John 13:1-17 * Ash Wednesday
*
Dear Friends in Christ,
A couple of weeks ago I was among a number of
It’s always interesting going to
However, what is perhaps most interesting is how time and circumstances can change one’s perspective of things. Streets which as a child I thought were long and wide now look kind of short and narrow. A campus which seemed to be rather spacious seems somewhat compact. And some of the houses and buildings which at one time I thought were large now seem quite modest. Maybe you’ve had that same kind of experience when you’ve gone back to the place where you grew up…
Time and circumstances do have a way of making us look at things differently, no matter how familiar they may be.
We mention this because over the next six weeks of our
Lenten journey, we are going to visit some familiar places. In fact, for those of us who have made this
journey before, they are very familiar.
They are the places where our Lord Jesus spent the most important 72 hours of
his life on earth – the places He was on a Thursday we call Maundy, a Friday we
call good, a Saturday we call holy, and a Sunday we call Easter. Under the theme “Places of the Passion,” we’ll
find ourselves on a street inside
Yet, each time we visit them it is also in a sense a brand new experience. Not because the places change, but because we change. Maybe our life is markedly different than it was a year ago. Maybe events have transpired in our lives that have drastically changed our perspective on things. Maybe the Lord has schooled us and we are more teachable and receptive to what He has to say this year than we were last year. Or maybe, with every passing year, we simply grow more and more appreciative of the grace of God that was worked out at each of these locations…
…So on this Ash Wednesday, let the journey – and the learning – begin. Our first stop:
THE UPPER ROOM:
Because our text is rather long, we’re going to limit
ourselves to the highlights of what took place in the upper room. The opening verses set the stage: “It
was just before the Passover Feast.
Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to
the Father. Having loved His own who
were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”
We’re told that Jesus knew it was time to leave this world and return to His father. This, of course, was to be. But before that would take place, a number of other things had to happen – specifically all those events which we collectively call the “passion” of Christ. After all these things took place, He would indeed “go to the Father” on Ascension Day.
Jesus had told His disciples a number of times what they
could expect in the days ahead. He spoke
openly about His upcoming death and resurrection. But frankly, it went over their heads. The depth of Christ’s service of love for
them and us and the entire world was too grand, too magnificent, too selfless
for them to understand. Eventually they
would, but that day was not now. So
Jesus illustrates the deepness of His love and service toward them in a way
that they could comprehend. He washes
their feet.
“He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had wrapped around Him.” This was a very unusual, but straightforward act of humble service – and every single disciple knew it. They knew the rules. They knew it was the lowest servant of the household’s job to wash feet – and in the absence of one they now watched Jesus assume the role. This was a powerful, powerful practical lesson, which we’ll speak of in just a moment…
But in the midst of this practical lesson on the fullness of
Jesus’ loving service comes an opportunity to transfer it to a higher,
spiritual level. “He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash
my feet?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You do not
realize what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘No,’ said Peter, ‘You shall never wash my
feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash
you, YOU HAVE NO PART WITH ME.’”
Do we see what’s going on here? Jesus’ washing of His disciples’ feet was symbolic of His whole work of redemption and atonement for us. His blood, which was shed for us and in our place, washes us clean. And that’s the only way we become spiritually cleansed in the eyes of God.
That’s why Jesus told Peter that unless He – the Christ, the
Savior, the Redeemer, the Sin Remover (if you will) – washed him, he could have
no part with Him or the salvation He came to give. As water washes dust off feet, so Jesus’
blood washes away our sin – and we stand before God not in the soiled and
spotted rags of our own sinfulness, but in the white robes of righteousness
made clean through the blood of the Lamb… “Jesus
thy blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress…”
Nevertheless, Peter’s example, negative as it may have been, is instructive for us. Under the guise of humility, Peter essentially was trying to thwart what Jesus had made clear He intended to do. Jesus was presenting His disciples with a gift of loving service, but Peter didn’t want it. He wanted to be the giver, not the receiver.
Take that attitude to a spiritual level as it applies to salvation, and we’re talking work-righteousness; salvation not through what Christ does for us, but through what we do for Him. That’s why Jesus, out of love, speaks so sternly to Peter.
What can we learn from Peter? Let’s not look for something we can contribute to our salvation. Let’s not cling to some false idea of self-respect that seemingly makes us look better than others. Rather, let us confess our sins. Let us admit our guilt. Each and every day let us kneel in faith at the foot of the cross and lay those sins on Jesus. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sins. That’s the Savior’s way of salvation. He gives. We receive. We live forever. Thank God for Jesus’ singular service of love to us!
As mentioned before, there is another purpose behind this event
in the upper room that extends beyond the symbolic. It also was meant to be a very practical
lesson on the attitudes of humility and service that Christ desires in His
disciples. Or as we stated it
earlier: Christ’s service of love toward us leads to our love of service toward Him.
When Jesus and the Twelve arrived in the upper room, the pitcher of water was there, as well as the basin and the towel. But there was no servant. Every one of the disciples knew what needed to be done, but no one wanted to do it. Apparently, it was an act each believed was beneath him. I might wash my own feet, each of them no doubt thought, but I’m sure not going to wash anyone else’s. The Gospel writer Luke lends us some further substantiation to this. He informs us that earlier in the evening the disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest among them. And so they all file in, and they all walk by the pitcher, basin and towel, but no one makes a move…
Except Jesus. And what follows is certainly one of the most effective sermons He ever preached to His disciples; yet He never said a word. Picture the scene. Very deliberately, Jesus takes off his outer garment and wraps a towel around his waist. He then methodically moves from one disciple to the next, washing each of their feet – including the ones that belonged to Judas, whom Jesus knew would shortly betray Him!
How long do you think it took Him? I bet you could have heard a pin drop. And with the exception of Peter’s misinformed protest, we’d probably be right in guessing that nobody said a word during the entire process…
Upon completion of this, Jesus spoke: “‘Do
you understand what I have done for you?’ He asked them. ‘You call Me Teacher and Lord and rightly so,
for that is what I am. Now that I, your
Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s
feet. I HAVE SET YOU AN EXAMPLE THAT YOU
SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE FOR YOU.’”
What Jesus underscores for us here is something He preached throughout His earthly ministry, and something that is preached throughout the Bible: true greatness in the eyes of God is measured in humble service to Him and His, and not in anything else. And by service we don’t mean being a doormat or being so much at someone else’s beck and call that we aren’t able to carry out our other God-given responsibilities. By service we simply mean a willingness to do what needs to be done for the benefit of God’s people.
Like the disciples, this is a teaching we need to be reminded of again and again, because every ounce of influence that this world can exert upon us militates against this idea. We live in an age, just like every other age, that is very image conscious, very success oriented. We live in an age in which humility is routinely mistaken for weakness and where kindness and consideration and compassion are viewed as obstacles on the path of achievement. We live at a time when we are told to watch out only for ourselves.
Jesus says just the opposite. Kindness and consideration and compassion are the achievements He is looking for. Greatness in the Kingdom, says Jesus, is found at the foot of the table. And in the upper room roughly 19 and ¾ centuries ago, Jesus left us with a striking example.
And in the event the disciples would think it beneath their
dignity to wash the feet of another believer, or lest we somehow think some
type of service in the kingdom of God is beneath our dignity, Jesus, who
performed this most menial of tasks, gives us this reminder: “I
tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent him.” In
other words, Jesus asks us to do nothing for others that He hasn’t done for us…
Let’s bring our thoughts to a close.
On this Ash Wednesday we have visited the first of many familiar Lenten places. The upper room is a place of service, a place where Jesus shows us the full extent of His love. Having been there, let us imitate that love in our lives with one another. Let us joyfully submit to that love in our life with God…
And then let us remember the final words spoken by our
Savior in this text: “Now that you know these things, you will
be blessed if you do them.” Amen.