I lived in a culture where feet were disgusting. Walking through the streets of Bangkok every day, navigating the BTS and outdoor markets, you step in some interesting things. Shoes were banned inside most apartments, classrooms and play areas for good reason.
Still, the Thai disdain for feet goes deeper than physical yuckiness — there’s a social, spiritual, and cultural stigma attached to feet and shoes. You don’t gesture with your feet, sit on your feet or touch your feet in public. It’s the ultimate symbol of “unclean.”
I imagine people in ancient Middle Eastern culture viewed their own sandaled feet with the same disdain.
Who would wash feet except the lowest class of servant?
The one who formed the earth, tied the towel. The one who commanded the sea, poured the water. The one whose own feet would soon wear nails, stooped to wash the feet of those closest to him.
Here are 5 truths that emerge from twelve pair of Christ-washed feet.
- Jesus knew who he was. “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper” (John 13:3).
He could stoop so low to wash feet because he knew who he was. He was the Son of God with all things given into his hands. Before we can serve with extravagant self-denial, we must know who we are. In Christ, we are daughters of the king of kings. We can serve because we know whose we are and where we’re going.
. - He laid it all aside. “He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist” (John 13:4).
He traded his outer garments for a towel and a wash bin. From the moment the Holy Spirit conceived him, he traded glory for flesh. Splendor for suffering. A heavenly host for twelve scraggly followers. A throne for a cross. Philippians 2:6 says, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” What do you need to lay aside to wrap yourself in a towel and serve? COVID has stripped away titles, positions, perks and prestige. Maybe a “holy laying aside” is happening in your life. Do not despise the towel he’s asked you to wear.
. - He must wash us first. “Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” (John 13:7).
I completely love Peter’s response because I think it’s exactly how I would have acted. I hate asking for help or thinking I’ve inconvenienced someone else. This little interaction here is important because it teaches us that we do NOT come to Jesus serving. We only come receiving. We bring him nothing but filthy feet. We are only made clean by faith in his work on the cross. Unless he washes us, we have no share with him. Spend some time with Jesus making sure he has washed you clean by his blood.
. - He washed those closest to him. Jesus didn’t wash the feet of the masses. This was a private very intimate moment between those who had journeyed with him (including Judas). He tied the towel around his waist and stooped the lowest for those nearest to him. It’s often so much easier for me to serve those “out there” in my church or community and save my leftovers for my own husband and children. This season of social distancing is bringing me nearer to those who have always been near. If I don’t wash the feet of my husband and children first and best, what right do I have to try to serve others?
. - We wash the feet around us. John 13:14 says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” I’m seeing so many examples of servanthood every day. Friends whose hands are blistered from sewing masks. Friends who are fostering children because there was an unprecedented need. Friends who are giving sacrificially so someone else can have more. Friends who are fasting and praying. Friends on the frontline making war against this virus. Whose feet is he asking you to wash? Ask him to make it clear to you.
In big and small ways, the wash basin is set before us every day. Lay aside whatever you were before, confident he can give it back to you when he chooses. Know who you are right now, a child of God, and know where you’re going because of Jesus. Then pick up your towel and follow him.