John 13:8 | Learning to Receive
John 13:8 ESV says, “Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’”
For most of us, the most challenging part about abiding is receiving. As much as I try to understand it, grace is a mystery to me.
We are like Peter. When Jesus moves to serve us, we recoil and reject the help. We say, “God, I don’t need that from you! I don’t deserve it!”
What Jesus says in this passage is interesting. He does not encourage Peter that it is going to be okay. He could have said, “Trust me. I want to do this for you.” Instead, he nearly commanded Peter to let him serve him.
It shows me that we can’t have a relationship with God unless we open up to him. In the most upside-down way, God has required us to receive all the blessings of life from him when we didn’t deserve them. Suddenly, receiving from God is not an optional benefit of being religious. It is a requirement for holiness.
More so, Jesus demonstrates humility and sacrifice by washing Peter’s feet. He requires us to recognize his absolute purity and love as he serves us in our filth and immaturity. It wasn’t humility that kept Peter from allowing Jesus to wash his feet. It was pride. When Jesus moved to the servant position, it exposed the entitlement and self-sufficiency of all the other disciples. None of them would serve each other like that–much less Jesus!
I marvel at how such a simple gesture can wreck our perception of righteous living.
I wonder today what God has been speaking to you that you are resisting. Have you been pushing away his grace because you are holding out on a chance to earn some Christian credit? Are you afraid of what Jesus might think of your mess and your problems?
Jesus knew that Peter would deny him, yet he still washed his feet in the act of servanthood. To abide is to receive as much as it is to give. Meditate on this story from John 13 and ask God to add to your understanding.
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