Biblical Servanthood

We live in a very proud and egotistical generation. It is now considered acceptable and even normal for people to promote themselves, to praise themselves, and to put themselves first. Pride is considered a virtue by many. Humility, on the other hand, is considered a weakness. Everyone, it seems, is screaming for his own rights and seeking to be recognized as someone important. Everyone wants to be a master and no one wants to be a servant.

The preoccupation with self esteem, self love, and self glory is destroying the very foundations upon which our society is built. No culture can survive pride run rampant, for all of society depends on relationships. When a mass of people are all committed first of all to themselves, relationships disintegrate. And that is just what is happening, as friendships, marriages, and families fall apart.

As with other traces of worldliness that has seeped into the Church, the preoccupation with self has found its way into the Church as well.

Self esteem, self love, and self glory all go against the grain of biblical servanthood. Scripture is clear, however, that selfism has no place in Christian theology. Jesus repeatedly taught against pride, and with His life and teaching He constantly exalted the virtues of humility and servanthood. Nowhere is that more clear than in John 13.

(John 13:1 NKJV) Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

John writes that Jesus knew He was about to die--Jesus knew His hour had come.

Jesus was about to die. There is something about the prospect of dying that causes the dying person to look at life differently.

* Some people begin to “settle their estate” i.e., they pay their bills. Some make more bills.

* Others make peace with their enemies. Some pay their life insurance up to date.

* Parents attempt to spend more time with their children.

* Preachers preach the things considered crucial to the preservation or well-being of their flock.

So it was with our Lord Jesus.

Now it is the day before Jesus' death, and rather than being preoccupied with thoughts of His death, sin bearing, and glorification, He is totally consumed with His love for the disciples. Knowing that He would soon go to the cross to die for the sins of the world, He is still concerned with the needs of His twelve disciples.

In what were literally the last hours before His death, Jesus kept showing them His love over and over. John relates this graphic demonstration and writes, “…when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” (John 13:1-2 NKJV)

"To the end" in the Greek is eis telos, and it means this: He loved them to perfection. He loved them to the uttermost. He loved them with total fullness of love. That is the nature of Christ's love, and He showed it repeatedly-even as He was approaching His death.

* When He was arrested, He arranged that the disciples would not be arrested.

* On the way to the cross, He tenderly encouraged many of the women who were on the roadside not to weep.

* While He was on the cross, He made sure that John would give Mary a home and care for her as his own mother.

* He reached out to a dying thief and saved him.

* He asked His Father to forgive those who did not know what they were doing

It is amazing that in those last hours of carrying the sins of the world, in the midst of all the pain and suffering He was bearing, He was conscious of the needs of others.

Dr MacArthur says, “He loves utterly, absolutely, to perfection, totally, completely, without reservation. At the moment when most men would have been wholly concerned with self, He selflessly humbled Himself to meet the needs of others. Genuine love is like that.”

Verse two of our text says, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him…(John 13:2 NKJV)

By this time, Judas was already infected with Satan’s deception. He was already possessed with greed as John records in the previous chapter:

(John 12:1 NKJV) Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.

(John 12:2 NKJV) There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.