not just an {image}

Most people know the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. On the outside, it seems like such a simple, self-explanatory account of Jesus. But today I'm reminded that the Word of God is so much more than that.

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
// John 13:1-5


The foot-washing signifies more than just how we are to serve, but who we are to BE.

Jesus wasn't putting on a show. He didn't just lower Himself halfway. He put His entire self in the position. There's no fetching the servant boy to go get water and put it in a basin. Nobody else is directed to get a wet rag so Jesus could just wipe a little and be done. No, the very Son of God laid aside His garments, girded Himself with the clothes of the lowliest position, got it all prepped, and got down on the dirty floor to wash every single one of His disciples' grimy feet. He wasn't just showing us the image of a servant to follow, but the very personification of a servant to become.

"The form of God was not exchanged for the form of a servant; it was revealed in the form of a servant. In the washing of their feet the disciples, though they did not understand it at the time, saw a rare unfolding of the authority and glory of the incarnate Word, and a rare declaration of the character of the Father Himself." 

// F. F. Bruce

Sure, these were His beloved disciples, whom He walked with closely and loved deeply. But Jesus had complete knowledge of what was about to happen. The most agonizing time of His life on earth, the crucifixion, was about to take place, and Jesus knew that these feet He was washing would flee from fear. These feet would take them into hiding during the most pivotal time in history. Yet, He washed them. He served them. He loved them.

So what does Jesus do after this stunning display of love? He tells the disciples:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” // John 13:34-35


I recently listened to a podcast by Tim Keller about Galatians 5:22-23. The following are snippets from the teaching:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

"The verse has a singular noun, a singular verb, and then a plural predicate. It says “The fruit of the Spirit IS.” It doesn’t say “the fruits of the Spirit are.” My guess is that that’s deliberate. Because Paul’s understanding is that these traits are not individual, separable traits. They interpenetrate each other and they’re interdependent on each other.... They are basically all aspects of the same thing. The fruit of the Spirit is organic, and organisms grow and become more complex from a single cell (in most cases).... You can’t be patient with people or life unless you are incredibly humble. You can’t be kind to be people and stick with difficult people unless you have a lot of self-control. You can’t have integrity and be the same and honest with every crowd unless you have a tremendous amount of inner peace. If they’re not all growing together, they’re not there at all. We don’t think like that. We look at lists like this and think “I got a couple of those that I’m really good at and a couple I’m really bad at.” Now, this is a little bit of a generalization because you can have lag, they don’t have to grow completely symmetrically but they’re interrelated so they gotta all be growing together or you don’t have any of them."

To me, all those attributes of the Spirit are grounded in the first thing - love.

Feel totally defeated? I do. Trust me, I've tried various ways of showing this level of love and being the fruit of the Spirit, but it just left me with burn out, bitterness, legalism, frustration, and false humility.

There is absolutely no way to grow spiritually in this except for this: to encounter Jesus at the cross. DAILY.

It's literally mind-boggling to try and contemplate the kind of love that says "...having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." But for us, that's not the end. After dying on the cross, Jesus rose again and sits at the right hand of God for eternity (aka - an infinite time with no beginning and end). So this amazing "love to the end" doesn't actually have an end. It's offered to us daily by Jesus Himself. Too often I find myself relating to Peter, who reacts to Jesus washing His feet with both rejecting His service and then trying to "get more" from Him (see John 13:6-10). In my pride, I want to tell Jesus what I think I deserve or what I think will grow me the most spiritually.

Who am I even kidding? Jesus already knows who I am. He already knows my faults.
But He is patient. Oh so patient. And He's got this never-ending supply of this great thing called GRACE. He knows that the fruit of the Spirit don't just show up overnight. Anyone who knows even the smallest amount about plants knows that nothing just sprouts up immediately.
He isn't concerned about "image". He is concerned with the person. And His everlasting love remains steadfast as we go up and down and all around in our walk with Him.

No matter what season you're in (whether it be very fruitful or maybe a bit dry), take heart in the unchanging love of the Father. Walk in the truth of how much God desires to pour His love into you and change your life into something far beyond anything you could hope or imagine.

May the world know that we are His disciples. Not for what we try and portray, but for our genuine, Christ-like, not-defined-by-the-world kind of love.

The love of a servant.