“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:13-15)

Washing smelly feet is no ordinary feat. In Jesus’ day, it was reserved for the servants and slaves. Even servants did their best to avoid being assigned to be the foot-washer.

You can tell that the disciples were quite taken aback that evening in the Upper Room when Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and started washing and drying their feet.

Peter expresses the sentiment of the entire group: “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Try reading it this way: “Lord, YOU’RE not going to wash MY feet, are you?” (with a tone of incredulity).

Now you get the shock value of what Jesus was doing.

The apostle Paul would express Jesus’ choice in these words: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant…”  (Philippians 2:6-7).

But, Jesus does not stop with simply washing his disciples’ feet. He then drops the bombshell: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

He was not just teaching theory or speaking metaphorically. He demonstrates it in a very practical way.

Jesus raises the bar way up high by stooping way down low.

“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

Did they get the point? Did they follow His example?

The pagan emperor Julian lamented that the Christians showed greater charity than the pagans: “These impious Galileans not only feed their own poor, but ours also… Whilst the pagan priests neglect the poor, the hated Galileans devote themselves to works of charity.”

History records that when an epidemic of the plague hit Alexandria in the third century, most of the population fled in fear, leaving the sick to fend for themselves. The Christians, however, stayed back to care for the sick and bury the dead. Many of them were infected in the process and died.

Wow! Clearly, the disciples had duplicated Jesus’ example enough for it to become the norm for the Church many generations down the road.

A number of years ago, Sulojana and I were introduced to a leader in a home-based business that we were building at the time. He was a sharp dresser, a smooth-talking and energetic motivator. While we admired him, we were also not entirely sure that he had our best interests at heart.

All of that changed when we were at a conference in Winnipeg together. When a tire went flat in our car, he came with me to the parking lot, put on the “donut”, took me to a garage and made sure it was all fixed up. He did not hesitate one bit to go low and get down and dirty. I was now ready to accept him as my leader.

Perhaps it should not surprise you to discover that he too was a follower of Jesus.

Dear friend, how high you rise in office depends on how low you go in service. As Jesus said elsewhere: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.” (Matthew 20:26-27)

Has anyone set such an example for you? Please share your responses with the rest of your DWOD family.