“After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
John 13:12-15 NLT
As we have read, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. In our society, people sit at tables and feet are not on display. But in Jesus’ days, a meal was eaten at low tables, where the diners reclined. So feet would have been everywhere. The famous picture of da Vinci’s the Last Supper was not in fact how the meal was shared, and even in that picture, feet are discretely tucked away almost out of sight. Regarding the Passover meal, and according to Luke 22:8, “Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together””. But there was no servant organised and present who would wash their feet. It must have crossed the disciples’ minds, but none of them volunteered for the task. So they ate the meal accompanied by a display of unwashed feet.
Jesus pointed out to His disciples that He was their Teacher and Lord, and He turned this common practice of foot washing into a learning opportunity, saying “I have given you an example to follow”. If Jesus had taught His disciples about the importance of serving one another, using words alone, then it is unlikely that they would have remembered for long, and in any case, how would they have applied His instructions in practice? But the practical demonstration of foot washing from the Man they revered and followed would have stuck in their minds for the rest of their lives. Jesus didn’t have to resort to a long teaching session backed by Scriptures, as we might expect from today’s pulpits. Instead He just acted it out and then asked the question, “Do you understand what I was doing?” And as the penny dropped in the disciples’ minds, He finished the occasion by saying, “Do as I have done to you.”
We pilgrims are servants to our fellow believers, and even beyond into our communities. We can talk forever about what should be done, but Jesus’ example was a practical demonstration that cut across many words. On another occasion, Jesus taught about servanthood. “But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many”” (Matthew 20:25-28). In our societies, we recognise the world Jesus described, with the rulers lording their authority over their citizens. But Jesus came to promote His counter-cultural Kingdom, a Kingdom that to the world appeared upside down. We pilgrims are part of that upside-down world, a world that our secular fellow citizens don’t recognise. They scratch their heads in puzzlement and consign us to the looney fringe, along with the flat earthies and Covid deniers. But we know differently, and have experienced life in the Kingdom of God. It’s a wonderful place.
Dear Father God. Thank You that You have made Your Kingdom available to all who believe in Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 