Taking the Form of a Slave ~ by Lula Lamb

Holy Thursday, the night before Jesus is to die; he is aware of the pain, humiliation and suffering he will have to go through. To prepare himself and us, Jesus must wash the feet of the Apostles - so they can have an inheritance from him and have his last meal. The Passover in Moses' time meant eating in haste; ready to go at a moment's notice.

Jesus holds nothing back and takes the place of the slaves to wash the Apostles' feet. The Apostles didn't understand and were so uncomfortable. Peter even objected; but Jesus told him that it was necessary.

Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer and his denier. That had to be hard knowing the next day you would be betrayed and even denied existence three times.

Wow! Jesus must have really loved us because I don't think I could have washed Judas' feet.

Once their feet had been washed, Jesus told them to wash each other's feet and copy exactly what he had done. They couldn't even do that without arguing. Some said the oldest; some said the youngest. As humans, we are never satisfied. We struggle with our own forms of selfishness and pride.

The basin and the towel go hand in hand with the bread and the cup. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, Christ introduces his presence for all times.

As a parent, when I feel the pain of my children struggling, I think of the Father's love for us in that he was willing to have his only Son die for us. We just need to work on giving of ourselves and to look to the mercy and strength of Christ.