John 13 records the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet before the Last Supper. During that event, there is a curious exchange between Peter and Jesus which has always puzzled me.

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.'” (John 13:6–8, ESV)

What is interesting about this is Jesus’ statement that if Peter does not submit to having his feet washed by Jesus, he has no part with Jesus.

I relate to Peter’s sense that it seems wrong to have the lesser served by the greater. On the surface, Jesus’ statement carries some difficulty, which may be why I missed the import of it in my many previous readings of this passage. Why would Peter have no share if his feet were not washed?

A thought comes to mind.

John tells us that “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). For the Christian, being loved by God is the source which energizes our love for others.

Jesus identified two great commands; the first is to love God (the vertical relationship) and the second is to love our neighbor (the horizontal). The established order of these commands is not only one of importance, but also one of sequence. Scripture and experience show me that love for neighbor (selfless, agape love) is made possible by establishment of the vertical relationship. It is love for God that fuels my love for others.

We need to experience the washing of grace before we can effectively administer grace to others.

For the rest of his life, Peter would have the memory of Jesus washing his feet. I wonder if that memory would be one that would buoy him up when things got difficult. The Christ, who later cheated death and rose from the grave, took Peter’s feet in his hands and washed them. Peter was served so that he could then go and serve others.

While we have not had the experience of physical foot washing, as Christians we have had the experience of receiving forgiveness for our sin and failure. That knowledge of forgiveness should be the engine that drives us to offer forgiveness to others. We have been served so that we can serve others.

I began a draft of this post a few months ago while I was reading Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray. At that time, I thought the quote below worth sharing. But in late August, I was shocked to learn of the death of the son of a friend of mine. He was a great kid with a promising future and he passed away at the age of 23.

The recent experience with death made the quote below even more poignant.

“. . . we too often fail to reckon with the grim reality of death and are composed in its presence not because of faith but because of hardened insensitivity . . .” – John Murray

It is too easy to hold the reality of death from penetrating my thoughts. I have experienced the hardened insensitivity of which John Murray speaks.

In contrast to this, I am reminded of the response of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus.

By more deeply connecting with the reality of death and the separation that it brings, we can then more deeply experience peace in the conquest over death that Jesus accomplished on our behalf.

By more deeply connecting with the reality of death and the separation that it brings, I can be of better use to those who are deeply impacted by death. Hardened insensitivity does no-one any good. Pretending that death does not bring pain renders me useless in the situation.

I am reminded that the experience of peace may not immediately follow the experience of the reality of death. It is unrealistic to think that someone who is caught up in the loss of a loved one will find peace without going through a process of grieving. And that process takes time and is accomplished with uneven progress.

My point is that there is a difference between being numb and being peaceful. Perhaps the only path toward becoming peaceful in the presence of death is to avoid insensitivity and be fully present in the loss.

Jesus wept when Lazarus died. It’s OK if we weep also.

In Exodus 34 we find that as a result of being in close relationship with God, Moses’ face shone to the point where the people were afraid of him. As a result, Moses went around with a veil over his face so that the people could bear his presence.

This was an anomaly, this is something that doesn’t normally happen. There is no other instance in Scripture that I can think of where someone’s face shone after spending time with God.

But should that be an anomaly? Should we not, in some measure, all reflect the glory of God after spending time with him? While it is unlikely that we will need to wear veils to avoid freaking people out, we can indeed reflect God’s glory as a result of our relationship with him.

We reflect God’s glory when we live in the freedom that the Gospel brings to our lives. We are redeemed and forgiven and the closer we are in our relationship with God, the deeper the knowledge of that forgiveness. The deeper knowledge should result in a deeper the impact on our behavior.

We reflect God’s glory when we walk in humble obedience to him. In a sense, using the term humble obedience is a redundancy, because any attempt at obedience without humility would be disobedience.

Historically, Christians have lead the charge with regard to humanitarian effort. Christians have often been a shining example of those who live in community and act for the benefit of others. Christians have faced death rather than compromise their relationships with God.

We reflect God’s glory when we gather to worship him in our local fellowship.

We reflect God’s glory when we respond to the people and situations in which we find ourselves in the same way that Jesus would respond. John tells us that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). When we respond to our circumstances with both of these traits, we reflect God’s glory.

We should all have shining faces after spending time with God.