How confusing is the paradox of Jesus, God Himself incarnate in mortal flesh.
If you’d lived there back then, you would have seen this scene a hundred times already. A guy hitches a towel round his waist. He’s going to wash the dust and grime off the feet of the guests. Usually it’s a slave doing this disgusting task. But, whoa! This time it’s Jesus, the teacher, fixin’ to wash the feet of his disciples.
Imagine yourself one of them. Now the Master is approaching you with towel and sloshing bowl, ready to plant His knees on the hard floor before you, ready to attend to your feet.
Peter said, “No way!” I know you would say that same: “No way, José. I should be the one kneeling. I should be washing you.”
What Jesus does next terrifies you.
He’s serious, dead serious. He looks straight at you, tilts His head, narrows His eyes and says, “You sit down and do as I tell you, or you and I are done.”
Capeesh? You don’t get to tell Him what should and should not happen. This is no servant of yours; this is your Sovereign King, even when He adopts a servant role.
The suffering servant. The Lion of Judah. Do you hear Him roar? Or purr, but in such a way that the stone walls of that upper room vibrate in fear of Him? His claws are retracted, but His paw comes at you like an iron cannonball wrapped in seven eiderdown comforters.
Shush, disciple, do as He says. Cast aside your Air Jordans or Jimmy Choos. Let Him wash. You’re right: you don’t deserve Him. But let Him wash.
Dr. Conrad Gempf is an author and scholar who taught New Testament at London School of Theology until his retirement in 2023. He will serve as lecturer at Camp Arcadia for Family Week 9.
