April 21, 2003
May 4
___John 13
Do as Jesus did; be a servant
___By John Thielepape
___The Gospel of John provides an extensive record of the Jesus' final instructions to his apostles on the night before his death.
___John 13 describes one of the most dramatic scenes during their time in the upper room. "Knowing that his hour had come," Jesus proceeded to demonstrate for the 12 apostles the extent of his love for them and then insist upon similar action from them toward one another.
___Romans 5:8 states that the death of Christ demonstrates God's love for us. In John 13, Jesus acted out that statement in vivid fashion for his earliest followers.
___Setting the stage
___Jesus approached the hour of his departure completely aware of his impending suffering upon the cross, but also completely confident he was carrying out the Father's will. As verse 3 indicates, Jesus knew both his origin and his destiny. He went to the cross with his eyes opened to both its agony and glory.
___In the hours before his arrest, Jesus did not struggle for final thoughts to leave with the apostles. He displayed the complete range of his love for them and modeled for them the kind of attitude that would lead to such a great sacrifice. With language that echoes Philippians 2, Jesus laid aside his garments and took up a towel, the symbol of humble service.
___The opening verses of this chapter indicate Judas already intended to betray Jesus. The text does not attribute a motive to this decision but does state that Judas' betrayal was the result of Satanic suggestion. Many attempts have been made to suggest why Judas would betray Jesus, but all of them are ultimately speculative. For whatever reason, Judas refused the invitation to place his faith in Christ and, instead, followed the impulse offered to him by Satan.
___Certainly, the interplay between Judas and Jesus weaves in and out of the story, but Judas' decision should not take priority in the story itself. Judas was an equal beneficiary with the other apostles to Jesus' teachings and to his offering of forgiveness and grace. As with all of the apostles, as well as with us, Judas made his own choice concerning his faith in Christ. Jesus stood fully aware of Judas' intentions but refused to allow Judas to set the agenda for these moments. We do Jesus' purpose a disservice if we give Judas more than his due.
___The stage was set when Jesus rose from the table and took up the towel with the intention of acting out a parable that would find its ultimate fulfillment the next day on the cross. Jesus prepared to show his disciples that the way to abundant life in God's kingdom is the way of humble service.
___Service fit for a king
___My high school senior class held a walk-a-thon to raise money for our senior trip. We enlisted sponsors to support us for a certain amount per mile for a 23-mile hike. After finishing the hike, I can still remember the joy of pulling off my shoes and socks and soaking my tired, sweaty feet in a pan of warm water. At that moment, nothing could have felt more refreshing.
___In the ancient world where most people traveled on foot with open-toed shoes if any shoes at all, the practice of foot-washing provided a refreshing experience for guests in a home. This certainly was not the most pleasant of tasks and usually was performed by a slave or even the child of a slave.
___Everyone in the upper room knew why the towel and basin were there. The tools were available, but no slave appeared on the horizon to perform the task. Nobody else in the room moved to do the job either. Perhaps they were thinking about it, but chances are they were thinking about who else might do the messy, thankless chore.
___Just like in the popular cartoon "Family Circle," the little character Not Me seems to be present in the room. In fact, the apostles seemed content to live with their own dirty feet rather than stoop to wash the feet of the others.
___In the prologue to his book "Leadership Jazz," Max DePree tells about the premature birth of his granddaughter Zoe. Zoe weighed one pound, seven ounces, and doctors gave her a 5 to 10 percent chance of living three days. When DePree and his wife visited Zoe the first time, she had three IVs in her tiny body, two chest monitors, and two tubes in her mouth.
___Knowing Zoe's father had abandoned her mother, the nurse gave DePree his instructions. "I want you to come to the hospital every day to visit Zoe, and when you come, I would like you to rub her body and her legs and arms with the tip of your finger. While you're caressing her, you should tell her over and over how much you love her, because she has to be able to connect your voice to your touch." Jesus had told his disciples he loved them, but he was about to connect his voice to his touch.
___The image of the apostles in the upper room flashed through my mind. Each one probably would have washed the feet of the others, however reluctantly, if Jesus had assigned him the task, but they refused to volunteer.
___To the reluctant disciples' shame and embarrassment, Jesus took up the towel and the basin, and proceeded to wash their feet. We can only wonder at the stunned silence that must have hung over the room. The friendly banter of the meal was surely replaced by the splashing of the water as Jesus quietly and methodically moved from foot to foot, 24 times, pausing only to dry their feet with the towel with which he had girded himself.
___As he did so many times, Jesus turned the apostles' understanding of the world upside down by performing the act of a slave. As the Messiah, Jesus deserved to be on the receiving end of this service. Instead, Jesus demonstrated service to others was service fit for even a king.
___Just as he had willingly abandoned his rightful glory in heaven to take on human flesh, he abandoned his rightful place at the table to take on the role of a servant. Soon, he would abandon his own sinless character to "become sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21) and carry that sin to the cross.
___The humble protest
___The only protest recorded in the text came from Simon Peter, who held no intention of allowing Jesus to wash his feet. While failing to jump up and replace Jesus, he strongly states Jesus would never wash his feet. Apparently, Peter possessed enough humility to believe Jesus should not be stooping to wash his feet, yet he still possessed enough arrogance to feel he could tell Jesus what to do.
___Leon Morris points out that Peter was "reluctant to let Jesus do what he wants." He preferred to set the terms for Jesus' actions. In other words, Jesus was acting outside of Peter's will. While this seemed to bother Peter quite a bit, Jesus remained unmoved by the protest.
___Commentators debate a difficult textual issue in verse 10 related to the phrase "except his feet." The main point seems to address Peter's false sense of humility.
___First, we have no place in Christ until we humble ourselves to him in repentance and allow ourselves to be cleansed by his forgiveness. We have to allow his death to be our sacrifice and allow his blood to cover our sins. If we don't, then we have no part in him. Second, we must submit to his daily control over our lives. We have to walk in daily fellowship with Christ and allow him to "do what he wants" in our lives. Genuine spiritual conversation will become obvious through the change that takes place in our lives as we continually learn on a daily basis what it means to make him Lord.
___Peter was unable to understand the full implications of this at the moment, but Herschel Hobbs points out that this experience made a lasting impression upon the impulsive disciple. In 1 Peter 5:5, he instructs younger men to "clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
___Following the
___example of service
___Having performed the act of service none of them would be able to forget, Jesus proceeded to reinforce the example with his desire for them to do likewise. For the disciples, who had argued among one another as to which was the greatest, Jesus clearly demonstrated the way to greatness was the path of willing service to one another, no matter how menial the task might seem. They might have willingly washed his feet, but by insisting to wash theirs he established a new, even higher, standard for their love toward one another.
___Most interpreters have refused to elevate footwashing to an ordinance on the level of baptism and the Lord's Supper. No biblical evidence exists, even with a brief mention in 1 Timothy 5:10, for treating footwashing as a rite that should be repeated by the church. While some find the act promotes an inward spiritual grace that finds fulfillment in outward service, the outward service seems to be the point of Jesus' teaching. The rite of footwashing should never replace the actions that demonstrate the spirit of Jesus' teaching.
___Like the apostles, we might willingly serve Christ out of obligation to him, but he has insisted upon serving us through his work on the cross. Having demonstrated the full extent of his love for us, he hands us a towel and sends us out to serve our neighbor.
___Questions for discussion
___What do you believe are some of the biggest barriers that hinder Christians from being faithful servants? What factors contribute to those barriers? How can those barriers be overcome?
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___John Thielepape is pastor of Meadow Lane Baptist Church in Arlington
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