Wednesday, February 25

Scripture: John 13:5-10
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 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.”

A WHOA MOMENT

Have you ever experienced something that you didn’t realize the significance of until much later? I am often blindsided by a “whoa,” moment. “Whoa, I never realized how much [a particular moment] would affect my life.” Jesus says to Peter, “‘You do not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.’” Here, Jesus is giving Peter a hint that he will experience a “whoa” moment in the future regarding Christ’s washing his feet. Jesus wanted Peter to remember that moment.

I imagine that when Jesus started to wash the feet of the first disciple the room got quiet. Silence prevailed and the atmosphere was blanketed with the weight of significance. Christ knew that the moment would not quickly be forgotten and that its magnitude would hit Peter after the unfolding events at the cross.

Peter’s ignorance is evident in his exchange with Jesus.

Peter: “Don’t wash me!”

Jesus: “I must wash you.”

Peter: “Wash all of me!”

Jesus: “I don’t need to wash all of you.”

I imagine by this time Jesus might add, “Peter, you’re missing it!”

Have you had moments in your life like this, where the lesson or significance of some life event seems to be hidden from you? The “moral of your story” seems to be just around the bend and if you could just peek behind the curtain it would all make sense and clarity would be yours. Insight would be grasped and the purpose of said life event would be found.

I love the observational intensity that the artist captures in Peter’s eyes as he watches Jesus kneel before him and lovingly wipes away the dirt and grime from his feet. I imagine Peter asking himself, “What does Jesus intend in this moment?” He is looking and searching. Despite his ramblings Peter is trying to soak it all in. Jesus told him this would be important even though he wouldn’t understand right now.

We don’t always understand what Jesus is doing in our lives. Oh how the words “You do not understand now…” capture so much of our human existence! Through all the challenges we face - the unexpected death of a family member or a close friend; financial debt and struggles to make ends meet; the weight of work and ministry burnout; broken or unfaithful marriages; recurring cancer in the family - these cause us to ask big questions. Why God, would you create a world that would become broken? Why would you bring two people together to watch them get torn apart? Why would you allow destructive cells to ravage the human body? Perhaps even as you sacrifice something during the Lenten season you are questioning the sanity of your decision!

The force of grace is truly beyond our present vision. God’s horizon for the future is far beyond what we can perceive with our limited sight. Whatever your present circumstances, Christ is inviting you to be patient and not seek understanding, but to trust and walk with him. We will not understand everything on this side of Heaven. The fabric God is weaving is far bigger than our own thread.

Can we be open to the God who holds all the questions of the present and invites us to a later understanding; who says, “‘...afterward you will understand.’”? Perhaps, holding this closely to heart, we could entertain the true meaning of washing the feet of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I wonder if we can be open to the God who holds the mysteries of the present in the palm of his hands and invites us to trust that our “whoa” moment will come in due time, in this life or the next.

PRAYER
Lord, there are things in my life that I don’t understand. Things that frustrate me or make me doubt who you say you are. Sometimes I even doubt your presence in my life. Yet there is more at work than I can see. There is more at stake than my own story. You know everything. Help me to trust you. Help me to be open to your timing in my life. Amen.

Kevin Bennie, Department of Spiritual Development