John 3:1-17
1 Now before the Feast of the
Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this
world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them
to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having
already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the
Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God
and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside
His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.
5 Then He poured water into the
basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel
with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said
to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus
answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will
understand hereafter.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You
wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with
Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him,
“Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my
head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has
bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean,
but not all of you.” 11 For
He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you
are clean.”
12 So when He had washed their feet,
and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He
said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 “You
call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I
am. 14 “If I then, the Lord and the
Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For
I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly,
truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one
who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If
you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
There are times when Jesus does the unexpected. As Jesus prepares to eat the Passover with
His disciples, He does the task of the servant.
He washes His disciple’s feet.
The act was completely unexpected and would have been considered
culturally inappropriate, but that is what the call to follow Christ
entails. We are called to do that which is
unexpected. God calls us to do what very
few would be willing to do. A life of
following Christ will surprise us. We
need to learn to expect the unexpected as we follow our Lord.
JESUS KNOWS AND LOVES PERFECTLY: Jesus knows exactly what is
going to happen to Him. He knows that
the cross is coming close and He knows that Judas has been placed under Satan’s
influence. He had come into the world
for this very purpose. However, even
though He is about to face the most excruciating day in the history of the
world, His focus is on loving His disciples.
He had loved them perfectly and He would continue to love them perfectly. There are days when it seems like we think
that we have the right to be selfish.
There are times when we have a hard day or a lot on our plates that we
consider that we have the option of not showing love to others. This is an illusion that we must never rationalize
ourselves into thinking. No matter what we
face, we are called to follow the example of Jesus and love others perfectly. That means giving of ourselves to serve
other.
JESUS SERVES AND CLEANSES PATIENTLY: Jesus takes on the role
of a servant and washes the feet of the disciples. This was a job that would have normally been
performed by a slave. Normally the host
would have provided someone to do this task.
Since this was a borrowed facility, there was nobody who would naturally
provide this service. Since they were
all guests, the task would have fallen to the least important of the
disciples. This is where the problem would
have been. None of the disciples was
ready to admit that he was the least important.
In fact, they were more prone to argue with one another about who was
the greatest. This kind of comparison and
strife has no place in the kingdom of God.
Jesus illustrates this truth by taking on the job of washing feet
Himself. Peter recognizes the
inappropriateness of this situation and tries to refuse but Jesus informs him
that it is necessary for being cleansed and taking part in the family of
God. Now Peter wants to have his entire
body washed. Jesus informs that the
washing of feet is enough and goes on with His service. God looks for the attitude of a servant in
each of us. Competition over greatness in
the kingdom of God is completely inappropriate.
JESUS CALLS AND EXEMPLIFIES PASSIONATELY: Jesus washes the disciple’s
feet as an example to them and to us.
Jesus was the leader who they referred to as Master and Lord. Still, He washed their feet and served them
in the humblest of fashion. Jesus loves
people. Those who he calls to follow Him
are expected to love people as well.
That love starts with loving one another. Jesus changed the world by loving His
disciples well and also by reaching the lost and needy. He focused on a small group, but He was actively
ministering to the multitudes. He set
the pace and then calls all who follow Him to do as He did. This is the purpose to which we are
called. The wonderful thing about this
calling is that we will be happy if we follow this call. There is great joy in obeying Christ and
following His example. This is what we were
created to do. The world tells us that
we can find joy in serving ourselves and following the passions of this world.
The truth is that there is only eternal joy in serving others and following the
example of Jesus. Don’t ever trade the
eternal joy of following Christ for the passing pleasures of this world.
APPLICATION: Be aware that God knows all about our lives and
the motives behind everything we do. God
wants us to be humble. Look for tasks
that others might not enjoy doing and serve them by doing it. Understand that the path to true and lasting
joy is always through sacrificial service as we follow the Lord’s example.
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