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The President’s Gallery: Humble Love 谦卑的爱

The President's Gallery: Humble Love 谦卑的爱

Screenshot 2024-10-18 at 10.32.54 AM

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

What does “loved them to the end” mean? What does the Gospel writer John want to tell us? When we read v. 3 to v. 5, we read about something that shocked John and the disciples, something they couldn’t grasp: Jesus washing their feet. John 13:3-5 says: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

God’s love is manifested in humble deeds.

The sole of the foot is the bottommost part of the human body; there is no lower body part, because the foot touches the ground. This means that the foot is also the dirtiest part of the human body. Washing someone’s feet was a very lowly thing to do, usually done by the lowest-ranking servants. Washing someone’s feet required you to kneel in front of the person, reach out to pick up their dirty feet to clean, and then dry their feet with a towel. You could have dirty water splashed onto your face in the process!

So, you can surely imagine how shocked the disciples were when they saw Jesus’ actions. Would we react like Peter? “Lord, you shall never wash my feet!”

I wonder whether Jesus not washing the disciples’ feet would impact my understanding of His love for me. Isn’t Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and death for me sufficient to demonstrate God’s love? But from the Scriptures, we see that His washing the disciples’ feet was not accidental; Jesus deliberately did this to impart a profound lesson – God’s love is manifested in humble deeds.

Today, humility is a term we are both familiar and unfamiliar with. It is familiar because it is a virtue we often hear about and understand; it is unfamiliar because

encounters with genuinely humble individuals are rare, so we often don’t recognise humility as a virtue worth nurturing and embodying.

In our discipleship journey, let’s remember the powerful lesson of Jesus washing our feet, teaching us to embrace humility. Let us not forget the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross”’ (Philippians 2:5-8) Here, Jesus demonstrates profound love by humbly washing the disciples’ feet. As Peter and the disciples allowed Jesus to do so, they experienced the depths of His love for them.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Jesus said: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (v.15) The act of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet serves as a bridge of love for us, enabling us to cultivate a deeper connection with Him. Whenever we wash each other’s feet as Jesus commanded, we strengthen our bonds of love in Christ for one another. Christians, in washing one another’s feet, practice the humility of love and demonstrate Christ’s love, so that people in the world will recognise us as disciples of our humble Master.

Brothers and sisters, what does washing one another’s feet mean to you today? Who do you want to wash feet for? Are you willing to act in humility? And are you willing to let others wash your feet?

逾越节以前,耶稣知道自己离世归父的 时候到了。他既然爱世间属自己的人,就 爱他们到底。吃晚饭的时候——魔鬼已将 卖耶稣的意思放在西门的儿子加略人犹大 心里——耶稣知道父已将万有交在他手 里,且知道自己是从神出来的,又要归到 神那里去,就离席站起来,脱了衣服,拿 一条手巾束腰。随后把水倒在盆里,就洗 门徒的脚,并用自己所束的手巾擦干。挨到西门彼得,彼得对他说:“主啊,你洗 我的脚吗?”耶稣回答说:“我所做的, 你如今不知道,后来必明白。”彼得说: “你永不可洗我的脚!”耶稣说:“我若不 洗你,你就与我无份了。”西门彼得说: “主啊,不但我的脚,连手和头也要洗!” 耶稣说:“凡洗过澡的人,只要把脚一 洗,全身就干净了。你们是干净的,然而 不都是干净的。” 耶稣原知道要卖他的是 谁,所以说“你们不都是干净的”。

耶稣洗完了他们的脚,就穿上衣服,又 坐下,对他们说:“我向你们所做的,你们 明白吗?你们称呼我夫子,称呼我主,你们 说的不错,我本来是。我是你们的主、 你们的夫子,尚且洗你们的脚,你们也当 彼此洗脚。我给你们做了榜样,叫你们照 着我向你们所做的去做。我实实在在地告 诉你们:仆人不能大于主人,差人也不能大于差他的人。你们既知道这事,若是 去行就有福了。

上帝的爱彰显在谦卑的行动上。

他既出去,耶稣就说:“如今人子得了 荣耀,神在人子身上也得了荣耀。神要因 自己荣耀人子,并且要快快地荣耀他。小 子们,我还有不多的时候与你们同在,后 来你们要找我,但我所去的地方你们不能 到。这话我曾对犹太人说过,如今也照样 对你们说。我赐给你们一条新命令,乃是 叫你们彼此相爱,我怎样爱你们,你们也 要怎样相爱。你们若有彼此相爱的心,众 人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。”

“逾越节以前,耶稣知道自己离世归父 的时候到了。他既然爱世间属自己的人, 就爱他们到底。”(约13:1)

“爱他们到底”是什么意思呢?福音书 作者约翰要告诉我们什么呢?我们从第三节 到第五节就读到约翰的注解,那是一件让约 翰和门徒感到震惊,无法承接的一件事,就 是耶稣为他们洗脚。约翰福音13:3-5: “耶稣知道父已将万有交在他手里,且知 道自己是从神出来的,又要归到神那里 去,就离席站起来,脱了衣服,拿一条手 巾束腰。随后把水倒在盆里,就洗门徒的 脚,并用自己所束的手巾擦干。”

脚板是人体最底的部位,没有再底的 了,因为它已经触及地面,因此也是最容 易肮脏的地方。为一个人洗脚是一件非常 卑微的事,通常是最低层次的仆人才做 的。洗脚需要屈膝在一个人面前,伸手拿 起肮脏的脚来清洗,不小心清洗时,水还 可能溅在自己脸上。之后要用手巾抹乾, 不要忘记脚指缝之间也要擦干。

所以,你可以想象,当门徒看到耶稣的举 动,他们是何等地震惊,我们会和彼得一样 的反应吗?“主啊!你永不可洗我的脚!”

我在想如果耶稣没有为门徒洗脚这件 事,对我认识耶稣的爱会有差别吗?难道 耶稣为我受苦受难受死,不足够表达上帝 的爱吗?但从经文里看见,耶稣为门徒洗 脚不是偶然发生的,耶稣是刻意做这事,为要传递一个重要的教导 — 上帝的爱彰显在谦卑的行动上

我给你们做了榜样,
叫你们照着我向你们所做的去做。

今天,谦卑是一个我们熟悉却又陌生的 名词。熟悉,因为这是一个常听见,也知 道是一种美德;陌生,因为我们不常接触 到让我们觉得谦卑的人,而我们也不觉得 这是一种美德我们需要去培养、去拥有 的。我们在进行种种信徒培训时,让我们 不忘记为我们洗脚的耶稣画像,培育我们 的谦卑品格!我们不会忘记腓立比书2章的 基督颂:你们当以基督耶稣的心为心。他 本有神的形象,不以自己与神同等为强夺 的,反倒虚己,取了奴仆的形象,成为人 的样式;既有人的样子,就自己卑微,存 心顺服以至于死,且死在十字架上。 (腓2:5-8) 在这里,我们看见耶稣以极其谦 卑的举动 — 为门徒洗脚,来表达对门徒的 爱。而当彼得和门徒接受了耶稣的洗脚, 他们也因此在耶稣的爱里。

耶稣说:我给你们做了榜样,叫你们照 着我向你们所做的去做。(约13:15)耶稣为 门徒洗脚为我们建立了爱的桥梁,让门徒 与耶稣有份!每当所有信靠耶稣的门徒照 耶稣的吩咐彼此洗脚,也就彼此有份于基 督的爱里。基督徒在彼此洗脚时操练了爱 的谦卑,彰显了基督的爱,因此世上的人 都会认出他们是谦卑主的门徒。

弟兄姐妹,彼此洗脚今天对你来说是指什 么?你要为谁洗脚?你愿意谦卑去行吗? 还有,你愿意让人为你洗脚吗?

Rev Dr_President_Gregory Goh Nai Lat 吴乃力(博士)

Rev Dr Gregory Goh Nai Lat
吴乃力牧师(博士)
President of the Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Singapore
新加坡卫理公会华人年议会会长


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