Wednesday of Holy Week

John 13:1-20
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 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. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'

"I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."

These twelve friends of Jesus knew the meaning of “devotional time with God.”

They didn’t set out fifteen minutes at the beginning or end of each day for a “devo;” they followed the Christ for close to three years: homeless, transient, outcast, and evading arrest.

At the call of Christ, Peter had left everything to follow Him. Surely, he knew what it meant to be devoted to the Christ? Instead, Peter tried to stop Him with a question in v.6 and a retort in v.8 that amount to a very polite way of saying, “Not on my watch, Lord!”

Until now, Peter hadn’t let the Son of God love him and hadn’t allowed himself to be blessed by His love. He hadn’t allowed Jesus to draw him close.

Suddenly, in these verses, his Rabbi and Master approached Peter in the lowest servant’s role dressed to do the least desirable task. Peter recognized that he ought to be the one washing Jesus’ feet.

Jesus modelled selfless servanthood as the greatest devotion that anyone could show. Jesus restored the cultural standard of love to the high watermark of God’s love. And in blessing Peter with a humble love of heavenly portion, Jesus revealed that true devotion is pressing in to intimacy with Him.

If you haven’t let Jesus wash your feet yet, then give in and let God love you.

If you have let Him wash your feet but you have settled there and told Him, with one reason or another, that it was enough, then let God love you with a greater intimacy than you ever thought He could before.

These are the devotional times God is waiting for us to have with Him.

VS