We see from this account in John, the "full extent of His love." (13:1)
During the evening meal with His disciples, which I'm sure was considered a sacred time, Jesus did the one of two unexpected things, the first: stand up (2-4)
Let's think about that again.
The Creator of the world, God in flesh, stood up for a few ordinary men. Even more amazing, the fact that God became FLESH for US. (John 1:14) God became a human being, leaving Glory to walk in the sufferings and pains of this fallen world. The King became a servant. (Phil 2:6-8)
How many of us will go out of our way to help another? Think of how we can be during dinner (or other important times in our life), how selfish we can be with our time. Whens the last time you stood up during a meal and decided to serve another person, or answer the phone for a friend or family member? I found that this truth opened my eyes to the humility in the humanity of Jesus.
He who was fully God and fully Man, came into the world, FOR the sake of the world.
Humanity had nothing to offer Him by it's own accord. We do nothing but sin and mock Him. We do nothing but doubt His promises and spat in His face. The majority of the world stands before Him today trying to bribe Him with there good, "religious works" but all they are to Him are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
Humanity, on it's own, is sinful and hostile toward Him and hate Him. (Romans 8:7, Matthew 10:22)
Now, for all the "amens" out there, remember this is how YOU are apart from God's Grace.
But, while Jesus showed us so much, what He did next is not only Good News, but the shows the humility of His Humanity more then any other place in Scripture.
Verse 5 shows us what we He did next:
"After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him"Now, some may find this action odd, and even the disciples seemed to be in shock.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them (13:12)
What was so important about giving the disciples a shower?
Well, I think the answer is obvious, to make them clean.
This is the same answer to many of the questions posed about Christianity (Why did Jesus come? How do we know God loves mankind? God is a "malevolent dictator" etc..)
Jesus makes us clean before a Holy God.
Not by washing our feet, but by washing away our sins.
He went to the Cross 2,000 years ago to suffer, bleed and die the death we deserved. He was perfect. He was God. We deserved to be left alone, dirty, to die in our sins and spend eternity in Hell, to suffer and perish forever...
But God showed us the full extent of His love.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." ~John 3:16
All the supposed "objections" to God's goodness, kindness, and mercy fade when we look at the Cross. Jesus was beat, "beyond recognition of a man", He was hung on a Cross by nails and left there, alone. Even His followers left Him there to die alone (all as prophets would prophecy hundreds of years before Jesus was born, [Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 etc...])
Jesus was the ultimate picture of humility to all men. Coming from Glory, to be despised and rejected. From perfection to enter imperfection. From blamelessness to becoming our transgressions and taking the wrath of God on Himself.
"He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the rightousness of God" - 2 Cor. 5:21
But, Jesus didn't stay dead. John 13 says that after He did His work of washing there feet, He RETURNED to His place (verse 12). He left His tomb three days later to return to us and eventually to His Father, leaving behind 500 witnesses to testify. (Acts 1:8, 1 Cor. 15:3-8)
Jesus defeated sin, defeated death and offers "cleaning of our feet." He can can forgive your ever sin and grant you eternal life. It is a gift the Bible says. (Romans 6:23)
You can receive this gift, this grace from God, but what makes the whole thing even more humbling is that even THAT is gift from God. (Ephesians 2:1-8)
He will grant you new life in Him (2 Cor. 5:17, John 3:3) and change your heart.
Some may ask, how do I receive this gift?
Repent (turn from your sins) and put your Trust in Christ for your salvation. (Acts 17:31, John 3:16, Hebrews 11:6)
Some may say that the "humble" thing to do at this point would be to take your punishment from God. Or, maybe you are like many who think that God could never forgive you. Jesus addresses this in this passage as well. God's Word says:
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." 9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10 Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
The Gospel is God declaring, "this is how far I will go for you. This is how much I love you. Take your eyes off yourself and look to me."
We see this even as Jesus was washing the feet of Judas, who would hand Him over to eventually be crucified. Nothing you have done puts you out of the reach of God's Grace. If you are unsaved and reading this, repent and Trust in Christ today.
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13)
Call on Him and He is faithful to forgive you. If you want to talk more about this, shoot me a message, I'd love to answer questions or comments etc..
These Truths pictured through Jesus washing His disciples, though they may sound basic, are key to understanding humility. This is where it plays in for us as Christians, how far are we willing to go to love as Christ loved. Remember 1 John 4:19 "we love because He first loved us."
How do we stay humble, and love like Christ did?
We need to realize not only who was as Children of God, but who are without Christ. God reached down to US, Christ loved US, Christ suffered and died for US. This is why I believe when Christ talks about humility, He points us to Himself. The Gospel is the ultimate example of both love and humility. "Sinless God, meeting sinful man, in the great exchange and yet offering redemption."
Then we need to get out and be a servant the way Christ was, by embracing out Cross, and following Him. (Matthew 20:28, Matthew 10:37-39). We need to seek and save the lost, Christian, see the great spiritual need around us. If really believe what we are teaching, why are we wasting anytime. Follow Christ. Make disciples. IF you aren't making disciples, you are not following Christ, it is that simple. (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8 Matthew 4:19)
Pray and trust God to grant you the strength and humility this will take.
Make God great today, and make ourselves less. (John 3:30)
I leave you with the words of A.W. Tozer, from His book "The Pursuit of God" talking about meekness;
"The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In, himself... nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto. He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring. He rests perfectly content to allow God to place His own values. He will be patient to wait for the day when everything will get its own price tag and real worth will come into its own. Then the righteous shall shine forth in the Kingdom of their Father. He is willing to wait for that day."
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