Any one of them could have done it

Any one of them could have done it. It needed to be done and the resources were all there. It wasn’t as if it called for special skills. It wasn’t as if the task was especially difficult. And it wasn’t as if any of them had anything more important to do just at that moment.

Of course, that phrase, “Anything more important” is an interesting one. What is it that makes one task more important than another? What determines “importance”? Surely it has to do with what is needed rather than those tasks that draw attention to the person undertaking them, or those tasks that can only be done by a few with special ability or experience.

Take, for instance, that time in Jerusalem when they had walked through the area surrounding the pool where all the sick and infirmed lay hoping to be the first to get into the water when it was mysteriously stirred, and hoping that by doing so they would find their healing. What was important there was getting into that pool as quickly as you could. And the words of that man that day had been pitiful: “Sir, I have no one to help me”. For 38 years he had been crippled and for much of that time he had waited in hope that he might manage to get into the pool in time. All he needed was a friend.

Yes, what is important depends on what is actually needed at the time. It might not seem that important to others, of course. It might not bring any status or fame. But if there’s a need to be met, and especially if it a matter of urgency….

38 years waiting for a friend to turn up!

Anyone could have done it. All the resources were there just waiting for someone to take advantage of them. Everything that was needed was right there all the time staring them in the face. And no one had taken them up.

Of course if someone had been specifically asked to do it then he might have been willing to do it, but no one was actually asked. It just needed to be done and any one of them could have done it.

One way of dealing with it might have been to have introduced more organisation into the situation. To have planned things better. To have had a rota for such tasks. That way the work could have been shared between them. They could have worked out their different strengths and weaknesses, explored their skill portfolios and worked out who would be the most appropriate for the task. After all that’s the way to get things done isn’t it?

But on this occasion it was something that any of them could have done. The resources were there. All that was needed was someone to get up and do it. And, frankly, it wasn’t as if they had anything more important to do just at that time. There’s that word “important” again. They had been discussing that subject – “Who was the most important?”

That was when he got up. They did not notice at first. Then they saw him take off his outer garment. As he wrapped the towel around his waist they all fell silent. And in that silence the sound of water being poured into the basin seemed amplified. And one by one he lifted the dusty feet of the others that were there and gently – washed them.

Any one of them could have done it – but HE did it. It wasn’t his task but he did it. Unasked, he saw the need and did something about it. Wasn’t that always the way with him? But this – washing feet – that was a task for a servant not a leader.

And one by one as they felt his gentle hands apply the water and the towel they knew. They knew that any one of them COULD have done it.

And after that evening - and after the events of the following days - they began to understand what it meant and what it would mean to “follow him”. What he meant when he said once, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Any one of them could have done it.