(John 13:13-16) Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. {14} If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. {15} For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. {16} Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
On the night before His betrayal and arrest, Jesus did something that literally shocked His disciples – He took the place of a servant and washed their feet. It was a servant’s duty to wash the feet of others and if there was not a servant present then either the one considered lesser would wash feet or they would not receive this customary act of service.
They probably all balked at this, but it was Peter who spoke out and almost refused to permit Jesus to wash his feet. Jesus told Peter that unless He (Jesus) washed his (Peter) feet then Peter would have no part in Him. There is much truth in the words of their conversation but we are dealing with service for this post; other truths about it may be brought out in future posts.
Jesus gave an example for all of us in washing the feet of His disciples. He was showing them and us that being His disciple involves service to others. Jesus did not diminish His position of Lord and Master but set in force the idea He had taught the disciple at other times in His ministry – “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” The disciples were like most of us – always striving to be in first place and most honored. While striving for first and best in athletic competition is proper, it has no place in God’s family of believers. God did not save us and make us a part of His great family so we can be isolationists or exalt our self or promote our own honor.
Salvation while being an individual matter it is not individualistic – in other words our walk with the Lord is according to our personal light and faith but we are not to become hermits and separate ourself from society. To the Hebrew believers the writer commands (not suggests) – “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Too many “professed” Christians use any and all excuses they can think of or the devil gives them to keep from joining together or from being of service as a disciple of Christ is called to be.
Jesus said – “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus served first by leaving heaven to come to earth as a human, teaching, healing and dying on the cross for us. He set the example of washing His disciples’ feet as a lesson in humility and example of how we are to serve one another.
We can serve in various ways. Drawing from the example of washing feet, we are to be willing to help our brother or sister who may be in spiritual problems by either sharing their burden or coming along side them to strengthen them in difficult times. We can serve simply by having a listening ear (psychologists get paid a lot to just sit and listen), fellowshipping together in small group Bible studies or over a meal. Jesus told of the Samaritan that served by helping the one beaten and robbed, helping him to a place of safety and providing financially for his needs. We can even serve by speaking the truth in love if the other is straying away from the Lord and walking against the light of God’s word – “faithful are the wounds of a friend.”
Service is not an option for Christians but as much a call as it is to be saved. When we serve others we are also serving God as Jesus pointed it out in Matthew 25. He said: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
