On this night not only did Jesus inaugurate the Eucharist, but it is also when Jesus revealed a deeper layer of His great love for us by washing the Disciples feet. John 13 stars with the Holy Spirit telling us that He “loved them to the end.” True love requires being vulnerable, and transparent, and Jesus was surely that when He stripped down to His loin cloth and got down on His hands and knees and washed their feet. O my what love. Peter was embarrassed by Jesus washing his dirty feet, yet Jesus insisted that the key to perpetual fellowship with Him wasn’t never getting dirty, but being honest about the dirt, and allowing Him to cleanse us. Look at His humility in His love for us. We couldn’t go up to Him. He had to, and still does, come down to us. He again, and again becomes small for us, so that we can receive His love. In washing their feet, He was also revealing to them what was to come. He was giving them something to remember. They would soon need to remember His humble love. During the meal, after telling them that one of them would betray Him, and watching them look at themselves, and then at each other, trying to figure out who it would be, told them that they would ALL fall away. At this point, with Peter leading the way, they all declared that they would die before they would betray Him. Of course they all did fall away, and abandoned Him in His most critical hour. I think when the dust cleared, wallowing in shame, guilt, and condemnation, certain that they had gone too far this time in their failure The Holy Spirit began to bring back their memory that experience of Jesus, who didn’t seem at all surprised that they all had dirty feet, kneeling down and and joyfully washing them clean. At that point, I can imagine they began to think to themselves, “Who is like this Man.” I think they began to realize, more than ever before that HE IS REALLY GOING TO LOVE ME TO THE END.
