Devotional John 13: The Washing of the Feet and the New Commandment A reflection on John 13: Jesus washing His disciples' feet, leadership based on service, and the truth behind Judas Iscariote's betrayal. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional John 13: The Washing of the Feet and the New Commandment

Continuing through the book of John, my devotional was on chapter 13.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Jesus is with His disciples during the Jewish Passover. He announces to them that one of them will betray Him, and that Peter will deny Him three times before the rooster crows. Then, Jesus demonstrates through a symbolic act what His followers should be like: washing His disciples’ feet, displaying humility and service. Finally, He gives them a new commandment: to love one another as He has loved them.

Observations

These were my observations:

1. A leader leads by example. Jesus, being the leader, wanted to demonstrate to His disciples that we must serve one another (without exception, including the leader). And so He also took the opportunity to announce the new commandment, which is to love one another as ourselves. A great leader leads with love and sets the example before expecting others to do so. For if He does it, everyone must do it. This is one of the major problems with our leaders today—they do not practice what they preach. When leaders are not the first to set the example, the whole integrity of the organization becomes compromised. Angola and many international, national, and local leaders lack integrity, and because of this, others feel they can do the same, as that was the example they set.
2. Satan enters and influences our decisions when we are walking too close to the darkness. This is what happened with Judas. Even though Judas was put in charge as treasurer for being one of the most trusted, he flirted a lot with the darkness. Because of that, it was easier for Satan to enter him than the others. It was not predetermined that Judas had to be the betrayer. But it was prophesied that one of them would betray Jesus. Even so, the disciples had free will, and if they did what was right, they would be far from Satan’s hands. But since Judas was already taking money from the money box, he was more susceptible to Satan’s temptations. What was going to happen was written, but that does not mean one cannot act differently. For Jesus also said that we all stumble, but woe to those who cause others to stumble. Judas had the choice: to betray or not to betray. And he could not win the battle against Satan because he kept walking far too close to the darkness.