John 13:12-17
Rebecca Lightfoot
After Jesus gets on His knees b4 each of His disciples,& washes their feet,He says,”"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.Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”(John13:12b-17).Jesus knows we have an inherent propensity toward all kinds of pride & arrogance.Some less obvious than others...but we all have this.And it is at the root of sin,with any kind of SPIRITUAL PRIDE probably being the worse of the worst!N Jesus’ statement here,He is addressing spiritual pride of all kinds!Jesus says that we need to keep a RIGHT PERSPECTIVE n our hearts&lives w respect to others,particularly our brothers&sisters n Christ(Jesus is now speaking to ONLY those that r True Disciples!He waited until Judas left to say&do these things)!The 1st perspective adjustment is that Jesus IS Teacher&Lord,we r not!Even those who r teachers,r not Lord!AND those of us who r truly called to b teachers r just that->called by/gifted by The Lord to teach.AND James 3:1-2(”Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”) says that The Lord holds teachers accountable for what&how they teach,because He cares so much about “what” is taught&how “it” is taught!N other words,teachers should b totally dependent upon The Lord for their teaching.So,no one,not even teachers/pastors/mentors,etc.,have any reason to have a speck of pride nor arrogance n our relationships with each other.Whatever insight/knowledge they/we have is only bcuz The Lord has blessed them/us w it!And they/we have been blessed so they/we can SERVE!Not so they/we can b placed on pedestals of higher regard nor “entitlement”.Jesus next calls us to do what He just demonstrated to the disciples!Jesus did not call out any of the disciples bcuz of the dirt on their feet,nor did He hammer any of the disciples for what He probably saw/knew some of the dirt might’ve indicated about particular sins.Jesus HUMBLED HIMSELF b4 all of the dirt(showing the EXTENT of HIS LOVE,James13:1),& ALL of the disciples!Not a single disciple was treated differently for any reason!They ALL HAD DIRTY FEET!And DIRT IS DIRT....as SIN IS SIN!They ALL,and we ALL need our feet washed.Jesus is not only teaching us that we need to have a transparency n our lives with fellow Trusted Christians n our lives,He is also teaching that if we r that Trusted one n someone’s life...we need to humble ourselves b4 that person n order to help that person/wash their feet!When we learn of another’s “dirty feet”,our propensity is to sometimes think that we r a little better Christian bcuz we “don’t have THAT sin in my life”,& SPIRITUAL PRIDE creeps n2 our heart/life.Jesus demonstrated that these thoughts r WRONG!Jesus demonstrates the RIGHT thought becomes our heart beat when we humble ourselves b4 that person and help them “wash their feet”...not condemn them for the dirt in their feet!After all...we also need someone n our life that will do the same for us!We NEED each other!Jesus then ends this teaching w a PROMISE when He says,”If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them”.If we learn from and follow Jesus’ reaching&demonstration n these verses...our lives will be blessed n ways that only Jesus can bless!Lord Jesus!Let this lesson always b on my heart,so that any kind/all kinds of spiritual pride may b snatched from life when it begins to creep n2 my life.Help me 2 remember Your demonstration of how You responded to the dirty feet of Your disciples...and help me to respond with the same heart that You did...AND help me to remember that I also have dirty feet that another one of Your disciples is going to help me with...& help me to b transparent with the disciples You send to wash my feet.