Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
1Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.2It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.3Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.4So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,5and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
6When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
8“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
9Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
10Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”11For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing?13You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.14And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.15I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.16I tell you the truth, dslaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.17Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
18“I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’19I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I AM the Messiah.20I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me.”
There is no service that is too lowly for a truly great Christian. The people of Jesus’ time walked about a lot in sandals and washing the feet not only felt good, but kept a lot of dirt out of the house. The job of washing the feet always fell to the lowest person or slave in the household. To this day in the Middle East it is shameful to have to clean someone elses feet or even to have them show you the bottom of their foot or sandal. I remember when the people of Iraq were freed from Saddam Hussein many took off their sandals and hit them against pictures of their former dictator.
So Jesus is calling us to put aside all our pride and pretense and to serve others. Think of this: Jesus washed Judas’ feet! We are called to serve not only our brothers and sisters, but our enemies as well. The importance of this lesson cannot be overstated. It is one of the last lesson’s Jesus chose to teach his disciples before he died. He was running out of time, and he picked servitude. Can we do the same? *obbs*
