Humility Check

Feet come in all sizes, shapes, and forms.

They carry us where we need to go and when they hurt, our whole body hurts! Some people are pretty repulsed by even thinking about touching someone else’s feet. But our Lord laid aside every ounce of pride and washed His disciples’ big ole feet!

I have participated in “feet washing” services before. In every case, the experience was humbling, worshipful, and ended up being a sweet time of fellowship.

In John 13, Jesus and His disciples had gathered together for supper, a nice retreat from the crowd that been pressing to see more miracles. Jesus could talk to them more freely without interruption. Up until now, Jesus had been performing miracles of all sorts. Now we will see Jesus do something that stands in stark contrast to the eye-popping miracles – feet washing.

The main means of travel was by foot and the footwear was generally sandals. Have you ever have walked down a dry, dusty path with sandals? You would need to wash your feet too. It was a custom of hospitality to offer your guests a basin and towel upon their arrival so they could wash their dusty feet. If the household had servants, then it was the duty of the servant to wash the guests’ feet.

Back in Luke 7:44, a sinful woman was reprimanded by the self righteous Jews for anointing Jesus’ feet with a vial of perfume. Jesus rebuked the Jews, saying “I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.”

In other words, the sinful woman knew her appropriate place, at Jesus’ feet. The Jews didn’t respect Him enough to even offer Him a basin. Another stark contrast between pride and humility, wouldn’t you say?

Now back to John 13. Jesus began a series of actions DURING supper that parallel actions that we need to follow as Christians:
• Jesus got up – To serve others, we must get up from the comforts of our daily routine and go out and minister. Sometimes that means taking action in the midst of a seemingly normal routine, like eating supper.
• Jesus laid aside some things – In order to serve His disciples, Jesus laid aside the garments that may have hindered His progress. When we humble ourselves in service, we must lay aside our pride. The book of Proverbs is full of warnings against pride.
• Jesus girded Himself – Jesus equipped Himself with what was needed to accomplish the task at hand. We gird up ourselves through our daily study of God’s Word. Whatever service we are called to do, God will equip us with the skills and resources we need.
• Jesus poured water into a basin – Jesus often made references to water in the book of John. He even said He is the “living water”. Jesus poured Himself out in service to His disciples. He expects us to pour ourselves into others so they can see Him in our lives.
• Jesus washed feet – Jesus took upon Himself the role of a servant by performing this menial task. When He got to Peter, he said “No way are you going to wash my feet!” Jesus told Peter that He must wash His feet or he would have no part with Him. Then Peter insisted that Jesus wash his head, his feet, and his hands! Jesus reminded Peter that He was already clean (by faith) and only his feet need washed. As we walk through this world, know that Jesus has already washed you clean if you are His, but you need to keep your daily walk – your feet – clean. We do this by the “washing of water with the Word” (Ephesians 5:26).

Although there are differences in opinions about the literal washing of feet, there can be no mistake about the spirit of humility He modeled. It is most definitely intended to strike our hearts and we must have a spirit of humility to be like Christ.

I just have to throw this out there – I know so many of us women love to have manicures and pedicures. Please understand I am not saying it is wrong to have these services. However, when we expect others not to even bat an eye about grooming our feet while we turn our nose up at the very thought of washing someone else’s feet, it seems that we may need a “humility check”.

Think about this – if Judas was still in this supper scene (before he left to betray Christ), Jesus would have washed his feet too. I wonder if Judas felt any speck of guilt as the Messiah stooped down and washed his nasty feet. Judas rejected this humble Servant and even betrayed him for a handful of silver coins.