John 13 - Jesus Introduces What It Means to Be a Servant Leader!
Verse for Today
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. - John 13:12-17
Commentary
It's very ironic that today's reading is about Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. In traditional churches, like ours, tonight is called "Maundy Thursday". It comes from the word "Mandatum Novum", which means "New Commandment". And in today's passage Jesus gives his disciples this New
Commandment.
There were lots of reasons Jesus washed the disciples' feet. First, it was a very nice thing to do. After walking on the hot, dusty roads all day, their feet were caked with dirt, grime, and sweat. Getting one's feet washing at that moment was probably quite the treat. Second, Jesus was doing what the servants normally did. He was teaching them that true leadership "begins with a towel". We call this today in the church "servant leadership".
Servant leadership works in both the world in the church. Servant leaders lead by example. When something needs to be done and no one is available, they will get it done. Nothing is beneath them. So after showing them what a servant leader looks like, Jesus tells them that this the kind of thing he was sending them out to do. Wash people's feet.
A little later Jesus says, "A new commandment I give you. Love one another". The certainly was new in the sense that it was in the Old Testament. But by washing the disciples' feet he was showing the disciples what that really meant. Importantly it was not an obligation to love but a choice to love sacrificially.
In the coming months and years, people would know the Jesus movement was different than any other movement. It would be through the servant leadership of Jesus' disciples! Jesus confronted the scribes and Pharisees and Sadduccees because they were more interested in power than serving the people they were called to lead.
While Jesus shared his last meal with his disciples and gave them a new command, it was all a foreshadowing of what would happen on Good Friday, where Jesus showed them a love like no other. Jesus showed them sacrificial love at the highest level. The apostle Paul puts into perspetive the magnitude of what we will remember tomorrow night on Good Friday!
"5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5-8
Jesus is the greatest leader the world has ever known. He led by example. He led with humility. He emptied himself and his blood was poured out on the cross so that we might be forgiven and have eternal life!
Make sure you take some time over the next three days to meditate and contemplate on the great sacrifice Jesus made for you!
Prayer
On this night when you washed your disciples feet as a prelude to your journey to the cross, help us not only to remember what you did for us but be an example to the world of what a servant looks like! Amen.
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