I gave you an example that you also should do as I did.

John 13:1-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. ² During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 

⁵ Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ⁶ So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” ⁸ Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸ I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ¹⁹ From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

²¹ When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” ²² The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. ²³ There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. ²⁴ So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” ²⁵ He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” ²⁸ Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. ²⁹ For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says:   “You have heard that it was said,‘You shall love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ But I say to you,love your enemies, bless those who curse you,do good to those who hate you, and prayfor those who spitefully use you and persecute you,that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; forHe makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?Therefore you shall be perfect, justas your Father in heaven is perfect.”    The good news for us is that Jesus does not ask us to do, or expect of us, what He Himself has not done and empowered us to do, in Him. In today’s text it says:  “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’”     Jesus washed even Judas’ feet. Even though He knew Judas would betray Him, Jesus washed His feet. He humbled Himself as a servant, even to Judas, His betrayer.  

Jesus says:  “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”   In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   Many today seek to go the great works of Jesus, opening blind eyes, healing the sick, restoring the lame; even raising the dead, as Jesus did. I fully believe we can and we should seek to do these things. Jesus says we will and that He Himself will do it. Again, He asks nothing of us that He Himself has not done and empowered us to do through Him.    Is perhaps the reason though, that we fail to walk in the power we should have to do the great things, the miracles of Christ, that we fail and are even unwilling to do the more noble and humble things; serving one another, even blessing and serving those who persecute us, those who use us, those who are our enemies; even those who betray us?     There are many things we do in the church to remember Jesus and to do as He did. We partake of communion, in remembrance of Him. We may even have a tradition of washing feet. These things are good, but we need to guard ourselves in what we do and why we do it. The washing of feet should be done out of compassion, not compulsion. Having a tradition of washing the feet of those who we fellowship with does not compare to what Jesus did, washing the feet of Judas, His enemy. Traditions are good if they are truly to remind us of what Jesus did and prepare us to do it also.  

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”   It can be very difficult to know who it is that Jesus will send to us on any given day. We do not know whether they will be rich or poor. We don’t know what their race or ethnicity might be, if they will be young or old; friend or foe. In Matthew 25:34-46 Jesus says:   “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”    Who will it be that Jesus sends to us today? Will we receive them? Will we love and serve them, even our enemies? Jesus never asks anything of us that He Himself has not done and empowered us to do. If we would do the great works of Christ, may we begin with the humble works of service, love and compassion.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You that You have both given us an example of how we should live and also the power to do it. Lord Jesus, thank You in advance for everyone You will send to me today. Regardless of their need and regardless of their situation, regardless even of their relationship to me, whether friend or foe, by the power of the Holy Spirit, according to Your word and Your example, may I love and serve them with compassion, not compulsion. May I do the works that You did, even greater works and even the humble works.     Amen.