Washing The Dirtiest Part

Have you ever heard of someone washing another’s feet and wondering what the heck that means? I mean, growing up I knew that it was somewhere in the Bible, but honestly had no clue as to its significance. 

Well this story starts at a women’s event at the church in Nicaragua. They shared their dreams and goals from when they were young, before commitments and marriages. We talked about which have come true over time and which never did and why.

As we went around the circle I realized something. Despite cultural and economic differences, us women in the States have a lot of similar dreams:

To have a husband

To have a good job or own your own business

To have your own house

To have kids

Perhaps to even get a higher education

It was a small, yet striking revelation. We, as human kind, are not as different as the world tries to make it seem. Although not every woman may have these desires, the point is simply we all have hopes and dreams. 

For this culture in particular, it is extremely machismo. Men are superior in nearly every sense of the word. For many of these women, it might have been the first time their identity was built up outside of their identity as a mother or a wife. It might have been the first time for some of them to speak out loud, with listening ears, the desires of their hearts.

But my favorite part of the event was when my team got to wash the feet of all 20 women, as Jesus did with His disciples.

John 13:1-17 says:

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

WOW! HOW POWERFUL IS THAT! So, I was asked to share a message and cast some vision behind why we were going to be washing these ladies feet. When I prayed about it the Lord revealed some beautiful things, and this is what I shared with them as we began to fill the basins:

Jesus loved his disciples to the very end. As a part of his farewell, he chose to show his love to them by washing their feet. By doing so, he was demonstrating that no part of you is too unclean to touch. He desires closeness with us, despite the dirtiest parts of us and our past. Through this act, Jesus is saying ‘you belong to me and I to you. You are worthy. You were worth dying for on the cross.’ This event happened right before the Passover supper where Jesus broke bread and shared wine of the new covenant. It was the same night he was arrested and crucified. YET the most important thing on his mind at that moment was to serve and prepare his disciples in his last hours. Listen, it is easy to serve one another when it’s easy. It’s easy to serve those around you that love you back. But make no mistake. Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray him. And the Word says that because of that he THEN washed their feet. It’s a lot harder to serve those who don’t show you appreciation. It’s hard to serve those who don’t show you appreciation. It’s hard to serve when it’s gross and dirty. It’s hard to do the thing that no one else would dare do. So today we are going to wash your feet as Jesus did his disciples. It’s because you are worth it. And it is in knowing our worth that we are able to serve others the way Jesus served us. 

It was a beautiful thing to wash the feet of those ladies. But what brought me to tears was them deciding to wash OUR feet after. Of all people, our cook for the month, Danelia, washed mine. I’ve had the honor and blessing to cook alongside her throughout the month. Get to know her story, her daughter and her husband. We’ve shared laughter and stories and prayers. And here she was, one of the most humble women I’ve ever met, bending down to wash my feet. And as she did, I began to tear up because it was literally as if Jesus himself was washing my feet. It was an amazing picture.

I write this to say. Are you willing to let Jesus wash away the dirtiest parts of you? The deep dark secretes that you’ve never shared with a soul? The sins and judgement that you’ve committed? Will you let him wash it away? Will you let him love you to the very end?