John 13:3-5a (ESV)
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel tied it around his waist. Then he poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciples feet.”
What strikes me every time I read this passage is the consistency Jesus had in His expression of love towards each of His disciples, even while knowing of the betrayal to come by Judas and the denial of Peter. Our human tendency in the face of betrayal is to respond to the pain of that betrayal. We cut ties, we hold grudges, and we build fortified walls around our hearts to keep away any possible future threat. Yet that only reveals our lack of understanding about the power of God’s Kingdom and His ways.
“Jesus knowing…rose from supper.” His knowing enabled action. What did He know that enabled radical love? He knew that He was from God. Consistency in loving comes out of the knowledge of whose we are. As children of God, He is the protector of our hearts. When we stand in the truth of who God is, and what that means for us as His children, self-protection or subtle revenge are done away with. We can stand in bold love, forgiveness and grace, serving our betrayer in humility, in the same way, we would serve the one who has loved us much.
In washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus was giving us as an example to follow, the new commandment to love one another. Oh, that we walk in the supernatural grace to love as Jesus loved.