Pastor Tom's Community

“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”
—John 13:7

The great wonder of the Christian life is that we can come to know what our Lord is doing. We do not always understand at first. We come to know “hereafter.”

There is a basin at Jesus’ feet and a towel in his hand. He is doing the unthinkable—taking on the role of a common household servant and washing the filthy feet of his disciples.

Peter is resistant. He cannot cope with the indignity of the Master performing such a menial task. After all, there had apparently been some terrible oversight: no servant had been assigned to wash their feet.

Peter is offended on Jesus’ behalf that this lowly role has seemingly been thrust upon him. Yet Peter is not willing to take the task upon himself.

He does not yet understand that Jesus has chosen this role. Much less does he understand why.

Peter cannot know or imagine that, in the days to come, he too will take up the basin and towel and embark upon the life of a servant.

None of this makes sense according to the old way of thinking—the way that says a person must assert himself or herself and claw a way to the top of the heap. It does not compute for the man or woman trapped in faded notions of superiority, rank, caste, or significance endowed by position.

What was Jesus doing?

He was teaching, leading, demonstrating, and modeling a new way of thinking and a fresh way of living—one that had to be caught as much as taught.

He was introducing his disciples to another way of understanding leadership and finding meaning in life. He was elevating the lowest to the highest, the last to the first, and the spirit of servanthood to the place of greatness.

It was a preamble to the cross.

Only by reflecting upon the cross would Peter—or any of us—ever begin to understand what Jesus was doing.

We may not know now.

But we shall know hereafter.