Read: John 13:1-20, 34
. . . he loved them to the end. (v. 1)
Tears flowed down my cheeks during a worship service recently as I witnessed an elderly husband bend down on his knees, take a basin of water, and wash his wife’s feet. It was a beautiful picture of love.
In our reading today, Jesus showed his disciples a beautiful example of love. He removed his outer garments, took a towel and basin of water and began to wash his disciples’ feet (vv. 4-5). Foot washing was a common practice when people entered a home after traveling dusty, dirty roads. But this foot washing took place after a meal. Jesus, the Master, became the servant. For he “knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (v. 1). But we forget that Jesus also washed Judas’s feet. Judas would later betray Jesus. Jesus loved all his disciples, including Judas to the end. And Jesus loves us. Like his disciples, we need to be washed, otherwise, we will have no share with him (v. 8). We need to accept his love.
Picture Jesus bending down and washing your feet. How does this make you feel? Perhaps you feel embarrassed or not worthy of his gesture of love, like Peter who questioned it. However, as Jesus told his disciples, we are to follow his example of love and offer this to others. He said, “love one another: just as I have loved you” (v. 34).
As you pray, accept his washing of love today and extend it to others.
About the Author
Nancy Boote
Nancy Boote, an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America, lives in Holland, Michigan, with her husband. Besides being a mother, a grandmother, a song writer, and lover of horses, Nancy also has a heart for prayer and seeing racism dismantled.
