John Simpson
Kirkpatrick, better known as John Simpson, is probably the best known of those
who died at Gallipoli. I first heard the story of Simpson and his donkey in
primary school. His story is one of courage and selfless sacrifice against the
backdrop of the horrors of war. For the short period of 24 days Simpson carried
the wounded on his donkey down from the battle front to relative safety. His
fearless actions earned the respect of all at Gallipoli and have become an integral
part of the ANZAC legend.
Every ANZAC
day the words of Jesus are repeated around Australia and New Zealand, ‘Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John
15:13). It is this ideal that we see demonstrated in the life of Simpson – and of
Jesus.
John, in
chapter 13 of his gospel, recounts the following story. The scene is the Last
Supper. Jesus removes His outer garments, leaving Him dressed as a slave about
to serve a meal. He then ties a towel around His waist in preparation for
washing and drying their feet. Peter is outraged, for in his world slaves were
looked down on, and a Jewish slave would not be required to wash the master’s
feet. This was the work of a Gentile
slave (IVP New Testament Commentary Series).
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. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”10 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.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 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. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
Jesus
reversed the accepted order of things. While a disciple could be expected to
wash his Master’s feet, no master would stoop to wash the feet of his
disciples. But Jesus was not caught up in the norms of a class based society,
for He came to demonstrate a better way.
In Matthew’s
gospel, the mother of John and James asked Jesus to honour her sons by sitting
them at His right and left side when He set up His Kingdom, a request that
outraged the other disciples. In denying this request Jesus said “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people,
and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be
different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be
first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and
to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus walked
the talk. For Him, greatness was seen in the service of others. Love was seen
in the commitment to the greater good at the expense of self, even if that
commitment took Him to His death. This was the point He was making when He
washed the feet of those at the Last Supper.
Later, Paul
provided this commentary in Romans 13:
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
According to
Paul love is a debt we owe one another. Interestingly he cites four of the last
five of the Ten Commandments, those dealing with interpersonal relationships,
and summarises these in the command to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
Love, says Paul, fulfills the Law of God.
In the
Biblical creation story we were created in the image and likeness of God
(Genesis 1:26). Before sin entered the world Adam and Eve reflected the
character of the Creator. In 1 John 4:16 (b) we read ‘God is
love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them’. That
character was marred by sin when the service of self replaced the service of
others. Jesus came to earth as part of the Divine plan to restore the image of
God in humanity.
Central to the covenant God made with Israel following the exodus from
Egypt were the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 9:9). The preamble to these acted
as a continual reminder that it was God who had set them free; ‘I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from
the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery’ (Exodus 20:2). Then God said:
‘You must not have any other god but me’ (v.3).
One day a teacher of religious law asked Jesus ‘Of all the commandments,
which is the most important?’ (Mark 12:28) Jesus responded ‘The most important
commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only
Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,
all your mind, and all your strength’ (v.29,30). This, in a real sense,
reiterates the first Commandment. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind
and strength is to give Him first place in our lives, to make His Worship our
highest priority.
We can take that one step further. When we give God first
place in our lives and make the pursuit of God our highest priority, we commit
to the pursuit of love. 1 John 4:7,8 says: ‘7 Dear
friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone
who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who
does not love does not know God, for God is love.’ This love, as we see
demonstrated in the life and teaching of Jesus, is a commitment to put others
before self. In fact, it is a commitment to the greater good of the community
even if that costs us our life.
ANZAC honours sacrifice in the name of freedom. Our future freedom as a
nation depends on the continued willingness of men and women to stand against
aggression and oppression at whatever cost to themselves. Freedom will never be
assured for as long as human beings act with disregard for the welfare of
others, for as long as personal wants and needs take priority over the greater
good. The command to put God first in all we do is the only antidote we have to
selfishness, our only guarantee of freedom.
Reference
IVP New Testament Commentary Series, The, John, Jesus meets privately with disciples prior to His crucifixion
(13:1-17:26), at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ivp-nt/Jesus-Washes-Disciples-Feet,
accessed 15 May 2014
Copyright
Notice
Scripture
quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton Illinois 60189. All rights reserved
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