John 13:4–16 (ESV)
He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
How much different would the world truly be, if we believed that last line? A servant is not greater than his master. It’s one thing to say it, another to believe it, and even more to live it out in practice. Our culture seems to be built around the idea that power is something to be grasped whenever possible, and clung to, like a life preserver in the waters of a stormy sea.
Even Jesus’ friends were after it – arguing about which one would get to sit at His right hand. While that conversation had died down quickly, I am sure the struggle for power still remained. And let’s be honest, if ANYONE had the right to exert and enforce power in this world, wouldn’t it have been Jesus? More than just the smartest in the room, He was the reason for the room in the first place. And yet, just like He had when He first came to earth, there He was laying aside what was rightly His, to become and demonstrate what should be ours.
It figures that Peter would be the one to try and refuse. I’m not sure if he misunderstood or was trying to prove a point (that he shouldn’t be served), but in either case, he played the part of Peter perfectly. Open mouth, insert (dirty) foot. With one quick sentence Jesus shifts his entire perspective, and still Peter just can’t help himself.
“Not just my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
He couldn’t help himself, which is why He needed Jesus to wash his feet in the first place.
You and I are in the same boat. No matter how desperately we try, we cannot help ourselves. It’s different sins for all of us, each one personalized and nuanced – but the result in the end is the same. We’re dirty. And just like Peter seem pridefully resistant to the help we so desperately need.
How much different would the world truly be? If we stopped trying to look like we had it all together. If we weren’t all fighting to be the top dog. If we admitted our fallenness and reached out for help. If we let Jesus daily cleanse the parts of us that we can’t clean ourself.
The answer is simple, yet profound. A lot different. And a lot better. That’s how it’d look. Knowing that, let us pray this prayer;
‘Dear Jesus, please wash us clean.’
