Do you know the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet? You can read it in John 13:1–20. Here’s the story. It’s about supper time. Jesus is with His disciples, as usual. Today is special because it’s Passover, which is one of the three main ceremonies the Jews observed each year. In ancient days, people walked a lot. The roads and paths were dirty and dusty. Walking meant feet got dirty and dusty. So you washed your feet when entering a home. Except, you didn’t wash your own feet. Instead, the lowest-ranking servant did that for you. Not this night. The disciples are too proud to offer to wash everyone else’s feet—they wouldn’t stoop to such a menial task. So, here’s Jesus. He takes off His outer robe. He gets a towel. He fills a pan with water. And He proceeds to kneel before each of these proud disciples and humbly washes all those dirty feet. Amazingly, this includes Judas—who had already agreed to betray Jesus—which Jesus already knew because as God in the flesh, He knows everything. Jesus washing their feet shocked the disciples. That Jesus would do such a humiliating task was His point—Jesus was showing them what humility is. He wanted them to understand what it meant to serve others selflessly. So He showed them.
Fast forward a little bit. Like, an hour, maybe a little longer. Judas has left. He’s on his way to put the betrayal plan in motion. Here sit the other eleven men, with their humbly-washed-by-Jesus clean feet. And do you know what they are doing? Arguing about who, among themselves, is the greatest. What??? That’s outrageous! Didn’t Jesus not just teach them a lesson in humility? Not just teach, but demonstrate humility? And now they’re arguing about who’s the greatest? Talk about pride! Did they already forget what Jesus had done? Didn’t they get it? It’s like their brains were Teflon—what Jesus had done bounced right off of them. Brother!
And then I look at myself. Before I rush to criticize the disciples, how often do I do the same thing? I read what Jesus taught. About loving Him as my number one priority. About loving others, putting others ahead of me. About total commitment. About forgiveness. About taking the log out of my own eye before worrying about the speck in Rick’s eye. About being generous and patient. About keeping my eyes focused on the treasures of heaven, not the world. About prayer. I’m right there with the disciples—forgetting or ignoring what Jesus teaches us in the Bible.
Which brings me to my point. It’s easy to read about the disciples and think, “How could they be so blind? How could they totally miss the point?” But then, how is it that I don’t put Jesus’s words into practice in my own life? Jesus came to earth to rescue sinners. Jesus told people again and again to repent. He says the same thing in the Bible to you and to me. Repent, repent. Everyone must repent and turn to Him. Jesus came to take my sin (and yours) on Himself and to take God’s wrath for my sin (and yours) in my place. And yet, like the believing disciples, I still sin. What do I do about that? I repent. And I again ask for the Lord’s forgiveness. Thankfully, He is patient with me. And gracious to forgive me. If you need prayer or a Bible, let me know.
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