Text: John 1: 19-28
John's attitude as a servant is special for three reasons:
1. Although Jesus Himself later identifies John as the Elijah of Old Testament prophecy (also see Matt. 11:14), He identifies himself as a voice in the wilderness, saying "Make straight the way for the Lord". John identifies himself as a voice rather than a person, in so doing focusing the attention on Christ and not on himself.
2. The fact that John says, "… the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie", is proof of his humility. He realises that he is nothing but a slave in Jesus's presence. A slave who is not even worth taking off his Master's shoes.
3. Every time John had the chance to focus on himself, he shifts the focus away from himself to Jesus as the Messiah. A good example of this is John 3:30 where he says, "He must become greater; I must become less."
We are all so different. Our life is about wanting to be in the "spotlight". We want to show that we are worthy. We seize every opportunity to glorify ourselves. We cannot wait to tell people about all the milestones we have reached.
And if people don’t see what we have accomplished, then we remind them through Facebook or other means….
We think a lot of ourselves because we seek our dignity in wrong things. We seek approval from people and the proof is that we struggle to accept criticism. We rather get angry because we are reminded of our shortcomings.
However, the Bible teaches us that we are only worthy if we stick to the law of God completely. And the problem is, none of us can handle it.
Jesus is the perfect example of this. He was completely obedient to the Father. Furthermore, He was not interested in what people thought of Him or said about Him. We read in chapter 2, "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them ..." (2:24). Jesus did not trust people. He trusted only His Father.
We must also strive for this humility, which is part of the fruit of the Spirit (also see Gal. 5: 22-23).
True disciples of Jesus know their own weakness and therefore trust in Him. Our sin makes us just like everyone else. We are but a voice in the wilderness testifying of one who is greater and more glorious than we are. Jesus had no sin. Therefore, we are not even worthy of taking off Jesus' shoes, much less of washing his feet.
The who and what we are is determined by our faith in Christ. That is why it is so important to see how Jesus came to wash our feet. He cleanses us from all our iniquities. Through Him, we are children of God. This is who we are! And we must hold on to it in humility.
Humility anchored in these truths is a testament to true discipleship.
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