John 13:12-17, 35
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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There has truly been no greater teacher. Having walked a hard road and now facing the hardest trial of his life, Jesus spent a last night together with his closest friends. Knowing he would be betrayed by one of these friends, he bends down to wash their feet. And, as if this tangible act of love was not enough, he explains what he is doing in some of the clearest words imaginable.
"Do you understand?" He cares not only that his words and deeds are true, but also that we are getting it. He is going to any lengths to get the message across. I love you. Now go and share my love.
"I have given you an example." A truly great teacher will give examples. Not just catchy illustrations, but personal testimony of how God's truth and grace are active in their life. A great teacher shows you. But the implication is that the learner is willing to watch, willing to get close enough to the teacher to be led firsthand. We must know him closely in order to live like he did.
There is also an implication here that we should be actively pursuing mentoring relationships with fellow believers. By seeing how an older brother or sister has applied their faith to real life situations, and hearing their specific advice for our own situations, we will drink deeply of the most potent source of strength available. Don't hesitate - find a mentor!
"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Zing! It hurts to realize when your knowledge of truth far outweighs the examples in your life where you are living it out. But Jesus didn't just guilt us into walking in fear of our own hypocrisy! He promised we would be more blessed (happy) if we put our knowledge of his love into practice regularly, rather than sit on it and let it fester unused. Hide it under a bushel? NO!
"By this all people will know." True knowledge occurs in both the heart and the mind. We hear propositional truth and give mental assent. But we must also know the One who is the Truth and let his love touch and shape our hearts. And other people will see the truth only when both realities are present. If they only get preached at, that is a half truth. If they only get physical care, that is also a half truth. Jesus displayed both and people will know we follow him by doing likewise.
I pray that we can take active steps to seek wise mentors, that we seek the personal guidance of the great Teacher himself, and then take active steps to love one another today. Grab the towel. Wash someone's feet today. Pursue what Schaeffer called the "final apologetic":
“Yet, without true Christians loving one another, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done this very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of men who are about us. But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.”
Francis Schaffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, pgs. 164-165
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