Humility Seeks Help

“Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” (Joh 13:8 AV)

Peter’s reluctance to Jesus’ exercise of feet washing is quite understandable.  After all, this is the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings who is washing the feet of a sinner.  I would probably feel the same way.  It should be the other way around.  It should be that we bow down to worship the LORD; washing His feet; serving His needs.  It should be us, the sinners, on our knees with a pail of water and a towel about our necks, caressing the feet of the one with scars on His feet.  I can certainly understand Peter’s hesitation.  I would do the same.  But in this teachable moment, Peter learns a lesson for us all.  Humility is the ingredient that results in salvation.  If we will not allow the Son of God to condescend to our most dreadful need, then salvation is impossible.  Unless we allow the King of Kings to humble Himself that He might minister to our needs, then we have no hope of walking with Him.

This principle is easily seen in the experience of child rearing.  The more independent they become, the more pride seeps into the heart.  In the early days, we would cut up their food.  Then comes the day they say, “Mommy, I can do this myself.”  There were those days when we buttoned their shirt, tucked in their tails, and tied their shoes.  We would pick the outfit that matched.  Then comes the day they proudly come down the stairs all dressed for church without any help from Mom or Dad.  This independence is expressed even though success doesn’t always follow.  The first time they realize they really cannot cut their own hair.  I was at my barber’s shop the other day when a distraught mother comes in and asks if she can have her son’s locks trimmed.  It appears he thought he could do it all on their own.  We become too proud to ask for help.  We become too proud to admit certain things are out of our control of ability to succeed.  This is the enemy of salvation and walking with God.  As Jesus Christ said, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:26 AV)

You are right.  How can we allow this?  How can we allow the Son of Man to be put in a place where we are served and not Him?  This is contrary to what we think about humility.  We think that humility is merely abasing ourselves before a God that created all things.  We think the only application of humility to self-degradation, transparency, and confession.  But there is another, more difficult application of humility.  That is, knowing when we have come to our limit, seeking help from the only One who can help.  Salvation can only come from Christ and Christ alone.  This is why the vast majority of the human race will perish.  We want to do it ourselves.  Like a child who wants to dress himself, we cannot.  We come down the stairs mismatched and misaligned.  We appear with a haircut that would frighten the family cat.  We are a mess and we refuse to acknowledge this truth.  The same is true for the child of God who tries to walk with God under his own strength.  We cannot.  We fail miserably.  Admitting to God that we are helpless is the beginning of walking with God.  We need to humble our hearts and allow the Son of God to wash our feet.  We will be unclean otherwise.