The Humble Mind - Jesus Knew Where He Came From

When I travelled overseas for the first time on a missions trip, where I came from became a real issue. I was born in Glasgow. I was bred in a rough neighbourhood. Although my mother was from England, my nice English accent lasted less than a week of school. I was raised among rough guys. I went to school with rough guys. So I picked up a rough Glaswegian accent. And I was proud of it. I was proud I had a Glasgow postcode. In fact, when we moved house after seventeen years of problems, losing the postcode was my only regret. There is nothing wrong with being proud of where we come from. It's part of who we are. But with me it came with a problem. A very big problem. Non-English speakers found it hard to understand me. In fact, it was worse. Glaswegians have this way of talking where most of the consonants from words get missed out. We talk as if our mouths have ninety percent less muscles than everyone else. I had friends in university who spoke as if their jaw had been injected with Botox before Botox was even a thing. And that just did not work when I tried to speak Romanian. I couldn't make even the most basic sounds. I looked and sounded bad. When you're a missionary, you are there to share the Good News with people. But how could I do that when my accent and the lack of exercise I was giving my jaw muscles were standing in the way? So I had a choice: quit being an overseas missionary or ditch the accent and work those jaw muscles. The accent lost. Even though it felt like I was betraying my heritage. And even though my jaw muscles cracked like wood in a campfire. The Gospel had to come first. John tells us this about Jesus' mind before He washed His disciples' feet: Jesus knew... that He had come from God.

John 13:3 NIVU

https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.13.3.NIVUK He was acutely aware of where He'd come from, what He had left behind, and why. The disciples didn't dare wash each others' feet. That would implied servitude of the lowest kind. Those feet would have been filthy, dirty, smelly and it was the job of the lowest grade servant to clean them. The fact that the owner of the upper room had not provided such a servant was actually a huge error in hospitality. It had to be someone else's job, right? Besides, they had been arguing before the meal over who was the greatest (Luke 22:24-27). They could not be seen to be stooping down to carry out such a menial task. That would degrade them in front of everyone else. They had forgotten where they had come from. The core of Jesus' disciples were fishermen and tax collectors. Not exactly the highly educated or the brilliant. Following Jesus and being in His inner circle gave them some status in the eyes of the people. Status they had never had before. Status they could not lose. So they could never was each other's feet. Jesus, however, knows no such pretences. He has already come down from Heaven to live as a baby, and then as an anonymous carpenter for thirty years, then an itinerant preacher for three years. The difference from respected preacher to foot washer is nowhere near as big a gap as the one He had crossed by coming to save us. This is what makes these verses such a challenge to us: He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:7 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/php.2.7.NIVUK Being fully mindful of where He came from, knowing full well of all the advantages this brings, Jesus was still willing to serve and carry out this most degrading of tasks. Paul picked up on this in his famous verses in Philippians: If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:4‭-‬8 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/php.3.4-8.NIVUK There has been a lot of discussions lately about privilege. I come from a culture where we are privileged - greatly privileged - yet it's not considered the right thing to admit it. But that does not stop it being true. If we come from a position where we are in a country with freedom, democracy, a strong social care system, good education and accessible healthcare then we are privileged, whether we want to admit it or not. Those in such a nation have a duty to be grateful for it, yes, but also to serve those who do not. Yes, you heard me: serve them. Not deny them entry. Not treat them with disdain when they come here. Not look down on them and their nation. It is our duty to serve them - first and foremost with the Gospel and discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), and also with everything else that will improve their lives. After all, the reason we have all these privileges is purely due to where we were born and to whom we were born. It is neither deserved nor a right. If we are not born with privileges like this, there are likely to be other advantages in life that we have and others do not. We too must be willing to serve others by stooping down to lift them up. In Jesus' conversation with Peter while washing his feet, Jesus states that the disciples are already clean because they have trusted and obeyed His word (John 13:10, see also John 15:3). The ultimate way we can serve others is by leading them to repent and come to know Jesus. This comes when we aren't smug, self-righteous or self-satisfied about our salvation but are humbly willing to pass it on to those who need it, whoever they are, because we are aware that we too were once sinners. Knowing where we come from is not about viewing it as a reason for pride or shame. Neither is it about carrying round with us burdensome traditions or customs or ways of doing things that hold us back, like my accent. No, it's about being true to God and ourselves by learning from it, being thankful to Him for it and the path He has led us through, while holding out a hand in humility to lift up those who are struggling on the same path. Where we come from is only an obstacle if we let it trip us up. If we approach it with humility to learn, grow and thank God for it, then it can become a stepping stone to greater things. So we see that Jesus knew who He was and where He came from. Lastly, we will consider how JESUS KNEW WHERE HE WAS GOING.