During this time of year, Christians often reflect and celebrate Jesus’ death on Good Friday and resurrection on that historic Easter Sunday. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, forgiveness of sins and salvation was made available to all humanity. This is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, that Jesus, God’s only Son, came to this Earth and lived a perfect life, died as payment for our sin that separates us from God, rose from the grave conquering both sin and death and through faith in him we are reconciled to God the Father.
This is where we tend to leave it. This is the story most of us have heard, and it is true. This is an amazing story of hope for all people and as followers of Jesus, we should never grow weary of sharing this Good News with the world. But, I think we have stopped short of the complete picture. The term Christian refers to people who are FOLLOWERS of Jesus. When Jesus called his disciples he would say to them, “Come, follow me.” This call to follow him remains true to us today.
In the Gospel of John, before Jesus faces the cross, we read in Chapter 13 of this amazing act of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. In 1st century Judaism, the washing of someone’s feet was an act performed by servants or slaves, certainly not by an honored rabbi (teacher) which is why when Jesus gets to Peter he says, “No, you shall never wash my feet.” (John 13:8 NIV) Jesus was their teacher and Lord (John 13:13) and yet he humbled himself to the place of a servant and washed his disciples’ feet. Jesus then tells them, “I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (13:15-17). Jesus did not come just to die, he came to be an example to his followers on how to live.
As we continue to read chapter 13, we see that Jesus also gives a commandment to his followers. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (13:34-35). This command has the phrase “one another” which is a reciprocal pronoun, meaning that two or more people have to take part in the action. As followers of Jesus, we cannot be obedient on our own; we have to do it together with “one another.”
We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and not participate in obedience to his commands. John writes in one of his letters to the church, “Whoever says, ‘I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” (1 John 2:4).
This is a heavy truth for us to come to terms with as followers of Jesus. If we are going to pronounce to the world that we love God with our words, our actions should communicate the same thing. This is no small task, and it requires grace and patience as we step into each other’s mess and wash one another’s feet, but it is the command we have been given all the same. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
God Bless,
Ken Stroupe
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