. He healed the sick and endured
bitter hatred as His reward. He died like a criminal on a Roman cross.
Jesus
is no longer with us in His physical body – He now sits at God’s right hand in
heaven. So, if God’s love is to be embodied today, it must be done through
Christians. It is being done through you?
My life helps paint my neighbor’s picture of God.
Our Daily Bread –