Tonight at our church, we will honor the command of Jesus to wash one another's feet.
Jesus said, "Now that I your 'Lord' and 'Teacher,' have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." Jn 13:14-15 Jesus goes on to say that we will be "blessed" if we do these things.
True meaning is sometimes lost in ceremony and ritual. I believe this to be true of the Jesus' command to wash one another's feet. In order to comprehend the true meaning of the act of washing one another's feet, we must realize that as with most cases in the scriptures a physical act had a spiritual meaning.
In the physical sense in that day those who traveled in the dirty and dusty conditions of the world necessitated the need to have their feet washed. This job was reserved for the lowliest of servants.
So how do we apply the "Command of Jesus" to wash one another's feet in our lives today?
In our daily lives journey as we journey on this earth we become soiled spiritually from the filth of the world. We pick up worldly attitudes and ways that hinder our spiritual walk with our Lord.
That night before He was to be crucified Jesus had to settle an argument between the disciples as to who was to be the greatest. They walked with Jesus every day and yet the ways of the world crept in. Pride and exaltation of self was a worldly attitude that Jesus knew would divide and separate His "Body of Believers". It was important that they be unified, that they become as one because they would be His representation on this earth.
Jesus prayed in John 17:20, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be as one as we are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. "
In order to lift up Jesus we must be unified. We must become "one body" "the Body of Christ", no individual aspirations, but rather submitting to one another in love. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all peoples to Myself." Jn 12:32
Beth Moore, in her Bible Study, "A Woman's Heart", gives several reasons why we like the disciples have difficulty following Jesus' Command to wash one another's feet. (I think she means "truly washing" another's feet, not just the "act of foot washing" but able wash another's feet in our hearts by allowing our selves to become vulnerable).
One reason is because we are forced to confront our egos and we lack the assurance of who we are. Jesus knew His position with the Father. He had nothing to prove; therefore He was not humiliated by humility. We are coheirs with Christ, if you know who you are in Christ, your personal ego is not an issue. Sadly most Christians do not have the confidence in Christ to humble themselves.
She also stated the need to lay aside the outer garments ( take off our mask). It's difficult to hide when you are washing another's feet. True servants are only those who are willing to be vulnerable.
All too often our pitchers are empty. We might wash a few feet, if we had something in our pitchers. When we fail to be filled we have nothing to pour out. We would really rather people just stay behind their sparkling facades that way we could minister to them easier. Facing the worn out calloused areas of others' lives might remind us of our own.
We have to get down on our knees to do it. As John the Baptist said of Christ, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Jn 3:30
Another reason Beth stated, that we cannot bring ourselves to wash another's feet in the (spiritulal sense), is that we refuse to let Christ wash our own. Notice that not until He washed their feet were they enabled to go and wash one another. She said we need to just curl up in the arms of Christ tell Him we need Him. Until we learn to let Him serve us at the point of our need, we will never truly be able to serve others.
Lord as many of us honor your command to wash one another's feet this Easter season, help us not to get caught up in just the ceremony, but to examine our hearts, put aside our personal ego and thoughts of self so that we may minister to one another in Your love. We know that then we will become one, having one goal, and that is that You may be glorified and lifted up for the world to see. Help us to realize that we are "the Church, Your Body" we are the way the world sees You!!!
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