Day 75: Know and Do

John 13:12-17

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Comments

Jesus walked everywhere he went in a dry and dusty land that had neither sidewalks nor paved roads; by the end of the day, it was impossible not to be dirty.

Washing a guest’s feet was a sign of hospitality. This would not be done, by the host or hostess, but by the lowliest of servants.

Reflections

Jesus used an action-reflection method of teaching here by doing something and afterward explaining what he had done. Many people say, “I let my actions speak for themselves.” Can you think of a time when someone saw the good news of God’s love expressed in your actions without any explanation by you?

By washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus showed that no act of service was beneath his dignity. In what ways do your pride and sense of dignity interfere with serving those in need?

Jesus said we are blessed not in what we know, but in what we do. Are you experiencing this blessing?

Prayer

Help me find meaning and purpose, Lord, in humble acts of service and in humble explanations of the grace that moves me to care for those in need.