Sunday
An Example of Humility
Humility means responding to God with gratitude and living in light of His greatness.
5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." 8 Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." 10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you. " 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 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? 13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 "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. 17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:5-17)
Sometimes we need a wake-up call that opens our eyes so we can see who we truly are. When Jesus started washing the disciples’ feet, they must have felt uneasy, especially after their recent discussions about which of them was the greatest (Mark 9:34-35).
As we noted a couple of days ago, foot washing was the task of the lowest slave in the household. But there was probably no servant posted at the door of the Last Supper, since Jesus and His disciples were eating in a borrowed room. All the disciples considered this job beneath them, so everyone’s feet remained filthy until Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, humbled Himself to serve those who should have served Him. After three years of teaching and modeling humility to His disciples, Jesus drove the point home with a towel and a bowl.
If we want to follow Jesus’ example of servanthood, a good place to begin is with prayer asking for help to see any sinful attitudes hiding in our heart. Then we can respond with gratitude rather than shame, as He is inviting us to grow. When we confess what He reveals and ask Him to help us change, we’ll discover that humility isn’t about thinking less of ourselves—it’s about thinking of ourselves less. In other words, it’s about seeing who God is and living in light of His greatness rather than our own.