Preposterous! Egregious!
That he who walked on water
across rampaging waves
to rescue us,
who rebuked rebellious winds
hell-bent on scuttling all vessels
on the breast of the Galilean sea
with a word,
that silenced the demon winds
to a whimper,
who fed five thousand
with a boy’s dinner,
who raised Lazarus,
dead beyond redemption
from a foul sepulchre,
whom we saw
dazzlingly transfigured
on the mountain,
conversing with Moses and Elijah,
who spoke to multitudes
with such authority and power,
the words of life and wisdom,
as no man ever spoke,
that this same Jesus,
the Son of God, Emmanuel
whom we have left all to follow,
should now wash our
dirt-stained feet
with basin and towel
– work meant for the
lowliest slave!
How could we allow him
to do
what none of us would
ever stoop to do?
But the Servant-King replies,
“What I am doing
you do not understand now,
but you will know after this.”
“If I do not wash you,
you have no part with Me.”
John 13:1-17
Dr Oliver Seetis a member of Wesley Methodist Church and a Board Director of the Metropolitan YMCA.