John 13:4-17 [Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Then He came to Simon Peter.
And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, 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 should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
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Today as I was thinking about service, this passage came to mind. I have heard this passage preached on many times, most often in the context of humble service, even as Jesus took on the lowliest of servant task and knelt to wash the filth of the day that had gathered on His disciples feet. But today as I looked at this passage, I found myself instead looking at Peter.
Peter would have run to the ends of the earth for Jesus; he did things like jump over the side of a boat and walk on water to get to Him, follow Him into enemy territory after He was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane just to keep Him in his sight, and even die on a cross, upside-down, for his faith because he wanted to be with Him for eternity. There is no doubt that Peter loved Jesus. Nor is there any doubt that Peter counted Jesus as his master and Lord; he left all things to follow Him (Mark 10:28), he was the first of the disciples to acknowledge that He was the Christ (Mark 8:29), and he counted it a joy to endure all things for His sake (Acts 5:41). There is no doubt that Peter counted Jesus as his Savior and His God.
Maybe that is why there was such horror in Peter’s response to Christ’s action of service? Peter must have been sitting there, watching Jesus get closer and closer to him, realizing that HE should have been washing the feet of JESUS, not the other way around, wishing his feet weren’t so desperately in need of a good scrubbing...that by the time Jesus knelt before him, he burst out with something along the lines, “What do you think you’re doing?! There is no way that I’m going to be the one who muddies Your hands, You cannot touch my filth.”
But Jesus didn’t praise Peter for his “humble” response. Instead, He stated quite bluntly, “If you won’t receive My service, you can’t receive Me.”
We can’t forget this passage is about the example of humility through the display of Christ and His disciples. Jesus served and the disciples received, and they were instructed to do so to one another. If we did things Peter’s way, there would be neither the opportunity to be a humble servant, nor the opportunity to receive service with humility. Christ was teaching both through His example.
Do you recognize Peter? Why is it that so many of us, though willing to stretch ourselves to our greatest limits and inconveniences to bless another, find it so difficult to allow another to serve us?
Several years before I was married, the Lord really shook up my independent spirit. I had taken on the mentality that I could take care of myself from a young age, and had proven my competency (at least in the most basic sense) in doing so. I got a job when I was 15, I learned how to fix my own car, I worked my way through college, I got my own place and paid my own bills, etc. And then one day, the Lord pressed on me my need for move out of my own place and into a house with roommates...and in the years that followed, I learned many things, including how to be served. Setting aside my independence--whether or not I could “wash my own feet” wasn’t the point--to allow another to experience the joy of service, to not steal away another’s opportunity to exercise and grow in their personal gifting, to get a glimpse of the Body of Christ building itself up in love. The Spirit showed me the lies that made me jump back in horror as Peter did at the hands that reached out to me, and to stand in the Truth of Christ living in those around me as they ministered to my needs. I learned how to say, “Yes and thank you.” without fear of being a burden, and grew to deeply appreciate the times I myself got to hear, “Yes and thank you,” from the lips of another.
I truly believe that until you learn how to receive, you cannot serve as Christ exemplified. Jesus’ first step in teaching His disciples about serving was to have them receive His act of service, and from there, He said to serve one another with humility.
I would like to challenge and encourage you, brothers and sisters, to consider your thinking when someone offers to serve you...are you bombarded by worry and anxiety that you are an inconvenience or burden? That is from the enemy, Jesus gives you the freedom to receive service. Do you recoil at the thought because you are too proud to allow another to see your vulnerabilities? This is from the enemy, Jesus gives you the freedom to bare your filthy feet. What are the thoughts that enter in when looking down into the eyes of someone with a basin of water? Should you not feel joy that another would seek to put you before themselves? Should you not feel gratitude that Jesus uses His people to be His hands and feet, and He wishes to minister to you? Should your spirit not be uplifted and strengthened that another would seek to help you shoulder your burden?
If we want to be a part of Christ’s Body, we must learn to not only humbly serve others, but receive with humility the service of another.
-----
Today as I was thinking about service, this passage came to mind. I have heard this passage preached on many times, most often in the context of humble service, even as Jesus took on the lowliest of servant task and knelt to wash the filth of the day that had gathered on His disciples feet. But today as I looked at this passage, I found myself instead looking at Peter.
Peter would have run to the ends of the earth for Jesus; he did things like jump over the side of a boat and walk on water to get to Him, follow Him into enemy territory after He was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane just to keep Him in his sight, and even die on a cross, upside-down, for his faith because he wanted to be with Him for eternity. There is no doubt that Peter loved Jesus. Nor is there any doubt that Peter counted Jesus as his master and Lord; he left all things to follow Him (Mark 10:28), he was the first of the disciples to acknowledge that He was the Christ (Mark 8:29), and he counted it a joy to endure all things for His sake (Acts 5:41). There is no doubt that Peter counted Jesus as his Savior and His God.
Maybe that is why there was such horror in Peter’s response to Christ’s action of service? Peter must have been sitting there, watching Jesus get closer and closer to him, realizing that HE should have been washing the feet of JESUS, not the other way around, wishing his feet weren’t so desperately in need of a good scrubbing...that by the time Jesus knelt before him, he burst out with something along the lines, “What do you think you’re doing?! There is no way that I’m going to be the one who muddies Your hands, You cannot touch my filth.”
But Jesus didn’t praise Peter for his “humble” response. Instead, He stated quite bluntly, “If you won’t receive My service, you can’t receive Me.”
We can’t forget this passage is about the example of humility through the display of Christ and His disciples. Jesus served and the disciples received, and they were instructed to do so to one another. If we did things Peter’s way, there would be neither the opportunity to be a humble servant, nor the opportunity to receive service with humility. Christ was teaching both through His example.
Do you recognize Peter? Why is it that so many of us, though willing to stretch ourselves to our greatest limits and inconveniences to bless another, find it so difficult to allow another to serve us?
Several years before I was married, the Lord really shook up my independent spirit. I had taken on the mentality that I could take care of myself from a young age, and had proven my competency (at least in the most basic sense) in doing so. I got a job when I was 15, I learned how to fix my own car, I worked my way through college, I got my own place and paid my own bills, etc. And then one day, the Lord pressed on me my need for move out of my own place and into a house with roommates...and in the years that followed, I learned many things, including how to be served. Setting aside my independence--whether or not I could “wash my own feet” wasn’t the point--to allow another to experience the joy of service, to not steal away another’s opportunity to exercise and grow in their personal gifting, to get a glimpse of the Body of Christ building itself up in love. The Spirit showed me the lies that made me jump back in horror as Peter did at the hands that reached out to me, and to stand in the Truth of Christ living in those around me as they ministered to my needs. I learned how to say, “Yes and thank you.” without fear of being a burden, and grew to deeply appreciate the times I myself got to hear, “Yes and thank you,” from the lips of another.
I truly believe that until you learn how to receive, you cannot serve as Christ exemplified. Jesus’ first step in teaching His disciples about serving was to have them receive His act of service, and from there, He said to serve one another with humility.
I would like to challenge and encourage you, brothers and sisters, to consider your thinking when someone offers to serve you...are you bombarded by worry and anxiety that you are an inconvenience or burden? That is from the enemy, Jesus gives you the freedom to receive service. Do you recoil at the thought because you are too proud to allow another to see your vulnerabilities? This is from the enemy, Jesus gives you the freedom to bare your filthy feet. What are the thoughts that enter in when looking down into the eyes of someone with a basin of water? Should you not feel joy that another would seek to put you before themselves? Should you not feel gratitude that Jesus uses His people to be His hands and feet, and He wishes to minister to you? Should your spirit not be uplifted and strengthened that another would seek to help you shoulder your burden?
If we want to be a part of Christ’s Body, we must learn to not only humbly serve others, but receive with humility the service of another.
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