Water Basin - Symbol of Servanthood
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
- John 13:14 [ESV]
Passage: John 13:1-17
Reflection
Before the Last Supper, Jesus knowing that He will soon be arrested and crucified chooses to wash the feet of His disciples. Peter objects and questions Jesus’ actions. Jesus responds by telling Peter that he must be washed by Jesus to have a share in what Jesus will do. Peter then requests that Jesus cleanse him completely. Jesus then addresses His disciples and asks them if they understand the significance of what He has done.
I want to ask you the same thing. Do you understand what Jesus has done? To us, washing feet seems irrelevant. But I want you to imagine this scenario. You and a friend have been walking on a dusty dirt path all day in sandals. When you get back home, your parents say that you need to wash your feet before you can come inside. Would you volunteer to wash your friend’s feet when they were caked in dirt? Probably not. You might even be disgusted by the thought of that. But that is exactly what Jesus did. By washing His disciples’ feet Jesus is showing a spirit of humility. He is showing what it looks like to do self-giving service, which means doing something that will cost you something to others.
Application
There are so many ways that this is modeled at CCU. So many of my friends have willingly sacrificed their time to serve me. When I was living on campus for the first time, my roommate and I were both having a rough semester. One week I was sick, and then a couple of weeks later she was sick with something else. So, we took turns taking each other to urgent care to see what was up. Instead of just borrowing a car, my roommate took time out of her very busy schedule to serve and care for me.
This is a community of people who are willing to serve. Not only do we serve each other, but we have a commitment to serving our community. Although ministry hours are required to graduate, we have such a great time serving people outside of CCU and showing them the example of Jesus. By serving the student body and the community off campus, you can be like Jesus, humbly serving others with self-giving service. By attending CCU you not only choose to learn academically, but you also choose to learn to become like Jesus with a spirit of humility.