MEEKNESS - FOOT WASHING

In the traditional custom of “washing feet,” Jesus taught that meekness was unconditional love, sanctification, and servanthood (John 13:2-17).A perfect example of meekness is Jesus. When He was reviled, He reviled not again. When He suffered, He did not threaten others but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously (1st Peter 2:23). When others offended Him, He never gave place to wrath. Because vengeance belongs to God, Jesus let His Father repay the evil done to Him with good. Jesus demonstrated meekness by being taught from instructions received from His Father God and from His earthly parents. A person who lacks meekness will not see a need for instructions from anyone in authority, such as God, parents, teachers, pastors, police, or government. At the age of twelve, Jesus was found in the Temple listening submissively to the learned teachers. He did not pose as their teacher, but He astounded them with His wisdom, intelligence, and understanding of the Scriptures. After Mary and Joseph had gone two days journey on their way home, they returned to find Jesus amazing the priest and elders. When His parents asked Him why He had stayed behind, Jesus replied, ‘Didn’t you know that I must be about My Father’s business’ (Luke 2:49). Jesus, meekly, respected His parents’ authority by going home with them, but Mary pondered these words in her heart. Subject to His father Joseph, Jesus not only learned the trade of carpentry, but He learned individual responsibility for His actions. Denying all fleshly temptations, His growth continued unimpeded by sin, but the natural process of growing-up was enhanced by a right relationship with His parents. His personal intellectual advancement in wisdom, His physical growth, His social training, and His spiritual development were part of the process of growing in meekness. “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). As a young man, He used His spiritual and intellectual knowledge to advance in wisdom. Growing in height as all twelve-year-old boys do, physically His stature increased, as he became an adult. He learned to socialize and communicate well with the people He knew. His spiritual stature increased, as He realized more and more the plan of the Father for His life. Meekness aided Jesus in becoming the Servant of God that was willing to lay down His life to redeem mankind.“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God: He rises from supper, and laid aside His garments: and took a towel, and girded himself…poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded” (John 13:3-6). In the traditional custom of “washing feet,” Jesus taught that meekness was unconditional love, sanctification, and servanthood. In Jesus’ day, it was customary to bath at public baths. On the return trip to the home, dust from the street would cling to a man’s feet. Arriving home, the long outer garment could be changed, but a household servant would wash the feet of a man (householder or guest) to make his body wholly clean. At the Last Supper when Jesus invited all of His disciples to eat the Passover with Him, no household servant was with them to perform this duty (John 13:2-17). Tabernacled in human flesh, “Jesus, knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God,” He arose from supper; and laid aside His [outer] garments, which symbolized His Divine powers that He had laid aside and left in heaven. Christ was with the Father before the foundation of the world, yet He came to earth in the form of Man. He declared His eternal existence when He said, “I and My Father are one.” In heaven Jesus laid aside his royal robe as King of Righteousness and came to earth to serve mankind. As a Man, filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, He laid aside His outer garments to wash His disciples’ feet. In those days, a girdle or belt was used to strengthen the loins to equip a man for a strenuous walk or for rapid, strenuous service (see Exodus 7:11). So Jesus took a towel and girded Himself for service. Jesus recognized His divinity, His authority as Lord of Creation, and His coming glory, and yet He took this task upon Himself. Very meekly, on His knees, He began to wash the disciples feet. When Peter bullishly asserted, “You’ll not wash my feet,” pride, independence, and self-will rose up in him rather than meekness. In meekness Jesus revealed that if He, Lord and Master of the Universe, washed His disciples’ feet, so should each disciple (believer) wash one another’s feet. The Lord’s commandment is that we love one another unconditionally.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: The utter devotion of the child of God to respect and love God is greatest when the child keeps His commandments and walks a godly path. The child, like His Master, will remove his coat for whole-hearted work in the harvest field and cleanse his feet from evil ways that he may walk humbly and softly with his Lord to build the kingdom. The lesson of “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” teaches that spiritually strong, meek saints will inherit and rule the earth with Him (Matthew 5:5). Jesus will soon take his rightful place as Ruler of the earth free from all of Satan’s deceptive tricks and free from all rebellion. Believers (saints) are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords. Developing the correct self-image of being in authority over Satan, yet under the authority of Jehovah God is meekness. To learn meekly to rule over the circumstances of your life prepares one to rule and reign as a king and priest forever. “Your earth” that you need to reign over now is that “plot of land” or the “soil of your heart.” What are you planting in “your earth?” Learn to plant seeds of character in meekness, goodness and righteousness. Meekness is the ability to rule over your life by walking in God’s strength, authority, ability and power. Jesus is the Sovereign Vine of agape/hesed love; we are the branches of His unconditional love to walk in meekness in the fear and respect of the Lord to build His kingdom. Without Him, without His unconditional love, we can do nothing!

SANCTIFICATION – A HOLY WALK: If the believer abides in Christ, he is holy as God is holy for he has had his spiritual bath and been cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus. Yet his feet are probably dirty from his daily walk where strife, anger, envy, jealousy, pride, and other carnal attitudes may have asserted themselves. He probably will need to be cleansed by the washing of the Word that brings repentance and forgiveness. Our daily walk must be clean and pure as we enter into God’s service. We are to prefer one another in love, as we forgive our brethren and walk in peace with each other in lowliness of mind, heart, and position to serve each other and encourage each other in paths of godliness. “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1st John 3:11). In our daily walk of life, if any man or woman does sin, there is still hope. “…Sin not. And if any Christian does sin, he has an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1st John 2:1). True repentance before the Father brings forgiveness and cleansing, for God expunges the negative entry from your ledger sheet of your life with the blood of Jesus that erases all confessed sin and all condemnation. He wipes out and replaces that negative entry with a positive entry of righteousness in Christ Jesus to keep your holy walk perfected before Him. Then, as a vessel sanctified unto honor, the cleansed Christian can enter into service to minister for the Lord in the office or position that He has called you to perform. Cleansed of the little foxes of “wrong attitudes” or “unconfessed sins,” the forgiven Christian can keep building his character upon the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ. Then when entering into the warfare of intercession, strongholds of the enemy can be easily pulled down, as you “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand. Stand in belief to see the promises of God manifest. Stand “therefore having your loins girt about with truth…”(Ephesians 6:13-14). Since the carnal man is always at enmity with the spiritual man, the loins are to be girded with a belt of truth to strengthen and equip a person for the long, strenuous warfare of the day in a hostile, unspiritual world. Sins, iniquities, and foolishness of little things that are allowed to remain unrepented of will bring chastening from the Lord. If still not repented of, the sin will grow and form negative character that will cause his or her foot to slip far from the narrow path of following Jesus Christ. Unconfessed sin, even the smallest of sin, can keep you from hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit accurately as you pray, minister or witness to someone. Be quick to confess to the Lord, even the smallest of wrongs, such as leaving a “bad taste” in someone’s mouth because of your attitude or action, and accept His forgiveness. Keep your vessel sanctified for the river of the Holy Spirit’s power to flow through you and be of service to Him. A person can be robbed of his reputation (what he is thought to be), but he cannot be robbed of his character because that is what he really is. Bind yourself to Christ so that His character becomes your sanctified character, and be one with Him.

SERVANTHOOD: James, John, and others had been arguing over who would be the greatest among them (Luke 22:24). The Master wanted them to see that the “spirit of lording authority over others” is not a meek and serving spirit. “If I your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet,” for I am your example. “I say to you, the servant is not greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than He that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 14-17). Believers are to deny worldly ambitions to be the greatest “in man’s eyes” and be without lust for money, power, and fame (Compare Matthew 18:2-4). The path to greatness is in being a servant to all to please the Father and do His will. When a believer submits himself to God and humbles himself before God and others, God will exalt that believer in the kingdom of God. We cannot exalt ourselves over others. In everyday relationships with others, quarrels, envy, and jealousy may arise, but we are to forgive one another and solve our problems by remaining in unity with Christ. If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you must be the servant of all…being meek and humble. Being a servant doesn’t mean being a slave under the dominion of another with no choice. Being a servant means volunteering your self to serve and having the ability to help bring deliverance for another’s problems.

Excerpt from Chapter13.