It’s one thing to wash someone’s feet if you like them, if they’re nice to you, if you know you stand to gain something from it. Like if it was Donald Trump’s or Oprah Winfrey’s feet. (We don’t wash feet anymore in our society, but we do other things in the hope that the other person will reciprocate.) It’s practically unheard of to do something nice for someone you know is going to repay you in the cruelest manner imaginable. How did Jesus, knowing what Judas was determined to do, perform such an act of selfless love?
Just think about how odd the scene is here. Jesus — God in the flesh, Saviour of the world, the One for whom all things were created — kneeling on the floor, performing a task that was considered beneath all but the lowliest of servants. This was a task so menial that nobody in this group would think of performing it, it might forever stigmatise the foot-washer, branding him in people’s minds, creating an image of him with a towel around his waist like a slave.
It’s quite a risk He’s taking here. Their last mental picture of Him should be something more, well, powerful. Shouldn’t it? (Can you imagine the Prime Minister giving all the Members of Parliament a pedicure on his way out of office?)
How did Jesus do it?
The answer is embedded in the text. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God” (Jn 13.3).
First, Jesus knew that whatever power He had came from His heavenly Father. He didn’t have to worry about losing status in the eyes of His friends. He didn’t have to look the part of a leader. God was in control, and because of that, Jesus could risk showing them His love.
Second, Jesus knew where He had come from. He was confident that He had come from God, and that confidence enabled Him to know that what He was doing on earth was part of an unstoppable plan. God gives us the roles we play and takes them away at His discretion. We don’t need to protect our power base. God will take care of that for us.
Finally, Jesus knew where He was going. He knew that His life wouldn’t end in death, He was returning to His home with the Father, where God would place all things under His feet and would appoint Him head over everything (Eph 1.22). Jesus knew that as long as He continued to follow the leading of His Father in heaven, He would accomplish the purposes for which He was sent. No one could take away His destiny, and that made Him a very dangerous man!
He was so dangerous that He could love without reservation, without the need for reciprocation.
Knowing our origin and our destiny, knowing our true identity, wipes out the insecurity that so often keeps us from following Jesus into positions of service and enables us to live life with confidence and freedom.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, because You knew who You were, why You had come and where You were going, You were secure enough to serve even the lowliest of men. You knew that the Father had given all things into Your hands, and that You had come forth from God and were going back to God. You knew Your dignity and power, because the Father gave all things to You. You knew Your significance and identity, because You came forth from the Father. And You knew your security and destiny, because You were going back to the Father. In like manner, teach me to become secure enough to serve. For in You, I have received every spiritual blessing; in You, I am now a child of God; and in You, nothing can separate me from the love of God whom I will see face to face. I pray that this understanding will become increasingly real in my life.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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