It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1-5)
Think about this for a moment: It clearly states here that Jesus knew that “the hour had come” – He was going to His death. We also learn that the devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus.
So…knowing that He was about to be betrayed; knowing He was going to His death; knowing the very one that He loved and called His friend was going to be the one to betray Him; and knowing that His betrayer was sharing this last meal with Him…what was Jesus’ response? He knelt down at Judas’ feet, washed off the dirt and grime, and gently dried them off, making him clean.
Jesus washed Judas’ feet right along with all the others. He loved and even served Judas, even while knowing that this very same man would be the one who betrayed Him…..How amazing is that?
And what do you suppose was going through Judas’ mind while this was happening? It doesn’t say, but we do know that it did not stop him from leaving just moments later to meet with the soldiers that he would lead to the garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus.
It is this example, more than possibly any other of the incredible things that our Lord did in His time here that sets the bar at a nearly unreachable height for us – what a life He led!
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8)
#LoveMatters