In one of the seemingly most paradoxical moments in all of history, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings humbles himself into a position of servant in order to wash the feet of His followers. Jesus takes one of the lowliest jobs on for himself. Even in our time, feet are not considered the most hygenic part of our bodies. Back then it was even worse because their footwear was only sandals, and they walked on dusty roads. This made their feet extremely dirty, hard, and just generally unpleasant. That is why it was such a sign of humility for Jesus to do this for them.

Jesus was the leader. It was within His power and authority for Him to order one the disciples to do this. After watching their relationship in the Gospels, it would not be hard to imagine that even if Jesus asked one of the disciples, they would do it for Him. Even if Jesus did not ask them to do that, He could have let them remain with dirty feet or clean their own feet.Yet Jesus did not do that. He did it himself. He grabbed a towel and washed all of their feet.

Jesus did this for a specific purpose. He wanted them to see what it means to be a leader. Being a leader in God’s kingdom is not about serving yourself. Instead being a part of God’s kingdom is about serving others. We need to follow Jesus’ example. When there are unpleasant jobs, rather than trying to pass it off to other people, we need to take it ourselves. Like Jesus, we also need to look for ways to serve. It does not seem that any one else was worried about washing feet. But Jesus looked for ways to serve His disciples. We should likewise be looking to serve.