When I was in High School, our principal was a pretty big guy. He actually started at our high school as a freshman the first year it opened, came back after college and began coaching and teaching at his alma mater. Eventually, he became principal. And he was pretty awesome. He set the state bench press record when he was in high school and it supposedly still stood while he was principal. Rumor has it that he would casually stroll into a powerlifting team practice (we had been national champs for around 15 years running), would take off his suit jacket and dress shirt, and then bench press a massive amount of weight in his shirt sleeves. He'd then thank whoever had been using that area and would go back to his office.

But what impressed me most was the one day our elevator broke at the high school. During lunch, we all watched Mr. Hutchinson carry each of our wheelchair bound students down the stairs in his arms.

That action spoke more to me than any of the rumors about his strength or other admirable characteristics.

Jesus, on the last night of his life, gathered His disciples around and had a final conversation with them. And He started with a single action that both showed and defined His character.

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus replied, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will."

"No," Peter protested, "you will never ever wash my feet!"

Jesus replied, "Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me."

Simon Peter exclaimed, "Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!"

Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you."For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that's what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. John 13:1-17

When you love someone and are willing to serve them no matter what, the awkward becomes intimate. We can learn much about how Jesus cares for us and how He calls us as a Christian community to care for each other.