Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”- John 13:1-15
The chapter begins with an expression of love. Knowing His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, Jesus repeated His teaching by an illustration that impressed it forever on their minds and hearts. It was an act of complete love and dedication for He loved His own world and He loved them to the end. The Greek word for ‘end’ is telos, meaning ‘perfectly, wholly and completely.’
Expressing His oceanic love for us, the journey of Christ had been a life of unselfish service and His emphasis was not on whether we knew about them or understand them, but putting the teaching into practice. He calls on us to serve with humility and love others the same way…freely and sacrificially.
Although we were once washed completely clean at baptism, we will occasionally sin as we walk through this human journey together. We will spiritually get our feet dirty and we will need Christ to wash our feet to make us completely clean again. As Jean Vanier writes: “Forgiveness and celebration are at the heart of the community. We can only truly accept others as they are, and forgive them, when we discover that we are truly accepted by God as we are and forgiven by Him. It is a deep experience, knowing that we are loved and held by God in all our brokenness and littleness.”
“Lord, help me to understand and become compassionate of others by washing away anything I may see wrong and meanwhile, love and accept others as they are part of our family. And I realize I may also have serious faults that I am not conscious of…I trust you to deal with them in my life in due course.”
reflected by Tam Lontok
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