Blessed to Serve

 "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."- John 13:17

Do you remember the show "Dirty Jobs?" The host of the show Mike Rowe would travel the country to find some of the most labor intensive, grueling, and nastiest jobs you have likely never heard of or seen. Perhaps you have worked an incredibly dirty or labor intensive job. For me growing up, these sort of jobs often served as "rite of passage." Regardless of whether you have first hand experience or have seen it on a show, there are jobs that most of us would rather not do. 

I would imagine that if Mike Rowe traveled back to first century Palestine, one of the dirtiest jobs he would encounter would be washing feet. In the first century, we must remember, they traveled each day in sandals. There was livestock present and a part of everyday life, they farmed, they tilled, they worked in valleys, their feet were dirty! It was part of the Jewish custom that upon entering a dwelling, you wash your feet. Not a job everyone would jump up at the chance to do! 

In John 13 after entering Jerusalem as a king on a donkey, and just hours away from His arrest, sentencing, persecution, and execution on a cross, Jesus addressed His followers privately. In an intimate setting, just before sharing the Passover meal with His closest friends, the Savior of the World, the One in which all creation was made through, the perfect Lamb who would provide the substitutionary atonement for all who would believe in Him, "got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet" (John 13:4-5). This is the Son of God, it is God Himself, bending down, putting towel around Himself and one-by-one washing the dirt and stain of the world off of the very dirty and stained feet of His disciples. The Teacher becomes the great Servant. 

Jesus says, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (John 13:7). Understand what? What will we understand later? The power of serving. 

The "greatest among you will be your servant" (Matt. 23:11) Jesus will say another time. For those of us that have had the opportunity, and acted on it, we understand the great blessing of humbling ourselves and serving another. Here we see the Savior of the world, kneel before His followers and do the most humbling job any one could do in that day. Then, He commissions us all to do the same. Yet, Jesus doesn't just call us to serve in the most radically humbling way, as He did, and that's it... No, He says "if you do these things, you will be blessed."

Who's feet, literally or figuratively, can we wash today? Are we willing to let others serve us? Jesus charges all who follow Him to do as He has modeled, and in so doing, we will be blessed to serve.

Praying for you and yours, have a blessed day!