The Servant-Lord and His Disciples
John 13:1-17

Have you ever been to a foot-washing ceremony? Churches usually hold these kinds of services on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday during Holy Week. In some cases, the parishioners wash each other’s feet, or the clergy wash the feet of the laity. I have attended only one such service in all my years. It was when I was in college. Having your feet washed by another person is a little uncomfortable at first. We are used to wearing socks and shoes to cover our feet. We don’t normally let strangers touch our feet. People worry about such things as the appearance of their feet or if their feet are smelly! As I recall, it was a rather intimate act. Foot-washing puts us out of our comfort zone.

Still, foot-washing can be a powerful spiritual experience. I remember that we sang the song “Brother, Let Me be Your Servant” as we washed each other’s feet. The lyrics of the song are in part, “Brother, let me be your servant. Let me be as Christ to you. Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.” The song captures rather well the meaning of foot-washing.

Having your feet washed by another person is foreign to our culture. It was actually very unusual in first-century culture, too. Foot-washing was a common practice, but people normally washed their own feet before entering their own or another person’s domicile. The practice is depicted in the series “The Chosen” that we are studying. A basin of water and a rag were positioned by the entryway to the house. Before entering the home, the person washed his or her own feet. The practice was somewhat akin to the act of removing your shoes before entering a home that is common in many Asian countries. People in the first century walked everywhere. They wore sandals, and the roads were not paved or swept. One accumulated a good bit of grime and filth in traveling from one place to another during the course of an average day. Foot-washing was hygienic, but it was also a sign of respect and care for the other members of the household.

As I said, people washed their own feet in the ancient world. Only very wealthy people offered to have their guests’ feet washed. A slave, usually a female, would perform the menial duty. The lord of the house would never stoop to perform such an undignified task. Peter was well aware of these social conventions, and so when Jesus came to wash his feet, Peter asked with astonishment, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” When Jesus indicated that he was, Peter, with his usual brashness, protested, “You will never wash my feet.” Students might wash their Rabbi’s feet, but Rabbis never washed the feet of their disciples.

Jesus’ actions did not make sense to Peter or the other disciples. Despite having spent three years with Jesus, they failed to grasp the essence of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus himself described his calling as that of a servant. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The washing of the disciples’ feet was a foreshadowing of the ultimate service Jesus would render to the human race through his crucifixion and resurrection. As the Lamb of God, he would take away the sin of the world. As the Son of God, he would rise again from the dead to defeat our last enemy, death.

Jesus performs this act of foot-washing with a profound awareness of what was beginning to transpire. John tells us that “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart this world and go to the Father” (vs.1). “The hour” in John’s gospel is the crucifixion. The entire gospel has been building to this climax. Chapters 1-12 cover three years of Jesus’ public ministry. Chapters 13-21 cover the last few days of Jesus’ earthly life, culminating in the resurrection. The whole gospel zooms in on this crucial moment.

Jesus performed this menial service from a position of absolute strength. Look at verses 3-5. “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 wipe them with a towel.”

Jesus was the Lord of all the earth. All things had been given into his hands, but he assumed the role of a slave. The Apostle Paul described Jesus’ act in Philippians 2:5-8. “Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” The second person of the Holy Trinity emptied himself of his divine glory, became a human being, and assumed the role of a slave to reveal the true nature of God’s power. The power of God is displayed in love.

Jesus’ action that night was an act of love. John, speaking of Jesus, wrote, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The phrase “to the end” can be dynamically translated as “to the uttermost” or “to the farthest reaches” or “to the full extent possible.” The love of God for his chosen people was on full display in the foot-washing. Jesus knew his time was short, and he was preparing his disciples to continue without him. If the disciples were to hold together through the upheaval of Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial, they would have to love each other to the uttermost. They would have to love each other the way Jesus loved them. They would have to put the interests of each other ahead of their own.

As an aside, it is worth noting that Jesus also washed Judas’ feet, despite Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. John tells us that “The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him” (vs.2). Jesus knew what Judas planned to do. He said, “You are clean, though not all of you” (vs. 10). John adds, “For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason, he said, ‘not all of you are clean’” (vs.11). Yet, Jesus washes Judas’ feet anyway, perhaps in a last-ditch effort to rescue him from the clutches of evil, but Jesus' primary focus was on the disciples who remained true to him. In verse 18, Jesus says, “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen."

Peter and the other disciples did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ actions, and so Jesus speaks very clearly to them about the significance of his servant-act. Jesus said, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (vs. 12b-17).

This is how the church was and is to function. One of our churches on the Gulf Coast is imploding. As Paul warned the Galatians, “If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (Gal. 5:15). What is it that makes churches fall apart? It is when the leaders and/or the laity stop following Jesus’ example and start serving their own interests, when they start behaving more like Judas than Jesus. When Christians start acting like lords instead of slaves, things fall apart very quickly, but when they follow the example of their servant-Lord, they flourish; they produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit is the tie that binds us together with chains that cannot be broken. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, knits us together in love that overcomes the world.

Think of the members of our faith family who exemplify humble service. I can think of quite a number. I think of our faithful staff: Larry Coleman, Josie Moore, Lewis Coleman, Lea Ann, and Charlyne. However, there are many other members of our family of faith who embody Christlike servanthood. Let us emulate them, for they are emulating Jesus.

Let us love each other to the uttermost so that through us, through our life together, the world may glimpse the kingdom of God on earth, and as we serve, let us sing, “Brother, let me be your servant. Let me be as Christ to you. Pray that I may have the grace to let me be your servant too. Sister, let me be your servant. Let me be as Christ to you. Pray that I may have the grace to let me be your servant too.”

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All glory be to God! Amen.