The Way of the Master - Part 2

The Way of the Master -Part 2

By Larry D. Kettle 1-1-17

Having loved his own who were in the world, ² The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” said Peter, Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” ⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

He now showed them the full extent of His love.

It was unheard of for a Rabbi to be involved in menial labor and especially the labor of the lowest servant.  Washing feet was a very humiliating task.  The sandaled feet were often caked with mud and manure with a mixture of sweat.  Removing stubborn dirt from people’s feet was a challenging job.  Feet are sensitive with many nerve endings so it would require great gentleness to remove the scum. Efficiency and speed were important, as people would grow easily impatient with the process.

It wasn’t hard for a person to allow a servant on the lowest end of the pay scale to do this humiliating work. On the other hand having your master take your feet in his hands and lovingly and gently wash the mixture of mud, manure, and sweat off of your feet would be humiliating as you would feel that that the roles should be reversed. Normally you wouldn’t want the job of foot washing but on this occasion you would want it worse than anything you ever wanted before. Jesus went methodically through all twelve of the disciples and though the scripture doesn’t speak to the interactions that transpired between them it is likely that there was precious and very personal non-verbal exchanges between them. Oh what love was communicated with every tender stroke that Jesus used as he washed each pair of feet.  Oh what compassion and longing would have been coming from the face of the Master as he was able to maintain eye contact while the hands of a skilled carpenter went over his finest creation. I can imagine there could have been some soft humming coming from the one who sang creation into existence. There must have been some soft sobbing coming from these otherwise rag tag bunch of men from diverse backgrounds.  The toughest tough guy among them couldn’t hold it together as the Rabbi, the Teacher, the Master, the Messiah looked past their feet and then looked into their eyes and went deeper into the deepest part of their hearts.  But then of course there was Peter!  He couldn’t contain himself!  He had to stop this nonsense!  It wasn’t right in his mind and he was determined to object strenuously. The atmosphere grew tense as Peter followed through and broke the tender silence.  The men who had been reflective and transfixed were now coming to the edge of their seats to see how Jesus would respond to this man who just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “You shall never wash my feet!” Peter thundered.  Jesus firmly but gently replied, “unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” As the realization of Jesus’ statement dawned on Peter his demeanor and his tone radically changed as he said between choking sobs, “not just my feet but my hands and head as well!” Peter often liked to put himself first in line and so the Master may have chosen him last to illustrate the teaching moments he was about to reveal.