At The Feet Of Betrayal

"After washing their feet..."
John 13:12

I almost missed this. Jesus washed "their" feet. He washed the feet of all the disciples, even the one who would betray Him. Betray means to give over the hands of another. Jesus knew that Judas was going to turn Him over to the hands of another. He had foreknowledge of the betrayal and yet He served the very one who would turn against Him. He also keep this knowledge to Himself. He did not slander Judas to the other disciples.

If I had the foreknowledge of someone betraying me the last thing I would want to do is serve Him and the first thing I would want to do is run tell someone. Jesus goes beyond serving. He humbly lowered Himself at the feet of this His enemy and washed His feet. Truth be told when I have post-knowledge of betrayal I don't want to serve my betrayer.

The example He set for us in the upper room is impossible for us to do in our own human flesh. But with God all things are possible. I loved the insight IVP commentary offered:

Having taken off his outer garment (himation), Jesus was left with his tunic (chiton), a shorter garment like a long undershirt. Slaves would be so dressed to serve a meal (cf. Lk 12:37; 17:8). Jesus tied a linen cloth around his waist with which to dry their feet, obviously not what one would expect a master to do. A Jewish text says this is something a Gentile slave could be required to do, but not a Jewish slave (Mekilta on Ex 21:2, citing Lev 25:39, 46). On the other hand, footwashing is something wives did for their husbands, children for their parents, and disciples for their teachers (b. Berakot 7b; cf. Barrett 1978:440). A level of intimacy is involved in these cases, unlike when Gentile slaves would do the washing. In Jesus' case, there is an obvious reversal of roles with his disciples. The one into whose hands the Father had given all (13:3) now takes his disciples' feet into his hands to wash them (cf. Augustine In John 55.6).

I am not suggesting we offer a footwashing ceremony for all those who have betrayed us. My take-away from today's reading is my attitude to those who have betrayed . I need to be more like Christ. Christ took on the attitude, position, and posture of a servant. A servant does what the Master tells him to do. If we take this position and are asked to reconcile with our enemy or do something for our enemy we don't want to do, we should do it. (Did I just say that?-Dog---that is hard, almost impossible-almost.)

Jesus' obedience pleased His Father and our obedience will please Him, too. I have to ask: "Wendy, how bad do you want to please your Father?"