Jesus Washes Feet: Secure Enough to Serve
Years ago, on a mission trip to Haiti, I knelt with a bucket of water and washed the feet of widows who had walked long, dusty roads to be there. I'll admit the night before, I felt uncomfortable. Washing a stranger's feet is intimate and humbling. But some of us wept as we did it, because it was such a clear picture of what Jesus did in John 13.
The lie the orphan believes
In John 13, during the Last Supper, Jesus rises from the table, lays aside His outer garments, ties a towel around His waist, and begins washing His disciples' feet. That example confronts one of the biggest lies the orphan mindset believes: if I lower myself, I will lose myself. The orphan thinks belonging has to be earned, so they perform for acceptance and refuse to give up any status they think they've gained.
I think we've all felt this. You sense God leading you to pray for a coworker, encourage a neighbor, or buy a meal for the person standing at the intersection. Then the thought comes: What will people think of me? That's the fear of losing your reputation and your dignity in the eyes of others. And because the orphan mindset is so insecure, it makes the moment about us when God is trying to make it about them.
What Jesus knew
John gives us something no other gospel does: a look at what was going on in Jesus's mind. Verse 3 says Jesus knew the Father had given all things into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. Jesus did this knowing Judas would betray Him, that every disciple would desert Him, and that He was hours from an excruciating death.
His security covered His whole timeline. He was secure about His past, even though people likely questioned how He came into the world. He was secure about His present, even when religious leaders criticized Him. And He was secure about His future, even when His own disciples didn't understand where He was going.
That's what the Father's love offers us: freedom from shame about the past, freedom from procrastination that comes from fear of failing, and freedom from anxiety about what's ahead.
Peter's objection, and Peter's lesson
When Jesus came to Peter, Peter refused: "You shall never wash my feet." Foot washing was a servant's job, not a rabbi's. Jesus told him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Years later, Peter wrote, "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another… Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you" (1 Peter 5:5–7). He understood.
The one permission Scripture gives your reputation
As I studied this, I noticed that Scripture only ever gives us permission to do one thing with our reputation: humble ourselves. Our part is to humble ourselves; God's part is to lift us up in due time. That isn't God holding us back. It's God protecting us. His kingdom is upside down. When you climb the world's ladder, what waits at the top isn't freedom. It's slavery. But in God's economy, the greatest among you is the servant of all.
We are foot washers
Jesus said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." The dust on the disciples' feet was literal, but it also represented time spent out in the world. We walk through six days of social media, news cycles, and the world throwing dust on us before we gather on Sunday. When we stoop to serve, through a word of encouragement, a prayer, a cup of coffee, or sitting with someone in their pain, we wash that dust away.
You don't lose yourself when you lower yourself. We lower ourselves so that God can work through us for the sake of others and the world.
Key ideas
You don't lose yourself when you lower yourself. The orphan mindset believes stooping to serve costs status and reputation; Jesus, the perfect Son, shows the opposite.
Fear of what people think is an identity problem. Insecurity makes serving about us, when God is trying to make it about them.
Jesus served from security, not toward it. He knew where He came from, what the Father had given Him, and where He was going, so He could serve hours before betrayal and death.
The Father's love frees us from shame, procrastination, and anxiety. Security about the past, present, and future removes what freezes us.
Humbling ourselves is our job; exalting us is God's. In God's upside-down kingdom, the world's ladder leads to slavery, and the greatest is the servant of all.
