SERVE: Others First In a Me-First World

Tales of a Foot Washer

The disciples had traveled far. Layers of dust and grime coated their bodies and feet. Leather sandals protected them from cuts and sores but did little to barricade against sweat and soil. Perhaps even worse than the dirty appearance was the lingering stench, indicating a long journey. The twelve men and their leader, all suffering from tired feet and physical exhaustion, sat down to dinner. As the meal was set before them, Jesus stood up and wrapped a towel around His waist. The disciples looked at Him curiously as He picked up a basin and began filling it midway with water. He then acted in the most unexpected of ways as He lowered Himself to His knees. He looked at the first person at the table, Matthew, with loving, penetrating eyes and set the basin before him. He then began to wash Matthew's feet. The room was silent. The moment was sacred.

He moved to the next person seated at the table, Luke. Jesus' soft eyes connected with His disciple. Jesus studied the feet before Him as he carefully scrubbed all residue from the worn feet. The calloused feet were washed by the hands of a carpenter, the hands of a King.

Next He came to Peter. As Jesus knelt before him, the Savior lowering Himself to the stance of a servant, Peter felt uneasy. His mind was churning with the paradox demonstrated before him. Biting his tongue no longer, Peter broke the sacred silence again with a rebuttal, “No, you shall never wash my feet.” Peter was appalled that the Messiah would stoop to the role of servant. But Jesus did not reconsider. Instead, He replied, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Jesus was not merely offering to clean feet. Jesus was offering an invitation of oneness. He was inviting each person in that room into relationship with Him, as He submitted to them through a great act of love and service. Ultimately, through Jesus' answer, He was assuring Peter and the other disciples that the kingship He desired was not one of hierarchy but rather one of relationship. One of unity. He wanted Peter to latch onto the vision that He was demonstrating by means of a washbasin and a rag.

Later in the evening, when Jesus rose to take His place at the table once the feet of each of His followers had been thoroughly washed, He gave further explanation. Looking at each face around the table, He set the question before them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? … 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”

Tag

What a vibrant story about a remarkable vision! When I envision a king, my mind bids a throne, a crown, elaborate dress, and decorum. But Jesus displays a man bending down with a washbasin in the garb of a slave. The magnitude of His action is striking. A king who came to serve. It is a great display of His confidence and His love for us.

Do you know what I hear Jesus saying to the disciples in this scene’s last words? “Tag. You’re it.” They sit down to dinner, Jesus performs an outlandish act of love, and then He says, “Tag. It’s your turn now.” Jesus knew that He was not going to be around much longer with skin on, so He made sure that they understood His vision and then said, “You also should …” Serving was the legacy that Jesus chose to leave with His disciples.

There is a chapter in Luke that is wholly devoted to the idea of service. It begins with Jesus recruiting a large number of volunteers to spread into the surrounding communities to serve. The disciple who documented the stories in this gospel was the apostle Luke, who was a doctor (Col. 4:14). Luke was an intellectual who had an extensive vocabulary, especially with medical and nautical terms, and therefore, his gospel is written with precision and an acute attention to detail. When Luke describes Jesus’ recruitment of the volunteers, he details the story with the number of seventy-two volunteers. In the first century, the religious leaders believed there to be seventy languages of the world (Genesis 10), so when Jesus sends out seventy, it is indicating that His message is for all languages and all people. Jesus says to the seventy workers, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” It is similar to what Jesus said to His disciples after washing their feet. On multiple occasions, He is laying out the framework for service and then saying, “There is no hierarchy here. Everyone is going to serve, including me. So tag. You’re it.” Jesus wants us to capture His vision and live accordingly.

Remember when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray and He led them in the Lord’s Prayer? It starts out, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is teaching that the spiritual realm and the earthly realm are connected. He is the Son of God, but He still gave His life as a ransom. We are His beloved children, who are to also give our life as a ransom. Jesus does not ask us to do anything that He has not already accomplished Himself. And He said, “Tag. You’re it … On earth, as it is in heaven.” It’s a chain reaction. A domino effect. When you consider it, Jesus is giving us a huge level of responsibility. He is nominating each of us to be models of Himself. It’s a beautiful cacophony of the melding of heaven and earth with one unified message about love and service.