The Basin and The Towel!

The Basin and the Towel!

It was the special service on Maundy Thursday evening in our Bible College where I was a student more than twenty years ago.  The worship leaders desired that the congregation of students and faculty partly re-live the experience of the night before Jesus was betrayed.  There were towels and basins filled with water beside every row of seats.  The faculty were each assigned to sit in one row of seats in the chapel.  As the service proceeded, the time came for the foot washing and the faculty took the basin and the towel and started washing the feet of their students seated in their row.  To my surprise, I was seated on the same row as the Principal.  The strange feeling of my feet being washed by the Principal made me realise my unworthiness.  I can never forget the scene – the humility of the Principal as he knelt and washed my feet.  He revealed the love of Jesus not just on that night but every day of the college life.

Foot washing was an eastern custom extended as a sign of hospitality to guests.  It was the duty of the servants or slaves in the household.  Jesus turns the world of his disciples upside down as he takes the towel and the basin and washes their feet.  Peter reacted to this very naturally, initially unwilling for the Master to wash his feet, later surrendering himself completely to the extent he wanted a ‘bath’. (John 13: 1-17) It was a lesson on humility for all leaders that even though we may hold positions of authority over the others it is for the purpose of serving and not for bossing over others.

Often as leaders in our home, church, neighbourhood, workplaces, marketplaces and our country we want to get our way in doing things.  We do not care about those whose feet are dusty and may need the intimate personal touch of being cared for by the leaders above them. Foot washing has now become a ceremony in a traditional church and also used by politicians for gaining popularity.   We are called not to be spectators of the ceremony but participate in taking the towel and the basin and washing the feet of those whom we serve. 

As we meditate on the suffering, death and resurrection of our saviour and Lord Jesus, let us commit to a life of humble service for one another.                                John Amalraj