If you had only a few months to live, what would you do? Such was the premise of the 2007 movie the “Bucket List”. Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. Most of us would probably do something similar.

What if you had just a few days? Many would probably say goodbye to those whom we have known, make amends if possible for wrongs we had done, even forgive those who had wronged us.
But, what if you had just a few hours to live? Some might take the time to gather loved ones around, laugh a little, give assurances, and most likely, get right with God.

But what did Jesus do? He only had a handful of hours to live. Jesus used the time to gather his disciples, eat a last meal, and impart some advice: But what advice? What advice would the Son of God give? What would be the most important thing Christ could say? The last words would undoubtedly be the most important.

Jesus knew that the key to contentment was not riches or he would have told them how to get it. He knew that the key to peace was not job security or he would have told them how to have it. He could have told them how to get all the power they would need in this life. But he knew that could not bring happiness. Jesus knew that the key to peace was found through two paths.

One was through him alone. The pathway to peace leads through Jesus, and only through Jesus. He told Peter that a person needed to be washed once and they would be cleansed, and spiritually speaking, that He was the only one who could do the washing. After Peter understood this, he exclaimed “wash all of me then.”

Jesus’ second path was selflessness. Having removed his outer garment, he tied a towel around his waist and began illustrating this point. It was not to be missed by us, that it also symbolized the moment when Christ left his seat in glory, laid down his royal robes, and took the form of lowly man. He came to die for you and me on an old wooden cross, made from a tree that he himself had once created. It was the greatest selfless act recorded in history. Now, Christ demonstrating it to his disciples says, “This is the true key to greatness.”

Often a great truth is brought out even more when contrasted with its opposite. Such was the case with Judas. While at the same table where Jesus was teaching and demonstrating humility, sat Judas. Even while allowing Jesus to wash his feet too, Judas was contemplating the most selfish act in history. He was preparing to sell out the king of kings for a mere 30 pieces of silver. Its strange how some one can know Jesus, even sit in on his teaching for years, and never really commune with him—or have any kind of meaningful relationship with him. They can come to church all their life and really never have Jesus wash them from head to toe.

Foot washing is a symbol of our daily cleansing that one needs to do as we walk through this life. Dirt represents sin that finds its way onto the fabric and flesh of our being. We need to be washed in the words of Jesus as found in our Bibles; this is how we’re cleansed on a daily basis according to passages like Ephesians 5. However, we’re also to wash each other in the Word, to serve each other in humility, and to esteem each other more important than ourselves. It is the key to lasting relationships, lasting marriages, and a life filled with richness and peace. But, it is all for naught unless someone has been washed by Jesus first. Otherwise it becomes an effort that is always made with wrong motives and self seeking—like with Judas. The Judas-type is not necessarily one who would betray Jesus, but is someone who knows the Lord yet has never been in a true love relationship with him. Hence, they will always find themselves frustrated with God and never satisfied with life or others. True happiness will always lie just out of their reach.

Jesus stands ready to wash you today. Maybe you have filled a seat in church for most of your life, but you know that deep down inside you’ve never known a true relationship with Jesus. He has never truly washed you. All your God experience has been based on self-effort, trying to be good enough for God, trying to impress your church friends and family that you and God are tight. But at night, the emptiness of a make-believe love affair with Christ haunts you. Let Jesus wash you today, cleanse you, so that you may be able to cleanse others and serve your brothers and sisters with true humility that glorifies God.

Happy Passover 2011 (Our Last???)