IMITATE!

IMITATE!

John 13:12-17 NET.

¹² So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? ¹³  You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example — you should do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Penny and I have been watching the latest season of “The Chosen” at night. If you are not familiar with the show, it depicts the life of Jesus and his disciples. One thing that struck me as we binge-watched it recently is that the characters in the show are constantly traveling from one place to another. Of course, they are always walking except for a brief ride on a donkey’s colt that Jesus took for his triumphal entry.

You have to understand that walking long distances was just how people traveled back then. That helps to set the stage for the event that today’s text highlights.

Jesus washed their feet because they needed it (12).

People traveled long distances by foot back in those times. Penny and I can sympathize with people back then because, as hikers, we have literally traveled thousands of miles by foot. Taking care of one’s feet is essential for hikes like that. We can get by with cheap food and clothing, but proper footwear is crucial. But back in the days that Jesus and his apostles walked the earth, most people walked in sandals. That created a need. To meet this need, most homes had a jar of water and a towel outside their front porch.

If a family were wealthy, they would have a slave whose duty was to wash the feet of everyone who came to visit their home. If they were not rich, they would still provide the water jar and the towel so that the visitors themselves could wash their feet prior to entering the house. On this particular occasion, Jesus and his disciples were heading to a home without a foot-washing slave. That meant that one of the disciples would have to do the job. But before they drew straws to find out who got the dirty work, Jesus himself grabbed the towel that day.

Now, some denominations treat this story as if Jesus was proclaiming another ritual that Christians should follow. They put this incident right up there with baptism and the Lord’s Supper and proclaim it as an ordinance of the church. I don’t think that is what Jesus had in mind. The reason Jesus washed his disciples’ feet that day was that they needed their feet washed. He was taking care of a basic need of the whole group. It was something that they all usually experienced. The only thing that was abnormal about it was that it was Jesus who took the towel. He was the master. The students should have jumped at the chance to help one another, but they didn’t. So, Jesus did what was needed.

Jesus washed their feet as an example for them to imitate (15).

The disciples were students of Jesus. That is what a disciple is: a student. But it is probably best that we don’t just call ourselves students of Jesus today. We have a poor concept of what it means to be a student. Our classes are filled with teachers who teach and students who learn, but more often than not, nobody ever changes. Jesus intended to teach his apostles the gospel, yes. But he intended more than that. He planned for them to become evangelists who pass on the gospel to others. He wanted them to, at some point, stop learning and start teaching themselves.

Even more, Jesus intended the apostles not just to learn what he taught but also to reproduce what they saw. He was an example that they were supposed to follow. Remember, he called them to himself and told them to follow him. They were not just supposed to learn from him; they were supposed to follow him—to imitate him.

So, when Jesus took the towel that day, he intended to teach his apostles to do what he did. This went further than simply being on the lookout for dirty feet. Jesus wanted his apostles to anticipate all the needs of their congregations and the communities they lived among.

Remember Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats that we just studied. In the parable, the king said, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’” In each case, the king praised the authentic true sheep because they recognized a need and met that need. That is what Jesus was teaching with his example of foot-washing.

On that particular day, none of the apostles was thinking about the need that his fellows would have when they reached the house. They were too busy with their grand ideas of their importance compared to the others. They had needs that they could have filled, but they expected someone else to do it. They were shocked when their master himself took up the towel. But he did it to show them the attitude they should have as believers.

Looking for the needs of those around us is something that every Christian should do. I did not say every minister. I did not say every church officer. When Jesus spoke to all his apostles that day, he intended the whole church to hear his words. He expects all of us to focus on meeting the needs that present themselves all around us.

Jesus washed their feet to demonstrate mutual submission (14).

There is a widespread understanding of what it means to be a Christian that contradicts what Jesus did that day. A false doctrine has embedded itself into the fabric of the Christian Church even though Jesus taught against it. Even today, whole churches and denominations are swept up in this false doctrine. I call it the heresy of hierarchy.

The heresy of hierarchy says that the church is made up of levels of leadership. It asserts that some people are supposed to look after the needs of others within the community, but others are too important to do that. It’s the totem pole concept.

Now, I have already spoken on this subject in my sermon on Mark 10. That is where Jesus told his apostles that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them.  But he said it is not this way among believers. Instead, whoever wants to be great must be a servant.

We are not very good at living up to that instruction from the Lord. We call our leaders ministers, but we mean by ministry something different from what Jesus meant. A minister is a servant—a slave—someone whose job it is to take care of the needs of all the others.

The Apostle Paul instructed the congregations at Ephesus not to get drunk with wine but to be filled by the Holy Spirit. How was that fullness of the Spirit supposed to manifest? Those who the Spirit fills would be “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-21).

Most preachers quickly go on to the next verse and teach wives that they are supposed to submit to their husbands. They are more comfortable with that verse because it appears to establish a hierarchy: wives are under husbands, kinds are under the wives, and dogs are under the kids. So they make submission into a one-way thing. They think God wants us only to submit to those higher up the ladder.

That is not what Paul said. He said that the church is supposed to submit to one another. We are supposed to wash one another’s feet. We are supposed to find a need and fill that need, regardless of what our title is or who has the need. Mutual submission means every foot must be washed. There is no totem pole.

Jesus didn’t say, “OK, I’ll wash Peter’s feet, but the rest of you lowly disciples are going to have to take care of yourselves.”  He didn’t set up a rank system. He did the work of the buck private for everybody in the company.

The lesson of foot-washing is that everybody counts or nobody counts. Our ministry is not to a select segment of the church or the community. We need to submit to one another. That command is not obeyed when we simply follow our leaders. It is obeyed when we look for needs and meet those needs regardless of who has the needs. When Jesus picked up the towel, it was to wash the feet of the whole congregation.

Jesus wanted each of his apostles to aspire to greatness, which can only happen when someone dares to be the slave of all. To teach that lesson, Jesus himself picked up the towel and became a slave, washing the feet of all his team. Imitating him means letting go of our self-imposed levels of status and importance. It means always doing our best for everybody.

Obeying this command is one of the hardest things you will ever do as a Christian. It attacks your pride and sense of superiority. It offends your sense of fairness. But if we all dared to submit to one another and put the needs of everybody above our desires, the world would be shocked. They will wonder why we are doing this. This will be a perfect opportunity to share Christ.