When my middle daughter was about three, I remember her trying to dress identically to her older sister. In the morning, she would see what her sister was wearing, and then dart off to put on the same outfit. It was very cute.
In John 13, Jesus has gathered his disciples for one of the last meals he will have with them. During this meal we are told that Jesus stands up, ties a towel around his waist and does something outrageous. He begins to wash his disciples’ feet.
When Jesus made it around the circle to Peter, Peter protested, declaring “You shall never wash my feet.”
Peter felt that it was inappropriate for Jesus to take such a lowly position, but that’s the whole point. Jesus came to serve. He came to do the dirtiest of all jobs and die on the cross.
That is why Jesus replies to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” What Jesus was doing with a basin of water was pointing forward to what he was going to do with his blood on the cross.
When Jesus is finished washing their feet he sits back down at the table and tells them this…
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
If we crown Jesus as king, if we have been washed by his blood, what sort of people should we be?
The answer is imitators of Jesus. People who humbly serve. People who put the needs of others before themselves. People who love until it hurts and then keep on loving.
Unlike that, we naturally want to draw up lists of who we would serve and who we wouldn’t. We sometimes try to work out who will see us serve and how we can benefit, even as we serve others.
Jesus does no such thing, and he calls us to do the same. We are called to dress ourselves with the same attitudes and actions that Jesus has. We are called to let our love fall like rain equally on those we think deserve it and those we think do not.