Be A Servant To All People Series

There once arose a dispute among the disciples, as to which of them should be considered the greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus told them, “He who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Matthew 22:26-27). Jesus stated how, in the world, the greatest is considered to be the person sitting at the head of the table; however, in the kingdom, the greatest is he who acts as a servant. Jesus also pointed to Himself as an example of servanthood.

Christians are expected to engage in service. Paul admonished the believers in Galatia, “Through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). However, believers will often get caught up in self-service, seeking honor and prestige in the world, and forget about their obligation. Jesus realized that believers would be tempted to tiptoe around service; so, He demonstrated a powerful act of servanthood in order to provide a visual representation as a reminder that would be difficult to forget. Today, we will closely examine Jesus’ visual aid concerning the mandate for service.

Jesus Relinquished Rights and Entitlement (vv. 3-5)

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

The first thing that John stated is, “knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands” (v. 3). In the book of Luke, Jesus informed His disciples, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father” (Luke 10:22a). Jesus, as Son of the heavenly Father and King, had every right to anything He could have ever wanted or needed, but He did not choose these things. Instead, He “laid aside His garments” and “girded Himself” (v. 4).

“Having taken off His outer garment, Jesus was left with His tunic, a shorter garment like a long undershirt.”(1) He took off his outer garment in readiness to work. In this time “slaves would be so dressed to serve a meal,”(2) revealing how Jesus assumed the position of a lowly servant. In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul stated,

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

In Philippians 2:7, the Greek word for “bondservant” is doulos, meaning, “slave.” In our primary text, Jesus relinquished His rights as the Prince of heaven, girded Himself as a servant, got down on His knees “poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (v. 5). The Inter Varsity Press New Testament Commentary states, “Jesus tied a linen cloth around His waist with which to dry their feet, obviously not what one would expect a master to do. A Jewish text says this is something a Gentile slave could be required to do, but not a Jewish slave.”(3)

Therefore, in assuming the position of a servant, Jesus was also performing the task of a Gentile slave; thus incurring great humiliation, not just humility. If you were to attend an old fashioned foot washing service, how much humility would it take for you to wash someone else’s feet? It takes humility to get down on one’s knees; but once you start washing you can feel embarrassed and humiliated. You would never expect the Son of a King to choose a position of humility, much less subject Himself to humiliation; and yet, Jesus did.

So, why did Jesus wash only their feet? People of this day and time wore sandals, and their feet would become dusty and dirty on long walks while traveling. It was customary that one need only wash his feet in order to be considered clean. For example, elsewhere Jesus stated, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean” (John 13:10). Can you imagine washing someone’s dirty, stinky feet? Many of us would refuse, thinking we are too good for something like that; however, Jesus did not allow feelings of entitlement to keep Him from serving others.