Day 27 — Washing Feet

“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.”

— John 13:14–15 (BSB)

It was the night before Jesus died. He and His disciples gathered in an upstairs room to eat the Passover meal together.

In those days, people wore sandals and walked on dusty, dirty roads. When you came into a house, a servant would usually wash your feet. It was a job for the lowest servant in the house. Nobody wanted it. Feet were dirty and smelly!

But that night, no servant washed their feet, and none of the disciples offered to do it. In fact, Luke tells us that around this time, the disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24).

Then Jesus got up from the table. He took off His outer robe, wrapped a towel around His waist and poured water into a bowl. And He began to wash His disciples’ feet, one by one.

The room must have gone completely silent. The Son of God, on His knees, scrubbing the dirty feet of fishermen!

When Jesus came to Peter, Peter said, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet? Never!” But Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” Jesus wasn’t just washing their feet. He was giving them a picture of what He was about to do on the cross: wash away their sins.

When He finished, Jesus sat down again and explained. “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

Jesus turned the world’s idea of greatness upside down. The world says the greatest people are the ones who get served. Jesus says the greatest people are the ones who serve.

You probably won’t wash anyone’s actual feet today. But you can serve in a hundred other ways: doing the dishes without being asked, helping a classmate who’s struggling, taking out the trash, letting someone else go first. Serving isn’t glamorous. But it’s what Jesus did.

Think about it: What’s a “dirty job” at home or at school that nobody wants to do? Could you do it to serve like Jesus?

Try this: Serve someone in your family today in a way they don’t expect, without being asked and without bragging about it.

Dear Jesus, You are the King of everything, but You knelt down and washed Your friends’ feet. Thank You for serving me by dying for my sins. Help me serve others the way You did, even when it’s not fun and nobody notices. In Your name, Amen.