Clean Feet

"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." (John 13:15)

Good morning, friends!

The summer camp where my husband and I have ministered since arriving in France is, shall we say, rustic.

(Rustic is the French euphemism for "primitive.")

There are bathhouses and showers, but to get to these small oases of comfort, on rainy days you have to slog through the red clay mud in flip flops.  By the time you leave the shower and return to your tent after your shower, well, let me just say, your feet are no longer clean.

We endure this daily trek for three weeks out of the year only.  One of the reasons we are able to overlook this aspect of camp is because, at the end of our three weeks, we know we are returning to tile floors, pristine bathtubs and showers that you can stand under as long as you would like.

(Or, until the hot water runs out.)

Obviously in Jesus's day, having clean feet was a luxury reserved for the indoors, a refreshing time after labouring outside or walking long distances in sandals on dusty pathways.  No wonder that one of the many markers of hospitality in this arid part of the world was washing of a guest's feet.

To me, this is the Israel equivalent of my Southern American roots:  "Come on in, take your shoes off, and sit a spell."

This foot washing was a task reserved for servants, bidden by their masters to welcome weary travellers to come, clean up, take a load off, and rest.

What a beautiful picture Jesus gives to us at the Last Supper, when He Himself washes the disciples feet.  This passage is recorded in John 13:1-20.

A few thoughts caught my attention as I was reading this passage again while preparing this blog:

1.  The meal was already done! "And supper being ended...he riseth from supper..." (John 13:2,4) Usually this foot washing should have taken place before the meal began.  Perhaps no servant was available for this task, but what is clear is that none of the disciples took this task on for themselves.

2.  Jesus knew who He was, and did not allow a "menial task" to escape His notice.  John 13:3 is sandwiched almost as an aside between supper ending and Jesus rising to wash the disciples' feet.  Jesus, "knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God," did not allow this knowledge to keep Him from performing this servant's duty.  Jesus came to us as a servant, with a servant's heart.

3.  Jesus did not allow His position of authority to overrule His servant's heart. He invested His life in serving His Father and then others around Him.  "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye ought also to wash one another's feet." (John 13:14)  He could not be clearer.  What a meek and humble heart the Lord had toward His disciples!

If my Lord is willing to give Himself to serve even in the lowliest of tasks, should I not also be willing to give myself in the service of my Lord, and of others?  Am I greater than He?

Of course not.

The next time I am faced with an unpleasant, "menial" task, may I be reminded of this act of humble service, and be prepared to do the same for my God, and for those around me.

It is, after all, the very least that I can do.