It was almost time to eat the Passover meal. Jesus had His friends at His side. even the one that gave Him chills to look at, lately. Judas. Regardless of how He felt about him, He could not treat him differently.
Jesus got up from the table and fashioned a towel around his waist, and picked up a bowl. He filled it with water and began to kneel in front of each of His disciples to wash their feet. They were amazed at this. What was the Master doing? This wasn't His job! That was the job of a servant!
Some hesitated to give Him their feet, but He gently touched their leg and placed their foot above the bowl. He cupped water in His Hand and bathed each of their feet, drying them with the apron. When He came to Judas, He tried not to think about what was to come in the next few hours. He focused His Mind on how much He loved him.
When at last it was Peter's turn, Jesus ran into a problem. Was this anything new? Peter loved a good argument or a chance to prove he was right. Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet. He didn't feel worthy to allow the Lord to perform this lowly service for him. It was he who should be washing Jesus' feet! The Master explained that unless Peter allowed Him to cleanse him, he couldn't be a part of what He was doing. Peter changed his mind, right away!! He told Jesus to wash him all over!!
Jesus was not just talking about cleaning his feet...He was talking about washing Peter from the inside out. He had symbolicly washed all of them to make them holy. He even declared them all clean...except one. He also wanted to prove a point to the disciples that they were not to consider themselves too good to serve others. They sometimes had a problem with thinking they were better, or greater, than one another. Would they ever learn? Jesus showed them that if He could lower Himself to wash their feet, they could do the same for each other. They were going to have to rely on each other very soon. They had to become one body.
It was time for the meal. Jesus picked up the bread on the plate. He broke it, declaring that the bread was His Body. they were to eat it in His memory.
He picked up the cup and said that the wine was His Blood. The cup was the new covenant, or promise written in His Blood.
In that one meal, Jesus showed the disciples...and us, what He expects of His Church. His vision for His Church is for us to serve one another. No one is above or greater than another, regardless of title or position. We are to be willing to perform the lowliest tasks for each other, without complaint... regardless of how we feel about the other person.
We, as His Church must be one body. The body parts do not compete with each other. One part doesn't think their part is better than the other parts. They work together. The appendages don't work alone; they need each other in order to work properly. The church needs to keep their eyes on the big picture...to let everyone know how much Jesus loves them and bring them to a saving knowledge of Him.
It's almost time for supper. Are you hungry for Christ?
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