I recently came across this meme which was very timely considering my church just celebrated The Passover on Sunday evening (we keep the Holy Days outlined in the Old Testament modified as specifically demonstrated by Jesus Christ His Own Self in the New Testament). Passover, for the uninitiated, is one such Old Testament Holy Day which dates back to the Book of Exodus when the children of Israel put the blood of a lamb on their door posts and lintels so that the Death Angel would literally pass over their house during the final plague of Egypt in which the first born were killed. The Old Testament commanded that the Israelites celebrate the Passover every year as a memorial to how God brought them out of Egypt.
By the time of Christ, the ceremony had become more of a lavish and relaxed meal. Christ changed things up a bit at "The Last Supper" (which was a Passover meal immediately before He was arrested and condemned to death). He taught His disciples about the new meaning of the Passover which included the breaking/eating of bread and sipping of wine to symbolize the broken body of Christ and His shed blood for the remission of our sins. Other places in scripture say that Christ took the beating leading up to His Cruxifiction so that we could be healed. The main thing that Christ did during that ceremony was wash the feet of His followers as an act of humility and service.
It is that act of service and humility that is a core practice in my church that baptized members perform every year as a solemn reminder of what He did for us. Most every year, we get a sermon or two leading up to The Passover talking about all the familiar bits about the bread, wine, the sacrifice, etc. Rarely does a minister focus on the foot washing. So, that is why struck me so strongly this year.
I tend to be a caretaker type personality to begin with, and acts of service come pretty naturally to me. That said, the point that brought me up short was that He KNEW He was going to die, He could have done ANYTHING, and He chose to wash the feet of his disciples.
I admit that, when I run through the things I might want to do if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, washing feet is not at the top of that list. If I am being perfectly honest, it's not even in the top 10. That said, I would want to take those last few hours and spend as much of it with my wife and daughter and those close to me as I possibly could.
We only get one chance at this ride, and there are no guarantees, do overs, returns or refunds. Make the most of it of the time you are given.
