Borrowed Breath

In “The Return of the King,” during the coronation ceremony where Lord Aragorn (the Ranger formally known as Strider) is finally crowned as king, an event happens in the movie that did not happen in the book.  After the crowning, Aragorn is moving through the gathered throng.  And he comes upon the four hobbits who had braved so much to save so many lives, and whose bravery enabled Aragorn to be crowned on this day.  The four hobbits honor their king by bowing to him.  King Aragorn stops them and says, “My friends, you bow to no one.”  And then he bends his knee and bows to them.  What an amazing picture of a humble king who did not let his crown or his title or the obeisance of others get to his head.

The scriptures tell us that one day, “…at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11 ESV).  And yet we find that, while He was on earth, just before His crucifixion, our humble King, “…knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.  He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:3-5 ESV).

When is the last time you allowed your King to wash your feet?  Or have you, like the apostle Peter, said, “You shall never wash my feet,” in a fit of pride?  Peter thought he was being humble.  But in order for us to be able to minister to others, we must allow our Lord to minister to us.