John 13:10 And you disciples are clean, but not all of you… 13:15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 

In John 13, John tells the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, and to be honest, I always thought the story was simply about being a servant. However! This week when I was reading it in preparation for teaching, I realized that Jesus specifically said, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” (John 13:8) … you won’t be clean… And he references Judas as not being clean even with his feet washed. The servant side of Jesus is displayed beautifully in His willingness to wash the feet of the man who was about to betray Him, no doubt, but I don’t believe that is the whole heart of the verse. Jesus cleansed the disciples and then told them to “do as I have done to you.” He is asking us to cleanse each other. Even Jesus knew washing someone’s feet was not going to cleanse them – He knew this truth about Judas. So how did Jesus cleanse His disciples? He pointed His life and every action and thought towards what was pure and clean and Good… to who IS Good… to our Good Father, so that they could be cleansed from the inside, bringing them back into Life and revealing His Perfect Father.

Once again, I believe the Message gets at the heart of it: “My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.” -John 13:11 (MSG)

These verses caused me to reflect on what it truly means to serve, and it seems our greatest service would be to take stock in what is pure and good and cleansing and live it out, abiding in He who is all these things so that His cleansing light may touch others. Jesus ever leads us back to that sweet abiding. Praise the Lord; He keeps it simple.