Not Me!

The Towel Wearer – Part 2

Now Peter is brought into the picture. Moving around the circle of His disciples, Jesus came at last to Peter, who refused to let him wash his feet.

Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." (John 13:8)

Humility personified?

Ah, now here we have a picture of Peter who seemingly is presenting a grand act of humility on his part. Can you just see the state of disbelief on his face when Jesus approaches him with a towel wrapped around His waist and the water basin in His hand, and he protests, "Lord, you'll never do this to me!" It sounds as though this is a humble statement, reflecting the fact that Peter is humiliated that Jesus should ever take such a low position as to wash his feet.

At first glance it does appear as though Peter's protesting arises out of his own sense of inadequacy and unworthiness before Jesus. But when you look a bit closer you can see that it is really the expression of intense personal pride.

So Peter is offended

Peter is offended by Jesus' actions, because he knew that if he were in the same place, if he were an instructor, a teacher, and a Lord, he would never consider stooping to wash someone's feet. This would be beneath him. This is a rebuke to his own self-sufficiency. He doesn't want Jesus to wash his feet. He would be quite content to wash Jesus' feet, but it is an affront to his own sense of independence that Jesus should ever do anything for him.

    

What a revelation this is of the pride of our own hearts which oftentimes cloaks itself with a guise of humility, but in which we are really insisting upon our own self-dependence, self-sufficiency.

We do not want to admit to anybody that we are in need of anything. That is what Peter is doing here. He doesn't want to admit to Jesus that he requires this cleansing. He doesn't want to acknowledge his need of being washed, and, especially, of letting Jesus do this menial act for him. It humiliates him. And so he stands as an example of the pride in our own hearts which resists the ministry of Jesus to us.

          

One of the remarkable things about the gospel is that it is always bringing us down to the lowest point so we can be able to reach the highest point!

We must stand in utter humiliation and abjectness in order for God to minister to us. All human pride must be brought low before him, before we can receive what God wants to give us from his hand. And that is where we struggle, isn't it? We don't like that. We don't like to be delivered to a place where we ourselves have nothing to offer. We want to add something. Peter is such a clear picture of this. Then when Jesus explains to him, "If I do not wash you, you can have no part with me," Peter immediately surrenders, and flops clear over to the other extreme and says to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (John 13:9)