Jesus condescended the most because he loves us the most.
John 13:3-6 Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. 4 So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You going to wash my feet?"
This is Jesus last Passover celebration, his Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus knew God's timetable and that his final hour was drawing near. You and I would be very self-centered in this situation, just like the disciples were as they sat at the table with Jesus but instead of worrying about himself he is concerned with the men that he would leave behind and the strength of their faith.
On many occasions Jesus was asked who he is, where he came from and why he thought that he had the authority to scold the Pharisees. John tells us that Jesus knew that he came from God, he would return to God and he knew that God had given him the authority to do God stuff. Yet he did things that we wouldn't expect God to do.
It is difficult to imagine that Jesus had authority over absolutely everything, we can't even comprehend what that means, when we say that somebody has authority over something we know in our heads that the authority covers certain boundaries. A school teacher has authority in certain areas that we can clearly define but Jesus rules over things that we don't even know about.
Should the ruler over absolutely everything be my servant?
"No," Peter protested, "You will never ever wash my feet!"Jesus stepped down from the highest position and humbled himself, he made the greatest leap in condescension, we will probably never understand why he loves us so much that he would make this giant step from greatness to the lowliest servant.
| Only humble people love, and your capacity to love is directly related to your capacity to humble yourself. The less interested you are in yourself, the greater your capacity to invest yourself in somebody else. The lower you go in self-concern, the higher you go in concern for others. -John MacArthur |
I have never considered the connection between loving and being humble. Jesus willingness to be so humble and come down so low from his superior position in heaven is incredible. That level of selflessness is far superior to the love that we have that is self serving and seeks to gain something in return.
Shouldn't Jesus announce that I am his greatest follower?
Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank.These guys were so busy arguing about their rank and how well they were doing at following the Rabbi that they missed one of the most important qualities of a Christ follower. Think about this, the hands that control the universe, including all the angelic host, humbly washed the dirty feet of twelve undeserving apostles! And that includes the feet of the betrayer!
| Unworthy Servants |
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| Luke 17:7-10 "When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, 'Come in and eat with me'? No, he says, 'Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.' And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, 'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'" |
If I could wrap my head around the idea of how depraved I am then my level of gratitude would be increased along with my ability to love and serve the hurting world around me the way that Jesus did.
Help me Lord to see myself through your eyes for who I really am so I can fully appreciate what you have done for me.
