Painting Title: Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet
Artist: Ford Maddox Brown, Date: 1852-1860
Served by the Master
It takes humility to yield oneself to the ways of a master, but it takes more humility to yield oneself to the service of a master. For we follow a master with a desire to learn from him and not to be served by him. As the master imparts his knowledge and skills to us, we eagerly show our appreciation by serving him. We hope in so doing, we can use our humble service in some way to pay him back, like a tuition fee.
To let the master serve you instead is to surrender our agency of using service to reciprocate and to acknowledge that there is absolutely nothing we can do to pay back what the master has imparted to us. It is to acknowledge that we are forever at the receiving end in this relationship with the master. In this manner, the master gets the full glory alone.
We are called to follow Christ our Master. This call, before anything, is a call to be served by Him. To be served by Christ is to allow Him to do what we cannot do for ourselves, to shed His blood for us, to die for us , to pay the penalty of our sins in order to save and redeem us.
This is not just a one time service from Christ to us. For Christ is our Great High Priest, who always lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25). This means the eternal pre-occupation of God the Son is to intercede for His brothers and sisters. We will always need Christ's humble service through all eternity.
To receive Christ's humble service continually means we are to appropriate His death daily into our lives, to claim the cleansing power of His blood, and to enjoy the benefits of being a child of God each and every moment of our lives.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, "If i do not wash you, you have no share with me." It is Jesus saying to Peter, if you do not let me serve you, you will have no fellowship with me! Simon Peter did not fully understand what He meant. But he desired fellowship with Christ. He therefore stretched out his dirty and smelly feet and allow Jesus to wash them.
A commentary of the painting remarked: "At first, he seems almost to be scowling or pouting, resisting his Lord in performing such a menial and unpleasant task for him. But as you study his face, there’s a softness around his eyes, and his clasped hands—initially appearing to show resistance — start to resemble a prayer. Peter doesn’t fully understand what’s happening, but he is trying to, and he is obedient to his Lord, whether he comprehends it or not."
Today, Christ, our Master says to us: "if you do not let me serve you, you will not be able to enter eternal life with Me".
The Master cried out to those who would follow Him: Come those who are thirsty, come to the waters; come those who are weary, i will give you rest!
Cease striving, cease trying to make yourself worthy of God's love. Humble yourselves today, and let Christ wash your feet today. Hide not your dirty feet from Him, hide not your sins from Him. No matter how foul and smelly they maybe, stretch them out, come naked before Him and confess your sins before Him.
Surrender yourself to Christ's humble service, and let Him serve you and wash you with His cleansing blood today, everyday and through all eternity.