Here's the fifth of five principles of the "hands," framework of spiritual transformation: Jesus makes you more and more like him--a heart and soul faith, made flesh--as you love fully, love faithfully. (You can read the intro here, no here.) These five posts are a bit longer than typical, but oh so worth your contemplation!
It was the night of the Passover, the night before the crucifixion. The apostles bounded up the stairs to the second floor of a disciple's home in Jerusalem. They were greeted by a u-shaped table bearing the familiar elements of the feast including bitter herbs, cheroseth, the lamb. They took their seats. Or rather, they took each other's seats. They clamored for the "chief seats" at the table's center nearest to Jesus. This led to a heated conversation: "They began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them" (Luke 22:24). Lost in their dispute was an empty basin for water placed near the door. A basin awaiting a servant who would wash the soiled feet of the company. Moments later, Jesus entered the room, unnoticed, behind them. The apostles were still bickering over chairs. Jesus said nothing, but quietly walked to the empty basin by the door. The Apostle John described what happened next (John 13:1ff). Jesus loved steadfastly Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end... Have you ever beenthisclosetocompletion of an obligation and pulled up just a little at the end? Close enough... good enough... enough's enough?Jesus loved steadfastly, "knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." Jesus loved mindfully ...the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. John's recollection of the context and circumstances of the night when Jesus washed his feet--still fresh after sixty years--testifies that Jesus loved mindfully. Has anyone ever asked you to do something humiliating? Something beneath your dignity? What was your reaction? Did you ever refuse by asking [or perhaps, by declaring], "Do you know who I am?" What would Jesus do? What did He do? Jesus loved intentionally So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." What did Jesus suggest when he warned Peter, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me?" His rebuke might be better understood as, "If you do not allow me to wash you--if you cannot imagine that I would humble myself to cleanse you--you will never have fellowship with me." When Jesus washed the apostles' feet, it was a deliberate foretaste of his humiliation on the cross on the morrow. Jesus loved intentionally.
"Do you know what I have done to you?"
So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers' feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you..." Our fellowship with Jesus rests on his humiliation--his willingness to cleanse soles and, more, to cleanse souls. Humility is more than just a virtue or social grace; it's the foundation of Jesus' life and death.Can you think of other ways you can "wash feet"? How much does it cost to wash feet? What would it take for you to love as Jesus loved? Jesus then gave the disciples a "new" commandment: A new commandment I give to you, [one...] that you love one another, [two...] even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this [three...] all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. The Law of Moses had prescribed its adherents to "love one another." Love itself, therefore, was not a new commandment. The new commandment was to love as Jesus loved. And by this depth of love men and women would recognize the disciples of Jesus. How then did Jesus love? What are the distinctive characteristics of his love? Paul described it in Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still helpless [Jesus love was unmerited], at the right time [Jesus' love was relevant] Christ died [Jesus' love was sacrificial] for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Love as Jesus loved. Fully. Faithfully. That the world may know. What would it take for you to love fully, to love faithfully? Who, where, do you find it difficult to love fully, to love faithfully? What objection drives your resistance to love fully, to love faithfully, as Jesus loved? Go deeper. If you find it difficult to love another, what would it look like to recast "to love" as "to show kindness fully, to show kindness faithfully"? What then might be possible? | 
