Key Passage

Then Jesus poured water into a pitcher. He began to wash the followers' feet. He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

— John 13:5 ERV (Read Full Text)

Key Thought

"Get real, man!" It's a slang expression intended to force someone into reality -- no exaggeration, no pretending, no imaginary tale. This is where God's becoming human flesh gets real. Jesus, God come in human flesh, takes water and washes the dirt and grime off his disciples' feet. God becomes soiled with the dirt and stench of the world to show his love to the ignorant and ungrateful. The same dirt from which he made humanity is now the dirt he must wash away to recreate humanity. Jesus gets real! This, my friend, is the crux of the Jesus story -- that God would come to our world to bring us to his home at such great cost. Will you believe that this incredible story is true? If you do, everything is different!

Prayer

Almighty and loving Father, I praise you for your work in creating me in your image. I thrill at the thought that you fashioned me in my mother's womb. I am overjoyed that you have re-created me new in Jesus. I thank you for being willing to get your hands dirty with the dirt of my world and my life to bring me home to you. In Jesus' name I praise you. Amen.

Related Scriptures

Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man. The Lord breathed the breath of life into the man's nose, and the man became a living thing.
— Genesis 2:7

Lord, you made my whole body. You knew all about me while I was still in my mother's body. Lord, I praise you! You made me in an amazing and wonderful way. I know very well that what you did is wonderful! You know all about me. You watched my bones grow while my body took shape, hidden in my mother's body. You watched my body parts grow. You listed them all in your book. You watched me every day. Not one of them {is missing}.
— Psalm 139:13-16

But now put these things out of your life: anger, being very mad, doing or saying things to hurt other people, and using evil words when you talk. Don't lie to each other. Why? Because you have left your old sinful life and the things you did before. You have begun to live the new life. In your new life you are being made new. You are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God. In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews. There is no difference between people that are circumcised and people that are not circumcised, or people that are from some foreign country, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all those believers. And Christ is all that is important.
— Colossians 3:8-11