Truly, Truly! – Slaves of the Master

Truly, Truly! – Slaves of the Master.

“After washing their feet, He put His robe on and returned to His place at the table. ‘Do you understand what I just did?’ Jesus said. ‘You’ve called me your Teacher and Lord, and you’re right, for that’s who I am. So if I’m your Teacher and Lord and have just washed your dirty feet, then you should follow the example that I’ve set for you and wash one another’s dirty feet. Now do for each other what I have just done for you. Truly, truly, I speak to you a timeless truth: a slave is not superior to his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  So now put into practice what I have done for you, and you will experience a life of happiness enriched with untold blessings.’” (John 13:12-17).

There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”

Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!

Amen! Amen! is often translated as Truly, Truly, or Verily, Verily in the New Testament. This double Amen is only recorded in the gospel of John, and is said by Jesus before He offers a statement, not after.  He is the only Person to say this, because He is the only Person who has the authority to say this before He says it. This double Amen, as opposed to a single Amen, must be an important distinction for Jesus, because He felt compelled to use this preface twenty-five times in John.  When Jesus begins a statement with that double “Truly,” He is intending to be doubly intense when He says it, and so He wants the listener to be doubly attentive. He wants to emphasize the importance of His words. He is saying, In all truth I tell you. He wants the listener to focus, and He is serious about preparing the listener to be receptive. When Jesus says Truly, Truly, He is saying: Most assuredly, what I am about to tell you is absolutely true and trustworthy. So listen up, because an eternal truth is coming to you now. In all sincerity, says Jesus, this is the solemn truth. Take these words in, says Jesus, and have them go into your mind and then straight to your heart. For these words of mine are double truth, they are doubly true. Jesus might as well have been saying… And you readers out there centuries from now, get ready to apply your hot pink highlighter, get ready to do some double underlining! Truly, Truly, what you are about to hear is the honest to goodness truth. This is True! Really True!

Master Teacher. Jesus was a businessman, and His business was discipleship. He was a true entrepreneur in His teaching ministry employing a wide variety of teaching methods as He went from person to person, crowd to crowd, village to village. He chose to labor long and hard in the role of teacher, inspiring listeners to become learners. Because He was the co-designer of the human mind, He instinctively knew how  to reach His audience. He knew inherently that He needed to capture the imagination, nurture the conscience, and sharpen the intellect of His disciples, His students.

• Capture the Imagination – Stories and Parables; Humor; Metaphor; Illustrations; Visual Aids; Wondering Out Loud.
• Nurture the Conscience – Discipline and Accountability; Personal Example of the Teacher; Demonstration; Elbow Room for the Students; Moral Reasoning Out Loud.
• Sharpen the Intellect – Good Questions; Variety of Discourse; Object Lessons; Guided Conversations; Test the Memory; Repetition; Thinking Out Loud.

Foot-Washing. A simple act of hospitality; a house servant task, involving placing someone else’s dirty, smelly feet into a bowl of water and carefully cleansing those feet of all dirt, grime and sweat, then drying the feet with a clean towel; a common, menial act of service and humility; exercising the ministry of touch to the untouchable; the powerful sacrament of servanthood.

OBJECT LESSON: Jesus in many ways enjoyed the profession of teaching, so He had quite a toolbox full of teaching methods to help get His teachings across. Because He was thoroughly Jewish, He was very multi-sensory and experiential in His approach to a “lesson.” Sometimes there is some overlap between related methods of teaching: short lecture, object lessons, visual aids and demonstrations at times blend together. There are times when objects, in this case a basin of water and a towel, are used to demonstrate a principle. Here we see visual aids used to help demonstrate something, to teach a lesson. The momentous event of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples is an example of this sort of blending of methods. Jesus wanted to make sure His lesson was learned, and He did what He could to make it very clear.

Imagine yourself in the Upper Room on Thursday night at the Last Supper. The Passion is starting in earnest. Jesus is just beginning to wash the dirty feet of each one of His disciples, including Judas. This was certainly the work of the lowliest house servant, not the Lord, the Master, the Messiah! No one else offered to do this simple, menial act of hospitality, so Jesus stepped right in. Here we are again, Jesus thinks, right in the middle of a very important teachable moment. Jesus took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, filled a bowl with water, and proceeded to wash everyone’s feet. This was undoubtedly very startling and confusing to the disciples. They have just experienced three years of astounding miracles and spellbinding teachings. Certainly this task was beneath Him! The Master acting as a slave? But Jesus wanted to teach the disciples this important lesson about humility. He wanted to demonstrate what He wanted His disciples to do after He has left this world. He desired to be an example of the spirit in which to engage in their ministry in His name. He yearned for His disciples to be humbly willing to serve each other and the world at large. Jesus is saying, If I can be this humble, so can you. If I can put my meekness into practice like this, so can you. You need to understand that there is nothing beneath you as you minister for the Kingdom. There is nothing too menial or basic or dirty. This foot-washing was a defining moment. This was a sacred moment, and the Upper Room was holy ground. Instead of a consuming fire or a burning angel, we have a bowl of water and a clean towel. It only seems right that everyone had to take off their sandals. And in their ministry soon thereafter, they were comfortable touching the untouchable, just like Jesus.

Slaves and Master. Like any good teacher, Jesus is following up His demonstration with a short discussion to make sure the students, His disciples, have understood what He wanted to teach. Soon in this discussion, Jesus made this claim, that slaves are not greater than the master, and the ones who are sent are not greater than the one who sent them. Jesus wants to make sure they understand this important truth… You are my servants, dear disciples, and I am your master. And now look what I’ve done! I have taken the place of a house slave and washed your dirty, smelly feet! Since you are not greater than me, I expect you to do likewise, to follow your master in serving others in humility and love. I am the one sending you out as “apostles,” and you are not greater than me, the one who is doing the sending. So I expect you to follow my example and care for others in a way where nothing is beneath you, even to the extent of being a house slave.

Jesus closed up this lesson by encouraging the disciples to hear and do, to listen and then demonstrate that you have learned. This is a biblical tradition, a thoroughly Jewish tradition. The central Hebrew prayer in Judaism is the Shema, which means “hear and do.” SHEMA (sh’ma): The first Hebrew word in the essential prayer of the Jews in the Hebrew Bible, found in Deuteronomy 6:4; is usually translated “hear,” but actually means hear and do, listen and obey, hear and respond, listen and take action, take heed; there is a traditional Jewish saying that “to hear God is to obey God, and to obey God is to hear God.” Hearing and doing are two sides of the same coin of faith, and is a vital aspect of biblical spirituality. Jesus referred to this important Scriptural principle all the time. Jesus chose to conclude His Sermon on the Mount with this idea that needs to be fleshed out by us: “Therefore whoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand.” (Matthew 7:24-26).

Final Thought. Jesus said in John 5:19 that He doesn’t do anything that He hasn’t seen His Father doing. He doesn’t do anything unless He first gets the approval of the Father. So, Jesus was revealing in His foot-washing the heart of the Father. He has seen the Father doing just this sort of thing in His life and in the history of His Chosen People. So Jesus’ lesson in humility shows us what the Father is like, it is a revelation of the almighty God.