The word “refresh” does not appear in John 13:1-17, but in that passage we have the account of the Lord Jesus doing exactly that—refreshing His disciples by washing the dust from their travel-weary feet.
Few things are more powerful than a good example, and I doubt if the disciples ever forgot that incredible sight. What they saw was the Lord Himself rising from the place where He might have been waited on, laying aside His outer garments—identifying Him as to who He was, taking a towel and girding Himself with it as a household slave might have done. Then, after pouring water into a basin, He went from disciple to disciple, washing and drying their feet.
The disciples did not always get along and their first thought was not always that of refreshing one another. In fact, during the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples, right after He had broken bread with them, they were concerned more about selfish interests than about one another. Luke wrote, “Now there was also a strife among them, which should be accounted the greatest” (Lk. 22:24). Think of it! Within sight of Calvary the disciples were taken up with selfish ambition.
In light of the urgency of reaching the unreached with the gospel, and within sight of the Lord’s return, we might suppose that as believers we would never quarrel and would certainly never allow anything to divide us, or cause problems in our relationships. In fact, one could suppose that we would do everything within our power to refresh one another as we serve the Lord in the harvest field together. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with us as it was not with Jesus’ disciples.
After He had finished washing their feet, Jesus sat down again and wonderfully unfolded the way to a life that refreshes others. He did this by asking a question, giving an admonition, and offering a promise.
THE QUESTION
Jesus’ question to His disciples (found in v. 12) is one we must allow Him to ask us if we would be refreshing to others. The question is simply, “Know ye what I have done to you?”
Of course Jesus’ question would cause His disciples to immediately think back on what they had just witnessed. They had seen their Lord with the basin of water and a towel going from one disciple to another, kneeling before them and washing their hot, dusty feet. The simple answer to His question was, “Yes, we know what you did to us. You washed our feet.” But can you see the true import of His question? It went far beyond the basin and the towel!
What Jesus really wanted to know was if they were coming to understand how He was always among them as one that served. Had they noticed He had just refreshed them by humbling Himself and taking the servant’s position? He had just shown love, grace, kindness, compassion, care and an amazing humility as their Lord and Master to serve them.
As we allow Jesus’ question to be directed to us personally, what is our answer? Knowing what Christ has done for you is the very foundation for living a life that is a refreshment to others. In fact, the greatest cause of trouble in relationships between believers is a lack of understanding how the grace of God has touched our lives. If we are not humbled by the grace of God extended to us, we will not be inclined to extend grace toward others. There is a principle that applies to us as members of the Body of Christ, and it is this: The more we understand what Christ has done for us, the more we respond in like manner to one another.
The more we are amazed at how He humbled Himself for us, the more we gladly choose to humble ourselves before one another. The more we understand His depth of forgiveness, the more quickly we forgive one another. The more we understand the extent of His patience and kindness toward us, the more patient we are with one another. The more we understand His acceptance of us, the more accepting we are of one another.
Paul brings this principle to our attention in his letters to the churches: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32); “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5); “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:13).
If you are struggling in your relationships toward others, the way to change that is to gain a better understanding regarding what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you. This was Paul’s longing as he expressed it in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him.”
THE ADMONITION
Jesus’ admonition was simply this, “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” There is no other reference to the disciples washing one another’s feet in the four Gospels and there is no admonition to believers in the church letters to wash one another’s feet. This seems to imply that the work of refreshing that the Lord wants us to do for each other is not the actual act of foot washing, but that of loving humble service, however He leads us to perform it.
Jesus’ rationale was clear: If I as your Lord and master have humbly served you, certainly it is only right that you should humbly serve one another. Unfortunately the disciples kept longing for personal greatness and recognition, even as we to do in many different and often subtle ways. Perhaps in our pride we mistakenly feel that those who serve are less important than those who are served, but Jesus told His disciples, “He that is least among you all, the same shall be great” (Lk. 9:48); and “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt. 23:11). Humility is always the right choice to make.
When Jesus cast the unclean spirit out of the child as recorded for us in Luke 9, all who saw it stood amazed at the mighty power of God. Yet, immediately following this display of the greatness of God, we read that the disciples focused not on His greatness but on their own. “There arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest” (Lk. 9:46). We may be thinking, “How could they think about their own greatness when they had just witnessed the Lord’s greatness?” But are we not often like those disciples? Each day we see His glory in the heavens and witness His redeeming power in the hearts of people, but when we choose not to humble ourselves and serve one another, we are thinking of our own greatness, not His.
We act like the wicked servant in Matthew 18 whose master forgave him a huge debt of 10,000 talents, perhaps equivalent to several million dollars. But then the forgiven one reacted so harshly and ungraciously toward a fellow servant who owed him a very small debt by comparison—only 100 pence, just a few dollars. We shake our heads at that wicked servant’s pride and arrogance as he grabbed his poor fellow servant by the throat and cast him in prison. How could he be so blind to reality, we wonder. How could he treat his fellow servant that way when his master had forgiven him so much? Yet we can do the same thing, and far worse, when we in pride withhold forgiveness and kindness toward one another.
Love motivated Jesus as He washed the feet of His disciples. John 13:1 tells us that “having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” Later on, the Lord clearly passed this motivation on to us when He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples” (Jn. 13:34-35). When other motives drive us—anger, jealousy, selfishness, bitterness, resentment, fear, mistrust, and suspicion—we cannot hope to be a refreshment to others.
THE PROMISE
Jesus’ promise was one of blessing. He said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
Notice carefully the two active ingredients in this promise—“know” and “do.” These two words are linked together by a word not found in the text but definitely implied by the context—choice. It is sadly possible for us to know a truth without walking in that truth. Jesus clearly distinguishes these two realities of knowing and doing, and explains that if we want to be truly happy or blessed, we must choose to walk in the light His Word gives us. If we would enjoy His blessings on our relationships, we must obey His admonition to humble ourselves.
Just knowing that He wants you to humble yourself and serve your co-worker is not enough. Just knowing He wants you to forgive and let go of your bitterness and resentment toward that other believer is not enough. Just knowing He wants you to love and accept that person you find difficult is not enough.
The sad reality is that we may have a lot of scriptural knowledge but remain unhappy and miserable because we are not walking in the light of that knowledge. We can live our lives like the man of James 1:22-24 who gained knowledge of what he looked like by looking into the mirror, but then, because he didn’t act on what he had seen, he forgot what he looked like. We can even be deceived into thinking we are acting on what we know simply because we have known it for such a long a time. It is not a lack of knowing what God wants us to do that is our biggest problem. Rather it is a lack of doing what we know He wants us to do.
DOES YOUR LIFE REFRESH OTHERS?
As we look at our lives in light of the Lord’s example of humble service, what do we see? Perhaps we can visualize ourselves clutching so many things of self-worth and pride that we have no hands to take a towel. How many times have we missed out on being a refreshment to others because of an unwillingness to humble ourselves? Is it more important to us to be right than to be refreshing?
In verse 7 of his letter to Philemon, Paul wrote, “The hearts of the saints are refreshed by you.” You and I have many wonderful opportunities each day to refresh the hearts of others, and we can do so simply by humbling ourselves. Let’s reach for that towel!
Written by Chet Plimpton