I don't know why Jesus didn't just start over. The twelve He had were incorrigible, stubborn, selfish, egotistical.....I think you get the idea. John doesn't tell us this, but we get the message from the Synoptics.
Let me set the scene for you. The time for Jesus to die is fast approaching. The Passover was a feast that all good Jews celebrated. If you lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem, you were required to be there for the feast. Right before the feast evidently the apostles were having a discussion. Feud would probably be a better description of what was going on. They were arguing among themselves who was the greatest. Peter may have had the inside track because he seemed to be the one who had the right answers. James and John could have made a good argument because they were there with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew could have made the case that he once had lots of money, but he gave it all up to follow Jesus. To which they all probably said, "Join the club! We've all left everything!"
During this "I'm better than you are" talk, Jesus gets up from the table, wraps a towel around His waist, pours a basin of water and starts washing their feet. This is typically a job for the house slave. It was the basic bit of hospitality--much like us offering something to drink today. It was just assumed that you would do that at the very least. But they were too busy jockeying for position. The Creator of the Universe, the Savior, the Messiah, the Way, the Truth and The Life got on His hands and knees and washed the dirty, smelly feet of the apostles.
Here's how John described it. "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power," (Think about that! He had all the power in the world! Yet, He took the role of the servant.) "and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." John 13:3-5
I bet that stopped all the arguments! But note what John said. He had come from God and He was returning to God. Isn't that all of us? Didn't we come from God? Isn't that our ultimate destination at the end of our lives to return back to God? So what do we do while we're here on earth? Serve. It's what Jesus said to do. No task is too menial. No one is above anything that advances the Kingdom. No matter how dirty, no matter how silly it looks.
Friends of mine work for the corporate giant Tyson Foods. They are a well known chicken company based in Northwest Arkansas. All of their employees where khaki pants and khaki shirts that have their name and the company logo on it. Even the higher ups wear the traditional garb. One day I asked one of the chief executives why he didn't wear a suit. He said, "Jim, let me ask you a question. If you were wearing a suit, would you likely go into a chicken house?" Touche! All right, let's wrap our towels around our waists and let's start serving. JW
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