Title: You too, wash each other's feet.....
2004·11·27
Today we partake of the Lord's Supper. The Lord came to this earth to save sinners like me and died on the cross. And he was resurrected and sat at the right hand of the throne of God. The risen Lord rules over all things in heaven and on earth, and he will come again soon to judge the world. At this time, the living Lord will be present in this sacrament in which we participate and will pour out His spiritual grace generously on us. I hope that you will receive great grace by participating in this sacrament with faith and earnest longing.
We must not only receive the great grace that the Lord has given us, but also strive to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord by keeping our faith and being faithful with a passionate heart of gratitude. How great and wonderful is the love and grace of the Lord who saved me by giving up my life. When we think of this love of the Lord, we cannot but thank the Lord, obey Him with all our heart and be loyal. Through today's text, the Lord wants to give us a lesson we need. It is to imitate the Lord and become slaves to one another.
The Lord Who Prepared the Last Supper
The text records an event that occurred near the end of the Lord's public life. The Lord decided to have the last Passover Supper with His disciples on Thursday, one day before the cross. At the command of the Lord, the disciples rented a man's attic and prepared a Passover dinner.
That night the Lord loved His disciples even more, knowing that He would die on the cross the next day. “Before the Passover, Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave the world and return to the Father, and while loving his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).
who is bigger?
Jesus and his disciples arrived at the house where the Passover supper was prepared. And everyone took their seats. But before the supper began, there was work to be done. It was washing my feet. In Palestine at the time, I wore sandals on dirt roads. So, when entering the house, you must wash your feet. When guests came to the house, the servants usually washed their feet.
That night, Jesus and his disciples gathered at the Passover Supper and had to wash their feet as well. But since we only rented a place, there was no paper to wash our feet with. There was only a water jar, a basin, and a towel. Some of them had to wash their feet. Now, who will wash the feet of Jesus and his disciples?
None of the disciples wanted to wash their feet. Because it was a paper job. The disciples did not want anyone to be a slave. Far from becoming servants, they often argued with each other over who was higher. On their way to this supper, they quarreled with each other over who is higher. Luke records this clearly. “And there arose a quarrel among them as to which of them was the greatest” (Luke 22:24). When Jesus thought of the cross and said that He would suffer and die, the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest. On the way, none of the disciples who had been arguing over who was this tall did not want to wash their feet.
The Lord washes the disciples' feet.
At that time, the Lord did not rebuke the disciples but got up quietly and washed their feet. “He got up from the dinner table, took off his coat, took a towel, put it around his waist, filled a basin with water, and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (verses 4-5). The Lord washed the feet of the 12 disciples one by one. . The disciples must have been very embarrassed and apologetic. Peter in particular was shocked. Perhaps he was angry with the disciples who only delayed each other for the Lord to wash their feet. In the end, the Lord washed even the feet of Peter, who was extremely reluctant.
Perhaps even if Jesus had opened the eyes of the blind or raised the lame, the disciples would not have been so shocked. Such things were impossible for the disciples to do. But washing your feet was something anyone could do. Anyone can do it, but the disciples couldn't do it. But the most honorable and great Lord washed the disciples' feet. So the disciples were even more shocked.
It is right that you also wash one another's feet.
But why did the Lord do this? The Lord said the reason for this. “You are right when you say that I am a teacher or a lord, you are right. I am so I am a master and a teacher and have washed your feet, so you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have seen it” (verses 13-15).
The Lord did not rebuke the disciples who tried to exalt one another and did not wash their feet. Rather, he gave them a clearer and more powerful lesson by washing their feet. But the Lord was not doing this just to show his disciples. The Lord is the Most High, the Greatest and the Holy One, who humbled himself to the end and became a servant in order to save us. “He was in the form of God, but did not consider equality with God to be robbery, but emptied himself, taking the brother of a servant, and became in human form, being found in human form, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). ) The Lord humbled himself to death to save us. And now he speaks to us. “It is right that you also wash one another’s feet.” “Be ye one another slave!”
Blessed are you if you know this and do it.
The Lord told his disciples to wash each other's feet, and he said that it would be a blessing. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and the one who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him.
The Lord once told His disciples about the new order in Heaven. “And there was a quarrel among them as to which of them was the greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over them, and their rulers are called benefactors, but you will not. It is like the one who sits eating, or the one who serves, or the one who sits and eats, but I am among you as the one who serves. The same is true in the church. The Lord, the head of the church and the King of heaven, became a servant until death. The order of heaven is that the bigger you are, the more you should serve. If you know and practice this secret, you are blessed.
Most people think that being a servant is lowly and self-deprecating. However, you do not know how pleasant and blessed it is to be willing to be a servant in Christ. True freedom and joy are there. There is no longer any need for quarrels and shameful acts in order to be exalted. The Lord is pleased with this and loves him even more. Even in the church, all the saints truly respect and love such a person. The Lord truly exalts such a person. From now on, let's be glad to be servants to our brothers!