August 17, 2023
Serving Your Enemies
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” John 13:3-5 (NASB)
Years ago, I had an opportunity to conduct a foot washing service in my church. I selected deacons who were serving our church to serve. I remember getting the towels, water a basin, and getting ready for the service beforehand. I was excited to be able to serve those who served our church. When the service began, I explained foot washing from this passage. When I went to a deacon to wash his feet, I remember telling him, “I serve you as you serve the Lord.” I’ll never forget the look on his face that day with tears in his eyes. He said, “I should be serving you, not vice versa.” Then I thought of Peter’s response further along in this story (vs. 8). The thought of being served is sometimes hard to take, when you are used to serving others.
“... got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.” In the midst of a traitor who sat at dinner with them, Jesus got up and removed His outer garments. He didn’t run Judas off. He served him. When Jesus removed His garments, (his outer robe), it exposed His tunic. His robe would impede the ability to serve in the capacity He wanted. His tunic exposed now, was the clothing of a common servant. The towel Jesus picked up would have been a linen cloth, which He placed around (or binding around) Himself like a slave’s apron. “Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” Borchert says, “...touching feet was regarded as menial slave work and as such was primarily an assignment given to Gentile slaves and women. Students were responsible to rabbis or teachers to perform menial tasks of labor, but touching feet was clearly not expected. In a society that was very conscious of status symbols of shame and honor, such as the touching or washing of feet, was an extremely important matter.”[1] Where men gathered, slaves washed the feet of their master. Here God broke the rules and took on the role of a servant to the disciples. “Jesus’ act therefore represents an assault on the usual notions of social hierarchy, a subversion of the normal categories of honour and shame. But for readers the narrator’s opening characterization of Jesus makes it even more than this. It is not just an honoured teacher who is performing a shameful act but a divine figure with sovereignty over the cosmos who has taken on the role of a slave.”[2] This goes against all normal thinking today. Imagine today the President of the United States coming and washing your feet today. Would it be humbling? Now imagine when God Himself does it to you!
I can only imagine the apostle John’s look on his face when Jesus approached him to wash his feet. I remember my deacon’s look to this day. In Jesus’ day, the room must have been filled with tears of humility, not pride. The Master they looked to for everything, was serving them. But in the midst of them treachery was present. And Jesus even washed Judas’s feet as he betrayed Him. I am not sure all of us can say we would serve the one who is a traitor, but Jesus knew His Father’s plan was far more important than what Judas was doing.
[1] Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 79). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Lincoln, A. T. (2005). The Gospel according to Saint John (p. 367). Continuum.