Archetype 17: Following
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.
—John 13:1–5
The Reading
Jesus is getting ready to go to his death. His death will only have meaning if his disciples carry his message of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation to the world. But will they follow through? Jesus knows that Judas will soon betray him. Peter will deny him, not once but three times. Most of his disciples will abandon him to die alone. What can he do to impress upon them how much he needs them and how important their work is? Should he browbeat them and tell them how worthless they have been? Should he threaten them with damnation if they do not follow through? But Jesus does none of these things. He gets up and washes their feet.
The Hexagram
This hexagram is composed of the trigram Wonder above and the trigram Word below. The image of Word is Thunder, which denotes great power. The image of Wonder is Lake, which denotes receptivity. So we have the powerful thunder in the lower position, subservient to the “weaker” trigram above. This is the picture of this archetype, a great leader deferring to a weaker follower.
The Archetype
There is a time...
- To learn to serve so that one may learn to rule.
- To understand that by serving others, one builds commitment in one’s followers.
- To know that those who follow willingly and joyfully will remain true, whereas those who follow from fear will soon fall away.
- To build one’s following by adapting to the needs of the moment.
- To take the time to rest and regain strength.
Now is that time.
Moving Lines
Other interpretations of Archetype 17:
- Tom Christensen's interpretation [click here]
- Cafe Au Soul's interpretation [click here]
- LiSe's interpretation [click here]
- Richard Wilhelm's interpretation [click here]
Internal Links:
- Return to the Hexagram Index Table [click here].
- Return to Consulting the Christian I Ching [click here].
- Purchase a printed copy of Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching [click here].
- Learn about our Online Christian I Ching Workshop [click here].
- Find out about personal consultations [click here].
Reproduced with permission from Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching copyright (c) 2015 Roger Sessions.