When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13: 12-17.
We humans are always going on and on about what we deserve and how we should be treated because of our status, but Jesus in one act showed that God doesn’t look at it the same way. When God calls a man, He bids him die… (Dietrich Bonhoffer). We put rules on status whereas God looks at the need of the day or person in front of Him and just meets it or them. If we look at what Jesus did here in our passage, we could conclude that He “humbled” Himself in order to serve others. In fact, many preachers go on and on with stern words about how far He had to stoop in order to wash someone’s feet; or they shed tears over the love that Jesus displayed.
Though both perceptions are correct as far as they go, I believe that God doesn’t look at His position as God in the same light that humans would, for we consider His position to be above such menial tasks. God tells us clearly, however, that His thoughts are not ours nor His ways our either, so in His estimation washing the feet meant nothing but love. The truth of humility isn’t about debasing oneself below one’s value but realizing that status means absolutely nothing in the kingdom of God except? Responsibility.
Jesus tells us elsewhere in Scripture, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35. We have it all ass-backwards. Position of high rank in the kingdom of God means more responsibility not just power. To be sure the power comes with the position but that power is for the purpose of service not self-gratification.
When Christ washed the disciples’ feet, He wasn’t debasing Himself below what He thought His position warranted but showing them that His status required this action. Peter objected most emphatically to it because of what He thought Jesus was doing, but Jesus corrected Him by saying, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not everyone of you.” John 13: 8b-10.
What is Jesus saying about washing?
Clearly that Peter’s soul had already been washed by Him so that washing Peter’s feet was a mere touch up job. God is the only one who can clean up our souls when we submit to Him, so in a sense He’s the servant washing clean the dirt of the inner man. It has absolutely nothing to do with human concepts of status and everything to do with what God considers a position’s duties to be.
Therefore, when God tells the Jewish nation that they will be the priests and princes of the nation, He’s not giving them master/servant status but a job of service. They will serve all the nations of the earth with the cross, foot washing and Jesus’ earthly work in mind. When He tells a husband that he’s the head of his household, both the children and wife, God’s not indicating the man is the master and the others his servants but the exact opposite. As husbands, we are to serve the needs of our family with joy, laying a foundation of love and humility that they should follow. To be the head hauncho in God’s world means we lead by example not just by command. So with a husband and his wife. His job as head of the wife is to give her the same consideration God gives us. Doesn’t God give us freedom of thought, expression and individuality within the boundaries of love? Though a husband can’t “give” his wife these things because they are innate and already established boundaries God created, his job is to make sure she able to live in this freedom.
Christ’s teaching turns human values on its head, showing command by service rather than force or domination. To God coming to earth as a baby, growing up as a man, dealing with the daily dirt of both soul and body and generally serving all around Him was only natural and never a debasement but His job. He did it willingly, whole-heartedly and with joy for that is how He thinks.
And we are to be like Him…
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2: 3, 4. Read the rest of that passage which goes through to verse 18. If God didn’t think it anything to be worried about to serve us, what should we think when serving one another?
Tags: being like God, being like Jesus, Christian values, example, foot washing, humility, kings, Love, marriage, priests, service, status
June 28, 2008 at 5:34 am |
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April 8, 2009 at 1:28 pm |
Your follow-up remark on our perception of the scripture in Mark 9:35
is offensive and inappropriate. How can one write about the love of God and a true act of worship and use profanity at the same time?
James 3:10 “From the same mouth come blessings and cursings, my brothers, this ought not to be.”
You surely taint any “blessings” you have on this passage with your need to use inappropriate language.
April 8, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
Wow! I see your problem. The use of the word “ass” (which I believe means bottom, butt or gluteous maximus and is also used in King James’ English to mean a donkey) offended you to the point that the message above became eclipsed. So you must have a hard time reading the KJV Bible.
As far as I know, profanity is the harsh use of language, which means to me (in my limited capacity for language itself) how one uses words. There are definitely words we shy away from because their connotation is always harsh, but the word “ass” is used mostly to refer to one backside. IF I had used this word to degrade another person or call someone a name, you would have a point of contention, but since I used it in the context of referring to a body part, I consider your reaction to be over the top and nitpicking.
Profanity is not just a word necessarily, in my understanding, but how it is used. The Bible calls plenty of people “fools” yet Jesus told us if we said, “You fool!” to someone we would be in danger of the judgment. To use your method of word value the Bible stands condemned for the use of the word as well. The word “tool” is now used to make someone feel small, should I stop using the word just because others have begun to misuse it?
Context is pretty much the truth of language.