Feet « The Blog Channel

The Big Feet of Jesus

Oct 21, 2009 3:28 pm by Paul Jenkins in Culture, Evotions

Hebrews 2:8
…and put everything under His feet.

One of the most oppressing (and saddening) facts that I have learned while here in India is the way the caste system works. Of course, it is no longer a legal system, but it is in the hearts of the people here and so it functions in a unwritten rule kind of way.

Basically there are five specific groups that follow the body from top to bottom: the head, which is the priests and leaders; the shoulders, which represents the strength of the nation which is it’s military and soldiers; the belly, which is the role the factory workers play; and the feet, which represents the poor and the ones who perform very menial tasks. Now, if you do your math right, you see only 4 mentioned there.

The fifth group are the ones we are helping during our trip. They are the slum dwellers, and in the caste system they are below the feet and are basically seen as sub-human. In fact, the main beef that Hinduism has with the Christian faith is that it places value on the individual and causes them to want to better themselves, thereby disrupting the system. Interesting, isn’t it?

I thought of this passage from Hebrews and pictured this giant foot of Jesus crushing this caste system and putting everyone – not just the slum dwellers – under His feet. He doesn’t do it to belittle us at all, but rather to show us that we all are on the same level, and that we need Him to be the Lord and King of our lives. The slum dwellers here understand that, and readily see their need of Him. But the higher the level in the system, the harder it is to see the need they have of Christ. Often it takes the big feet of Jesus to open our hearts to how needy we really are.

Of course, the quickest way down is to bow, and I would gladly choose that route to the bottom of Jesus’ feet over the one described in this verse!

How about you?

When Toe Jam Looks Good

Oct 14, 2009 6:59 am by Paul Jenkins in Evotions

Evangelism Evotions Feet Yak

Romans 10:15b
As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

I’ve known some people in my lifetime that have a real problem with feet, and if I were to start writing about looking at feet, washing feet, touching feet, and possibly even smelling feet, they would yak on their computer screens. Quite possibly, they just did. Cool. Anyway, I’m not one of those people, but I’ve always wondered how those people would respond to this verse. Would they also think the feet are beautiful? Would they touch the feet and perhaps even kiss them? Who knows, but they just yakked again. A double-yak Evotion is a great way to start the day, right?

If you go back to Isaiah 52, you’ll find the original context of the verse, and it actually says in verse 7 that the feet of those bringing good news are beautiful “on the mountain.” This is good news for feet yakkers everywhere because at least they could see them from a distance and still rejoice. But the real question is why God said their feet were beautiful? I think the answer’s obvious, and it isn’t that we should sign up happy people as foot models.

The message is what is beautiful. In Isaiah they brought good news, peace, good tidings, salvation. They stood on a mountain where people were captive and exiled and they shouted, “Your God reigns!” In Romans, they brought they saving message of Jesus and what He had done to cancel their sin. That’s a great message!

But let’s go one step further. Back in the day before really cool shoes, they didn’t walk around with their feet covered. They’d be barefoot, or possibly in sandals, and those feet would get very dirty. In fact, the foot was one of the dirtiest – if not the dirtiest – parts of the body, and yet the good news they carried was powerful enough to cause the dirty part to be seen as beautiful. That’s great news for those of us who see a lot of ugly places in our lives and yet are still trying to carry good news to others! We may feel ugly and unworthy, but the good news about Jesus and what He’s done is so transforming, that it makes our worst look beautiful to the ones we share it with.

So go, toe jam and all, and share it. Just watch out for feet yakkers.