Trusting God for Our Future
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. -John 13:7
Sometimes God brings us through an experience, and it doesn’t make sense. We may not see the purpose or the good that God has behind it. Such was the case when Jesus began to wash His disciples’ feet.
When He got to Peter, he was a bit taken aback by the offer of his master to wash his feet. “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” (John 13:6b) he questioned. To which Jesus gives the loving and patient reply:
“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” -John 13:7
In other words, what Jesus was saying was: “I know you don’t understand what I’m doing now, but afterward you’ll see the purpose.” He was trying to get Peter to simply trust Him in a child-like faith.
Pride, and a lack of trust
Yet in the same way that we respond to God’s actions all too frequently, Peter displayed a pride and a lack of trust in what His Lord had told him. For, even though Jesus specifically explained to him that he wouldn’t understand in the present moment what was going on—that it would only make sense in the future—Peter stubbornly refused His request. “Thou shalt never wash my feet” (John 13:8a).
Love and yielding
Yet in all of this stubbornness, Jesus had patience with Peter, and simply explained to Him in more detail his need to be washed by Him. It should be noted that Jesus still didn’t explain His ultimate purposes to Him at the time, even after Peter’s refusal, but He simply nudged him into the direction of trust and obedience.
“Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” -John 13:8b-10a
And so it was, that Peter finally consented.
Jesus washing Peter's feet at the Last Supper, Ford Madox Brown (1865)
And Peter did indeed learn a valuable lesson: both in his assenting to be washed, and also from the ultimate lesson and purpose that Jesus wanted to teach His disciples. Even though Jesus used the washing to demonstrate how leaders of His kingdom ought to be servants, Peter also learned to trust God in confusing times as well—and we see hints at this increased trust in his writings later in life.
The same Peter that would not consent for His Lord to do even so much as wash his feet, had later learned to trust God in all sorts of difficult and trying circumstances. Even though puzzling and trying things were to come upon him, he learned to accept them with peace and gratitude. Take a look at a portion of one of his epistles:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. -1 Peter 4:12-13
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