August 20, 2023

Becoming The Least

“So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.’” John 13:12-15 (NASB)

            “In 1878 when William Booth’s Salvation Army had just been so named, men from all over the world began to enlist. One man, who had once dreamed of himself as a bishop, crossed the Atlantic from America to England to enlist. He was a Methodist minister, Samuel Logan Brengle. And he now turned from a fine pastorate to join Booth’s Salvation Army. Brengle later became the Army’s first American-born commissioner. But at first Booth accepted his services reluctantly and grudgingly. Booth said to Brengle, ‘You’ve been your own boss too long.’ And in order to instill humility into Brengle, he set him to work cleaning the boots of the other trainees. And Brengle said to himself, ‘Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?’ And then as in a vision he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, unlettered fishermen. ‘Lord,’ he whispered, ‘You washed their feet: I will black their boots.’”[1]

            “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you?” “Jesus then asked them, ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ (v. 12). I believe they knew! In Luke’s account of the last meal we read (22:24): ‘Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be the greatest.’ When the cross was only a few hours away, the disciples were still arguing about matters of pride. Usually when there was no servant present to wash the guests’ feet, the first one or two to arrive would perform the ceremony for the rest of the guests. But here the first arrivals were not in the mood. Perhaps the ‘who’s the greatest?’ controversy had actually begun as they journeyed there. They were willing to fight for the throne, but no one wanted the towel! Jesus’ act was a powerful lesson in servanthood, and they were missing the point!”[2] This was not meant to be a riddle for the disciples to guess, Jesus stated it in plainness. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” If Jesus was willing to bend His knee to serve these men, they should be willing to do this for Him and anyone else. “No servant is greater than his master” (John 13:16). We are not greater than the Master.

            Benard of Clairvaux tried to implement this practice as an sacrament into the Catholic Church. He failed. “Catholic argumentation for the tradition of this rite does not sufficiently discriminate between the ancient custom of hospitality (1 Tim. 5:10).” On Maundy-Thursday Catholic monarchs and the pope symbolically practice it upon twelve poor old men… Luther counsels the substitution of a bath for the poor men when they really stand in need of one. Yet we cannot avoid recalling the beautiful saying of Claudius… ‘they are little flags, floating above the surface of the waters and showing where a richly freighted ship hath sunk.’”[3] Jesus desired a reciprocal foot-washing for all, not a one-sided act by inferiors to superiors. We should keep that in mind the next time we feel above others. Jesus did for a traitor…

[1] Hughes, R. K. (1999). John: that you may believe (p. 316). Crossway Books.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Lange, J. P., & Schaff, P. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: John (p. 410). Logos Bible Software.