Passion for Christ

Have you ever thought, really thought, about Jesus washing His disciples’ stinky feet? Have you seriously applied His words in John 13:14 to yourself?

If I then, the LORD and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 

LORD and TEACHER – meditate on Jesus putting those two titles for Himself in one command. The Lord is on His knees washing dirty feet. Messy. Time-consuming. Dirty. Unpleasant. Didn’t He have better things to do?  Yet, His act demonstrated more than the simple act of washing feet. Jesus was teaching us the importance of humility toward one another. He was teaching us about servanthood and yes, even forgiveness. Our Lord and TEACHER physically illustrated what He would do spiritually through His substitutionary death on the cross. It would be messy (a bloody mess).  He would wash our filth and sins from our inner man.  As His disciples, He instructs us to go and do as He did. Take the time to humbly forgive, to humbly serve one person at a time. And hopefully, prayerfully, it will gain us an opportunity to share with the person why we are doing it, in whose name we are serving.

Jesus, Lord, and Teacher, thank You for washing us and cleansing us of our sins. Make us increasingly mindful of following Your example. 

Have you ever thought, really thought, about Jesus washing His disciples’ stinky feet? Or, about His words in John 13:14?  “If I then, the Lord and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Lord and TEACHER on His knees washing feet? Messy. Time-consuming. Dirty. Unpleasant. The act had to do with more than simply washing feet, though. It was about humility, servanthood, forgiveness. Our Lord and TEACHER physically illustrated what He would do spiritually through His substitutionary death on the cross for us. It would be messy (a bloody mess).  He would wash our filth and sins from us – no longer counting them against us.  Now He tells us, in turn, to go and do as He did. Take the time. Humbly forgive. One person at a time.

Jesus, Lord, and Teacher, thank You for washing us and cleansing us of our sins. Make us increasingly mindful of following Your example. 

LISTEN

Have you ever thought, really thought, about Jesus washing His disciples’ stinky feet? Or, about His words in John 13:14?  “If I then, the Lord and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Lord and TEACHER on His knees washing feet? Messy. Time consuming. Dirty. Unpleasant. The act had to do with more than simply washing feet, though. It was about humility, servanthood, forgiveness. Our Lord and TEACHER physically illustrated what He would spiritually do by His substitutionary death on the cross for us. It would be messy (a bloody mess).  He would wash away our filth and sins. Cleansed, we are to humbly serve others and tell them about Jesus.

Jesus, Lord and Teacher, thank You for washing us and cleansing us of our sins. Make us increasingly mindful of following Your example. 

LISTEN

Jesus’s words in John 13:14 and stinky feet and a bowl of water don’t make sense to us at first. He said, “If I then, the Lord and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Lord and TEACHER on His knees washing feet? Messy. A lot of trouble. Dirty. The moment had to do with more than simply washing feet, though. It was about humility, servanthood, forgiveness. Our Lord and TEACHER physically illustrated what He would spiritually do on the cross for us. It would be messy (a bloody mess).  He would wash away not just dirt but filthy sins. Jesus taught us we’re to do as He demonstrated: humbly serve one another.  Are we?

Jesus, Lord and Teacher, thank You for humbly washing us with Your pure blood so we’d be cleansed of our sins. Help us humbly serve one another as You did.

“If I then, the Lord and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

John 13:14