Feet
I was reading through my devotional tonight, and happened across an interesting thought. The chapter was about the event where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. In the book, Max said he tried to find a translation of the bible that said “Jesus did not wash Judas’ feet,” however could not find one. I’ve heard that story a million times, but the thought never occurred to me that Judas was apart of those who Jesus washed.
The very act of washing another’s feet in that culture was a job left for the lowest of the servants, so for Jesus it had a very significant meaning. Jesus laid down one of my favorite examples of leadership in this story, I’ve commonly heard it called “servant-leadership.” Where I work now this simply does not exist, and I think its very apparent. My management doesn’t even attempt to understand the employees or to get on their hands and knees and help. I wonder most days what it would be like if our management, or the management of most companies had a shift where the managers were willing to be servant leaders. My old youth pastor used to say often, “You can’t lead someone where you aren’t going.”
Back to my original point. So Jesus washed the feet of all His disciples, these very men would later abandon Him to hide, and one of them would be the cause of some of the worst pain and suffering a human can endure. Yet, Jesus still thought it fitting to get on the floor and wash the dirt off their feet. I’ve been sitting here asking myself if I really thought I could wash the feet of a “Judas” in my life, and to be quite honest, no I don’t think I could. I have a hard time letting go of anger, and thats why I think its such an amazing example Jesus lays for us here. Think about the people in your life who have betrayed and hurt you, could your humble yourself for their benefit? What about men like Osama Bin Laden, or Hitler, could you wash their feet? Jesus forgave the men who would abandon him before they even committed the act. Can we learn to forgive people regardless of who they are or what they’ve done to us? Can we pray for men like Hitler, and ask God to forgive them? I think the point is Jesus was showing us we can forgive no matter how hard it may be.
