Today as we approach Maundy Thursday, our household object is the humble towel, and our Bible passage is John 13:2-15.
Towels are found in the bathroom, kitchen and toilets, places where we wash ourselves. They can be relatively small (the hand towel) or luxuriously large (the bath sheet.) In our passage today, we see Jesus taking on the role of the humble servant and washing His disciples’ feet, drying them tenderly with a towel. It is an extraordinarily intimate and humbling gesture, and one which Jesus plainly told us we should emulate.
Servanthood is at the heart of the Easter message. Jesus, being in very nature God, took on human flesh and became a servant. He did not come to be served but to serve. Every time we read this passage, we are given a picture of what this looked like. Secure in His identity and knowing His purpose, He was not afraid to humble himself in this way and do a servant’s job. May we too take up the towel of service and be ready to serve God in every way.