“[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 him, ‘If I do not wash you, you
have no part with Me.’”
(John 13:4-8, NKJV).
(John 13:4-8, NKJV).
I don’t understand how God
can be so kind to us, but He is. He knells before us, takes our feet in His hands,
and washes them. Please understand that
in washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus is washing ours. You and I are in this
story. We are at the table. That’s us being cleansed, not from our dirt,
but from our sins…
Don’t miss the meaning
here. To place our feet in the basin of Jesus is to place the filthiest parts
of our lives into His hands. In the ancient East, people’s feet were caked with
mud and dirt. The servant of the feast saw to it that the feet were cleaned.
Jesus is assuming the role of the servant. He will wash the grimiest part of
your life. If you let Him. The water of the Servant comes only when we confess
that we are dirty. Only when we confess that we are caked with filth, that we
have walked forbidden trails and followed the wrong paths.
We tend to be proud like
Peter and resist. “I’m not that dirty,
Jesus. Just sprinkle a few drops on me and I’ll be fine.” What a lie! “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves,
and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We will never be cleansed
until we confess we are dirty. We will never be pure until we admit we are
filthy. And we will never be able to
wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have
hurt, to wash ours.
You see, that is the
secret of forgiveness. You will never forgive anyone more than God has already
forgiven you. Only by letting Him wash your feet can you have strength to wash
those of another.
[From A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado. Scripture quote above, mine.]
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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