𝑨𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒕

"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." ~John 13:12 NIV

Jesus never meant for us to physically wash the feet of others; He directed us to put ourselves in the lowly place that requires humility, compassion, and self-sacrifice. John 13 tells us, after sharing a meal with His disciples, Jesus stripped down to His undergarments, tied a towel at His waist, and with a basin of water, proceeded to wash the feet of His disciples; even those of Judas Iscariot knowing full well that this was His betrayer.

Jesus already knew He was going to be leaving this world and needed to leave a powerful message behind to those who would continue His work. This living parable, before His great sacrifice, was to symbolize the humility, tolerance, and forgiveness that the disciples would need in order to carry on after He was gone.

We see how Jesus set aside his own serious impending personal situation to demonstrate His love for His disciples. His humility of filling the role of servant to His students was to set an example for them to follow in the future that would not include Him. Even as Peter protested, Jesus makes it clear, even to us today, that unless we accept His cleansing through the cross, we cannot have any part of Him.

Upon arriving at the meal, there was an argument among some about who was greater. Luke records that Jesus rebuked them saying, "But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?" (Luke 22:26 NIV) By disrobing, tying a towel around Himself, drawing a basin of water, and then tenderly washing a drying the feet of His beloved disciples, Jesus clearly signified that strength lies in humility and sacrificial love.

Charles Spurgeon said, “If there is a position in the church where the worker will have to toil hard and get no thanks for it, take it, and be pleased with it. If you can perform a service, which few will ever seek to do themselves, or appreciate when performed by others, yet occupy it with holy delight. Covet humble work, and when you get it be content to continue in it. There is no great rush after the lowest places, you will rob no one by seeking them.”  By washing His disciples' feet, Jesus clearly demonstrated that as His followers, we are obligated to embody humility, sacrificial love, and acting with a servant's heart above all else.

"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”  ~1 Peter 5:5 NIV

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𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒀𝒐𝒖 & 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝑩𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔