He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 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.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
On a recent vacation, I noticed on the shuttle bus how many people were on their cell phones and especially how many of them had cracked screens. People choose to live with broken screens for many reasons. But when it comes to our lives, there is no reason we have to live with a broken life. Jesus is the ultimate repair man and his service is free. He already paid the price on the cross for you and can help in unexpected ways.
Jesus unexpectedly washed the disciples feet like a servant at their last supper. Simon Peter was perhaps confused, astonished, and didn’t understand Jesus’ actions when it was his turn. Jesus answer to him was just as astonishing, “If I do not wash you, you have no share in me.” It’s like he was saying, “If I can’t be your servant, I won’t be your Lord.” If Peter missed the compassion Jesus was offering him and the lesson Jesus was teaching him, he would be missing Jesus entirely. Do you find yourself resisting Jesus like Peter did? It often feels easier and less painful to keep control ourselves and be self-sufficient, instead of letting him take the broken pieces of our lives. We lack trust that he can handle it. We won’t ask for help. We have fear and other reasons we chose to live broken instead of whole.
If you are tired of the broken pieces cutting your fingers on the “screen” of your life, you don’t have to live with the cracks anymore. Its messy, its real. But we can admit it, and thus deal with it. Try this today. Let the compassion of Jesus take care of the messiness. Open yourself to being repaired, transformed, and take as long as you need. Remove your shoes and socks and sit. As a symbol of release for the brokenness, put your palms down and let go. His forgiveness, grace, and love will clear the sin away. As an acknowledgement of receiving, turn your palms up. He loves you and has so much to give you.
By Donna Burns
