The Purpose of Serving and Being Served

John 13:1-17

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

² The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean,  though not every one of you.”  ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

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 I tell you the truth, 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.

This passage has always fascinated me.  I remember as a young teen asking my dad why our church didn’t practice foot washing and he did not have an answer for me.  He was not sure but agreed that it is something that Jesus did and told His disciples to continue to do.  Although our church might not have gone through the ritual of foot washing I believe they did practice serving one another in love and I do believe this is what Jesus was telling His disciples.  No matter how high up you are on the ladder, you need to humble yourselves to one another and serve one another in love.  You need to get to the part of the body that is not the most appealing, sometimes smelly, sometimes rough and rugged, sometimes downright dirty and you need to humble yourselves before that person and wash their feet.  The feet, the furthest part of the body from the heart, the feet that our whole body rest upon, the feet, that are sometimes hard to reach, they need care and when they are cared for, the whole body benefits.

Sometimes those feet might be a representation of the church body.  It may be those people who need the tenderest loving care, who are smelly, although the body may be clean, the feet are smelling up the entire church.  I believe Jesus is telling His disciples and us that we need to wash their feet, to serve them even though they may be draining us.  Jesus demonstrated this by washing the feet of Judas.  Even though He knew that Judas had already been visited by the devil and that he had already set the plot to betray Jesus, Jesus washed his feet.  Not all of the disciples had clean bodies but Jesus washed each of their feet, 24 feet, each one I believe He did with love and compassion, even the two feet of Judas.  What does that tell us that we should do for those who betray us?  For those that we find hard to forgive?  For those that we know are less than perfect by even human standards?

Have you ever washed another person’s feet?  Not your child or spouse but another believers feet?  Have you had your feet washed by a believer?  I have taken part in only one foot washing and it was a wonderful experience.  As I washed the person’s feet, I prayed for them.  That person then washed my feet.  For me, it was more of a blessing to wash the feet than it was to have my feet washed but it was more humbling to have my feet washed by another person.  I find it interesting though that no one washed the feet of Jesus.  They all allowed Him to wash their feet but no one said, “Lord, now let me wash your feet”.  Was it because Jesus did not need to be humbled?    How many times do we do something for others and expect to get something in return?  Sometimes we even get a little frustrated when are having to continually serve others.  We may not realize that the one we are serving is being humbled before the Lord.  If frustration comes we need to ask ourselves who we are truly serving, that person or our Lord.  If we did it to get something in return we did it only for human gratification but if we did it for the Lord we should never expect to get anything in return from the person we served.  When we are true servants of His we will find that it is more humbling to receive than it is to give.  We find that being served is difficult and a bit uncomfortable but when we serve we find satisfaction in knowing that we have served the Lord.  Both being served and serving have a purpose.  One, to remind us that we can do nothing on our own power and one that allows us to show our gratification to our Lord by serving His children.

As you seek Him, humble yourselves before Him, allow Him to wash your feet and grant to you the desire to serve others as Christ has served you.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila