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Author
Brandt Gillespie
Summary: In John 13:3-7 and 12-14, Jesus washed His disciples' feet, demonstrating the upside-down nature of His kingdom where the greatest must become the servant. Jesus knew His power came from God, and we must also strip away our false identities to find our true identity in Christ. We must adopt the nature of Christ, who served others, to be true leaders in His kingdom. The message is to wash one another's feet, to serve one another as Jesus served His disciples.
In this portion of scripture, we gain glimpses of what is termed God’s “Upside Down Kingdom.” I’m of the opinion that due to our temporal, rather truncated existence that we call our lifespan, we are duped into believing that the vertical authoritarian social structures and world systems are truly the models of power. However, these are the very structures that Jesus came to turn upside down. His assignment can best be described as turning things, “right side up.”
Let’s ponder John Chapter 13, verses 3-7 and verses 12-14, together. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so 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 that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. ‘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” (New International Version).
This portion of scripture is so packed with meaning that one has to hone in on just a sliver of this account, or instead of providing a brief text for encouragement, one could explore the depths and create lengthy sermons, if not books, about the weighty significance of these words of Jesus.
First, let’s examine this phrase, “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power.” Christ was secure in who He was and if we desire to “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14), we must journey beyond finding out who we are in the natural sense and enter into Christ’s being in such a manner that we become as some have described the “Imago Dei,” the bearers of His image. Coming to know who we are will demand the stripping away of pretense and the knocking down of the personality props that falsely bolster our artificial identity. This is a painful process, yet oh so necessary, if we are going to really know who we are in Christ.
The slippery suppleness of our vacillating human personas must be replaced by the steadiness and faithfulness of Christ’s nature. Our preoccupation with the assertion of one’s own will and seeing one’s self through the distorted vision of self-aggrandizement, gets swept away when we adopt the true nature of Christ who said, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).
Jesus did not lose His Lordship by becoming a servant; in fact, He revealed what genuine Lordship is truly about. The summation of this text is simply this, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” This is leadership. This is the God kind of “servant leadership.” So, today find a way and yes, wash one another’s feet.