Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: John 13 and Psalm 32

The night of Jesus’ betrayal had arrived. Judas had negotiated his price and was awaiting his moment. The rest of the apostles were oblivious. The day had been long, and many preparations had been made for the evening meal. Everyone was tired, and in their weariness they had all slumped down at the low table. Everyone’s feet were dirty, but no one had the energy to get up and fill the basin provided for this purpose, and wash their own feet. Certainly, none of them would have been inclined to wash each other’s dirty feet. Either they would do it themselves (as they had done so many other nights before the evening meal), or the host would have provided a servant to do the job.

In this case, however, Jesus was the host. And, true to form, He provided a servant to wash their feet for them … only He Himself was that Servant. As David Guzik’s commentary points out, “This was an extreme act of servanthood. According to the Jewish laws and traditions regarding the relationship between a teacher and his disciples, a teacher had no right to demand or expect that his disciples would wash his feet. It was absolutely unthinkable that the Master would wash His disciple’s feet.” Yet this is precisely what Jesus did!

Life application: Jesus our Lord gives us today’s life application in His own words: “¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” Today, those you meet will probably not need you to literally wash their feet. But look for their other needs. Allow the Lord to point you to a fellow believer who has a genuine need that you are genuinely in a position to meet. And then reach out to minister to that need in an approproate and godly way.