A Daily Routine in Service to Christ

In John 13:1-20 (paraphrased) - Jesus at the feast of Passover, knows that His time is drawing near to His death. Jesus grabs a towel and girds Himself, and then a bason and fills it with water and informs His Disciples that He is going to wash their feet. Peter says, “Jesus, I am not worthy of you washing my feet, and could you also wash my whit (all of me - face and hands?” Jesus replies " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” Jesus knew that one (Judas) of His Disciples would betray Him and said to Peter that, “One of you is not clean.” Jesus washed each of their feet and took the towel He was girded with and used it to dry their feet. He then sat back down at the table, and said, “Know ye what I have done to you. Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for I am. Ye therefore, if your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Jesus the savior is so full of love that He never points a finger or calls out His betrayer, Judas Iscariot, He is so loving, caring, and forgiving, that He includes Judas in the foot washing He gives to His Disciples. This act of humiliation demonstrated by Jesus to His followers is a perfect example of how we should cover one another. Let me pose this question. Would you have washed Judas Iscariot’s feet knowing He was going to betray you? Jesus washed Judas’s feet to demonstrate unconditional love, humility, and the servant-leadership model, even toward His betrayer. By serving the one who would trigger His death, Jesus fulfilled His own command to love your enemies. Jesus offered a final act of grace and modeled that true service is not conditional on loyalty. Jesus in His omnipotence indicated that while He served Judas, He knew Judas was not truly “clean” (spiritually regenerated) in the same way the other disciples were. The other disciples were clean and pure in heart and true servants unto God, while Judas was full of deceit and sin, Jesus’ act to include Judas in the ceremony of foot washing shows that God’s grace is offered to all, but the decision to accept Him as your Lord and Savior is an individual choice. Jesus being God in flesh, foreknew what He was going to have to endure mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually regarding His death. Jesus also knew that the greatest pain He would feel would be His brief separation from God. Right before His death, Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” At this moment Jesus’ experienced His greatest fear and highest level of spiritual anguish of being separated from God. Jesus had what is called a hypostatic union (existence) with God and Earth. Hypostatic means he lived in a fleshly body and felt as humans do (all of our physical attributes) and at the same time was fully divine in nature (Ramelli, 2012). Jesus’ having both a human and divine nature united in one person could experience human suffering while remaining fully divine. This ability is called communicato idiomatum (communication of properties = human and divine nature in one person), which means He could experience every level of pain, fear, anxiety, depression, abandonment, denial, and betrayal and at the same time endure these unlawful acts and crimes committed against Him, ask God to forgive us, die, and complete the ultimate act of redemption (Ramelli, 2012).

My foot washing experiences:

I have participated in a foot washing ceremony twice in my life and I must say it is one of the most incredible things I have participated in and experienced. My heart, soul, and spirit was blessed by it. It was so purifying and exhilarating to both receive and perform the washing of my brothers’ feet. When my children were little, they loved to take Bubble baths in our jacuzzi tub. I always washed their feet in conjunction with their whole bodies when I bathed them. One day, I decided to sit them on the edge of the tub and wash their feet as Jesus washed His Disciples feet. I shared with them that Jesus did this for His disciples because He loved them and wanted them to learn the significance of loving one another without pride and conditions, or boundaries. I explained to them that when I wash their feet, I showed them that I love them beyond anything they could do to hurt me or themselves. I wanted them to know that they were covered by my protection and prayers over their lives. My daughter was 6 and my son was 2 years old. Both, I’m sure, didn’t understand the spiritual reasoning and significance of me washing their feet, but they both loved it and they smiled and chuckled through the whole process. In their innocence, I believe they appreciated me washing their feet and praying over them as I did it. The most beautiful thing about this whole event was that they told me to sit on the edge of the tub and both washed one of my feet each. As they washed one foot each, both prayed for me as I did for them. It brings tears to my eyes remembering this incredible day with them. If you have not done a foot washing ceremony in your life, do one. Perform this ceremony with your family. Be an example like Jesus and cover the disciples in your household with agape, philia, and Ahava love.