LOCUSTS AND HONEY
Vol. 3
Humility the Forgotten Virtue-Part 2
Last week we talked about how Jesus taught his disciples that they were to serve one another. He then demonstrated this principle by washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. In Part 2 of our study of humility and foot washing, I will be covering a number of different topics and so I apologize in advance for jumping around, but then jumping around is what a grasshopper does and therefore it is perfectly appropriate for a newsletter named “Locusts and Honey.” Also before we embark upon our journey, you may rest assured that there is a connection between humility and the washing of feet.
John the Baptist
Since Locusts and Honey were part of the diet of John the Baptist, I will begin with a few comments about John. John was a cousin of Jesus and had a humble spirit. Living in the desert he was satisfied with a diet of locusts and honey. As John saw the ministry of Jesus increase and his own ministry decrease, he did not get mad at Jesus but in a humble spirit acknowledged that it was appropriate that his ministry must decrease as the ministry of Jesus increased (John 3:30). Instead of being jealous at the success of Jesus, John rejoiced at the increase of the ministry of Jesus like the “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29).
When John first started talking about Jesus, he said that he (John) was not worthy to loose His (Jesus’) sandal. Many commentators on this verse comment that the job of washing feet was only an obligation of the lowest servant or slave. In effect, John was commenting that he (John) was not even worthy to act as a slave and remove the sandal from the foot of Jesus and wash his feet. (See various commentaries on John 1:27 and Luke 3:16). The grasshopper now jumps.
Foot washing in the Roman World
Below is a quotation about foot washing in the Greco-Roman world from a write-up by the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rahway, N.J. :
“Footwashing was also a sign of hospitality. One of the primary forms of footwashing was as a sign of welcome. According to Thomas, the best documented and most frequent accounts of footwashing are found in contexts where the washing precedes a meal or banquet. Similar to the Old Testament, footwashing was almost exclusively the duty of slaves or servants. Not only do servants draw the water, wash the feet, and dispose of the water; but it appears that a slave could not refuse to render this service, no matter how old he or she might be. Thomas says, “Footwashing could be used as a synonym for slavery. To wash another’s feet symbolized the subjugation of one person to another. Those who received footwashing from another were social superiors of those who performed the task. “
In many cases, the host instead of having servants wash the feet of the guests simply provided a bowl of water and a towel so that the guest could wash their own feet. This custom was probably referred to by Jesus when he had gone to a banquet put on by Simon the Pharisee. Jesus said to Simon at Luke 7:44 “…you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.” Jump, Grasshopper, jump.
Had Jesus ever had his feet washed?
Interestingly, Jesus had his feet washed about a week before he instituted the Lord’s Supper. His feet were washed at a banquet put on by Simon the Pharisee in Bethany. This event is described in detail in Luke 7:36-50 and John 12: 1-11. In Luke’s account the woman is described as “a sinner” but in John’s account she is positively identified as Mary the sister of Martha. In Luke’s account an alabaster jar of fragrant oil is broken and the woman washes the feet of Jesus with her tears, wipes them with the hair of her head and kisses his feet. In John’s account, the woman is identified as Mary who takes the oil of spikenard and wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair. According to John 12:1, this occurred in Bethany six days before Passover.
In short, within a week of the Last Supper, a woman had anointed Jesus feet with her tears and precious oil and had wiped his feet with her tears. In Luke’s account Jesus pointed out that the woman had washed and kissed his feet whereas Simon the Host at the banquet at Bethany had not given Jesus the customary kiss. (Simon’s son is apparently Judas Iscariot who did give Jesus a kiss of greeting when he betrayed him after the Lord’s Supper a week after the banquet at Bethany). Jesus also pointed out to Simon that Simon had not given him water for washing his feet (or a towel either) but that the woman (Mary) had washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and anointed them with oil.
It is instructive to me that as we consider humility, foot washing and service, the one who showed humility and service to Jesus was not a man but instead was a woman. As we contemplate service to others and service to Christ we should remember that it was a woman who washed the feet of Jesus not a man. Likewise, it was Jesus who taught us all that we need to show humility, service and love one to another, by taking on the role of a servant. Jump, Grasshopper, jump.
When was foot washing done?
One of the questions that generally is not raised is why foot washing was done at the Last Supper at the time that it was done. As our earlier discussion pointed out, foot washing was generally something done before the meal. Why was it done in the middle of the meal (or after the supper portion of the meal) in the instance of the Lord’s Supper.
There is no clear answer to this but we can make some conjectures. We know that the bowl, water and towel were present at the Lord’s Supper because Jesus uses these implements when he gets up to wash the disciples feet.
One possible answer is that the bowl, water and towel were present when the disciples came in. However, there were no servants or slaves to take on this lowly task. People generally did not wash the feet of people who had the same rank as themselves. And so, the bowl, towel and water simply sat there during the first part of the Lord’s Supper unused because none of the disciples were going to wash the feet of Jesus or the feet of their co-disciples. Shortly before coming to Jerusalem, the disciples had been fighting about who was going to sit upon thrones next to Jesus in the Kingdom. So there the water, bowl and towel sat untouched. Despite the words of Jesus about the greatest being a servant, his disciples were still focused upon thrones not wash bowls and service.
Instead of foot washing before the meal, this was skipped altogether until Jesus gave an example and did something unthinkable which his disciples had failed to do. Jump, Grasshopper, jump.
The Greek Word for Humility
The Greek word for humility is tapeinoo which means making oneself low to the ground. In Latin the word is humus means ground. When we discuss people as fitting into classes, we use words like “high”, “middle” and “low”. Humility indicates being low to the ground or even low class socially. Jesus, however, said that “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3). Jump, Grasshopper, but not too high.
The Humility of Jesus
Jesus is humble of heart. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls.” The fact that the Creator of the Universe would lower himself to become a man through the incarnation is evidence of great humility. In fact, it would have been an act of humility even if the Messiah had chosen to become the head of the Roman Empire. A fleshly king is a gigantic step down for the Creator of the Universes and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. However, becoming man was not enough (nor would it have been particularly appreciated by men and women of the lowest rank and position). The Messiah chose to be incarnated into a poor family, to be born in a stable, to live and to be raised in the poorest section of Israel (Can anything good come out of Nazareth?-John 1:46). The Messiah could have chosen to be born beautiful in form so that he could be loved and admired by others. He did not. The Messiah (Jesus) is described in Isaiah 53:2 in this way: “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” There are no physical descriptions of what Jesus looked like in the New Testament and perhaps that is no wonder because there was nothing which made him physically attractive to men and women. His attractiveness came from within not from weight, coloring, and handsomeness which we so value today.
The humility of Jesus is graphically described in Philippians 2: 5,6, 8 where Paul wrote: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
For Jesus, humility and humbleness meant not only being born in a stable and being a baby in a manger, it also meant dying a criminal’s death by being stripped and nailed to a cross so that through his blood our sins might be covered and we might have eternal life. Jump, Grasshopper, jump.
Nakedness as a sign of humility.
In today’s carnal society “nakedness” sells. It not only sells in the pornographic area but it also sells in other areas including television where you have shows such as “Naked and Afraid.” There is even an interesting Christian podcast entitled “The Naked Bible Podcast.”
In one sense, Jesus shed his royal robes of being in the form of God to come to earth as a naked little baby. In a spiritual sense, Jesus shed his royal robes to join us as a human person. Leaving aside his royal rights, he chose to be incarnated as a person like us.
In John 13:4-5 it says that Jesus…”rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” As part of the foot washing, Jesus removed his clothing and girded himself with a towel. The act of humility was not just the act of washing the feet but it was removing of his clothing and girding himself with the towel.
Jesus not only did act as the servant or slave in washing the feet but he also dressed the part.
Just as Jesus came into the world naked, he probably left it in the same way. Here is what Wikipedia says about “Crucifixion”: “ While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have traditionally depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, the person being crucified was usually stripped naked.”
John 19:23 says, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part and also the tunic.” The soldiers gambled for the tunic and it was not split so that Psalm 22:18 might be fulfilled.
The point is that Jesus was stripped and we believe nailed to the cross when he was naked as part of the humiliation of the Roman style of execution. This was done before his mother, his relatives, his followers and his disciples who were present.
We underestimate the shame and humility experienced by the death of Jesus for us. As Paul said: “He humbled himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross”. Jump, Grasshopper, jump.
Concluding Thoughts
Love is not proud. God looks upon the humble heart. “The bruised reed He does not break”. Many of us, including myself, have wrestled with the “pride of life.” However, we are brought to a place of humility. If we do not come to humbleness through wisdom, we still experience humility through illness, age, loss of material things or loss of those who we love. Life and death give us the gift of humbleness and humility. But even if we sometimes experience humility unwillingly, Christ wants us to know that we are blessed and the Kingdom of God is ours. I am reminded of what Jesus said to Peter in John 21:18 “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Thus He spoke, signifying by which death he would glorify God.”
John would grow increasingly old and experience the difficulties and trials of old age; Peter would spread out his hands and die on the cross like Jesus.
It is not fun to be humble. Nonetheless, we all will at some time or another have the opportunity. However, we will also have the promise that Christ is with us and bring us through to the Kingdom of God. Rest, Grasshopper, rest.
