Wash One Another's Feet

I find it interesting that John is the only gospel writer to record Jesus washing the disciples' feet. The underlying message seems significant enough that at least one other author would have recorded it...but then again John's perspective is also slightly different than the rest. Maybe it's only written once to convey the simplicity of the act? Or perhaps it's so that we don't just write it off as another Jesus story times 4. Regardless, it's beautiful, and God has really been speaking to me through it this weekend.

The simple fact that the living God, the Creator of the universe, and the Savior of all mankind knelt before his disciples to perform the duty of a servant is mind-blowing. Not only was this servants' work, it was a job more or less left to the lowest man on the totem pole (I mean really, feet are gross). But Jesus willingly washed 12 pairs of feet simply to set an example for us.

And yes, I said 12 pairs of feet. Judas Iscariot got his feet washed, too. Jesus was well aware that in a number of hours Judas would betray him. And yet, he still humbled himself to love and to serve him. Amazing.

The part that has really resonated with me the past few days is stated simply in John 13:14:

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet."

If Jesus could willingly and lovingly wash the feet of his betrayer, shouldn't we be able to humbly serve the people around us? Sure, it's easy (generally speaking) to serve our friends and loved ones, but we are called to something slightly more challenging and also more fruitful. To love and to serve those who, in our eyes, aren't even the least bit deserving. To humble ourselves to be like Jesus. To love through his eyes. To serve as he served.

I still can't even wrap my mind around it. Jesus, God, Savior....washing feet. Not only that, but asking the same of us. That we humble ourselves to serve one another. In my mind, a servant's heart is one of the most obvious and beautiful signs of true, pure love. The desire to serve overflows out of unconditional love for another. I see it all the time in some of my close friends' relationships and it's beautiful. It's how men and women were created to love each other. But it's more than that. It's how we were created to love God. And in humbling ourselves to serve our Lord and Savior, serving others should immediately follow.

Just something to think about :)