I must have read or heard the Gospel of John chapter 13 hundreds of times by now. It contains the episode where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. Until now, however, the potency of one detail has escaped me. Judas was present for this. In other words, Jesus washed the feet of Judas, the one who was to betray and hand Him over. Judas, the one who days earlier had already accepted silver as payment for betraying Jesus and was looking for the opportune moment to have Him arrested, had his feet washed by the King of Kings. Judas, the one who would use the sign of friendship, a kiss, to indicate who should be shackled and hauled away like a common criminal, had the Lord of Lords dry and care for his feet.
Jesus knew what was going to happen and He knew the one by whom the ball would get rolling, so to speak. In fact, later during the meal, Jesus explicitly tells Judas to be quick about what he was going to do (John 13:28). Yet Jesus cared for Judas just as tenderly and sweetly as He had the cared for the other eleven. There were no lightning bolts called down from heaven to fry Judas to a crisp. There were not even harsh words of condemnation spoken. Only The Master taking on the ministry of a slave as an example of what the twelve were supposed to be to one another.
Astonishing.
Why did Jesus treat Judas this way? Whatever Jesus might have been thinking or going through on an emotional level, it is clear that Jesus never raised His voice, never lifted His hand in self-defense, never spoke a word of hatred. Though Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus was a True Friend to the bitter end.
What might we learn from this? Lots of things I suspect, but first and foremost in my mind is the vast mercy of God. Jesus, the only one truly equipped to judge is nevertheless not in the condemnation business nor in the vengeance business. He wants nothing for us other than our perfect peace and joy.
So the next time you find yourself in the confession line wanting to bolt (or perhaps in the privacy of your bedroom wrestling with whether or not you should even go to confession), think about Jesus and Judas. Yes, it matters what we’ve done and where we’ve been, but Jesus does not want to hold that against us. Instead, He wants to wash our feet, or our souls or our hearts, or our wounds or whatever. Yes, it matters what we are planning to do next. But if we let Jesus take care of us, if we can humble ourselves enough to accept that Jesus wants to minister to us, then all will be well.
