What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward, you will understand. – John 13:7
The Museum of Prado in Madrid, Spain, is home to many significant paintings by artists like Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, El Greco, and more. Among them is the Italian Tintoretto’s six-foot-high and eighteen-foot-wide painting of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. The well-known event in Scripture took place ahead of the Passover meal on the night in which Jesus was betrayed.
The artist’s bold strokes of the brush and the depth of the pigments capture well the darkness that would soon befall them. The disciples did not understand why their Master would discard His garments, wrap a towel about Himself, and stoop to wash their dusty and dirty feet.
Jesus knew what was ahead of Him, and He also knew what His disciples would face in their lives.
Later, the apostle Paul would write that Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).
Paul was referencing the birth of Jesus as He laid aside all the trappings of Heaven to be born and live among humanity.
Similarly, in today’s verse from John, Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, to wash the feet of His followers—men He loved so much, men who would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, men who would suffer and die, often torturous deaths, to serve Him.
In many traditions, on Maundy Thursday, the night before Good Friday, church leaders will wash the feet of their elders or others, or a pastor might wash the feet of several congregants.
It is a humbling experience for both. It is that level of humility that allows you to serve the Lord and your fellow believers with love and grace.
Ask the Lord to give you a greater understanding of how to be humble.
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