We recently started on John chapter 13 on Wednesday nights with the youth. It starts with the story of Jesus eating with His disciples just before the Passover, the time when He would become a curse for us by bearing our sins on the cross. He rose during supper and took off his outer garment, wrapped a towel around His waist, and He began to wash the disciples feet. He did it out of love, “having loved His own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (v.1). He got on the floor to perform a menial task, out of love. Then, He tells His disciples to follow His example. He is telling them to show their love by doing menial and unappreciated tasks for others.
Many people do not like feet. They are gross and sweaty. Yet, we wear socks and shoes, so they are protected from what we walk on. In Israel, they wore sandals. They walked on dirty, dusty roads that were covered in waste. The act of washing feet was meant for the slaves of a household. Not just any slave, however. A Jew could not let a Jewish slave wash their feet. That was an ultimate sign of disrespect. Only Gentile slaves could wash the feet of Jews. What Jesus was saying must have been pretty shocking for His disciples. Jesus was God, the one who owns, created and sustains all the universe. And the God of the universe was willing to get down and wash the disciples’ feet, it is incredible to think about the humility. He did more than wash the disciples’ feet. He was arrested, brutally beaten, nailed to a cross, mocked and ridiculed while hanging, stripped of His clothes in front of everyone, and died. He died to pay the penalty for our sins. Then He rose from the dead. He tells us to emulate Him, as His disciples.
In the US, we tend to stick out our necks and view ourselves as superior. I cannot imagine a CEO of a Fortune 500 company willing to walk out of his office, take off his suit and clean the toilets in his building. Surely, as CEO, he is above that sort of task. If you are in Christ, you most certainly are not above that task. We serve, because we were served; we love because we were loved. We, as Christians, are not above anything. We do not deserve anything. All we have is a gift from God. We are called to serve. When we are asked to do the lowly, unappreciated things, remember what Christ did for us. We are here, not to please ourselves, but glorify and worship Him in all that we do and with all that we are. To God alone be the glory.