The greatest among you shall be your servant … What's He talking about? Is He saying that the servants, literally those who serve us, are the greatest from His point of view? This is counterintuitive, and the mind of man will almost not have it. It has to mean something other than that. He must have something else in mind if we are to defend our personal superiority.
I think it can be safely said that no one is trying to be the most servile, or at least not many. Love God and serve people. We get into trouble when we get this backwards. Yes, we do serve God, but by and through our service to people.
Serve one another in love. That is our love of God running over, expressing itself in service to others. Jesus is our great example: “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many,” He said! How do we lose our natural desire to neuter this concept?
It’s hard to serve others and maintain your pride and self-importance. Serving others is an outward expression of not thinking on your own needs, but also on the needs of others. Some of us say we serve others through leading them, and that makes us feel better—maybe rescuing our self-concept from feelings of insecurity.
Let’s have a look at John 13:1-17, New Living Translation – https://biblehub.com/nlt/john/13.htm. I’ll mix in some thoughts and emphases as we go through the verses.
Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
(Verses 1-5) 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. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
Jesus knew (or realized; was reflecting on the fact) that the Father had given Him all authority OVER EVERYTHING, so how does He express HIS AUTHORITY? While Jesus is reflecting on the fact that all authority over everything has already been given to Him, “he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin.” Then He went to work to demonstrate and express how real authority expresses itself from a Jesus point of view.
(Verses 6-11) When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
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.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Is Jesus having to wrestle with Peter’s pride again? Brother just wants to be different, or difficult, and at times it’s hard to discern which. Peter’s concept of leadership rebuffed, or didn’t permit, the greater to serve the lesser, so he pushed back. Finally he yields his sense of leadership to the fact that he really belongs, or wants to belong, to Jesus. Masterful patience and illumination on the part of Jesus to Peter.
(Verses 12-17) After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 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. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
After this demonstration, this object lesson to the point of discomfort for some (Peter), and final tipping point perhaps for others (Judas), Jesus sits down to make sure the lesson doesn’t escape the twelve. Serve each other. Period.
Slaves (you) aren’t greater than their masters (Jesus), messengers (you) and not more important than the one who sends the message (Jesus). Here He exposes our aversion to service:
- We think we are greater than others.
- We think we are more important than others.
He has to break this down for us in an uncomfortable way. If I, your Master and Commissioner, am not too important to take this approach, neither are you. Jesus isn’t saying that our service should be based on the reality that we aren’t greater than and more important than others; He is saying our service is based on the fact that we are not greater or more important than Him. Jesus shows the way.
We can hear all of this and agree with it. Even have a sense of responsibility to take this approach; yet we will still continue with our self-important and “greater-than” approach in our interaction with others. That’s why the final line in the verses above is so poetic to me.
“Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”