Service

Service

And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.

John 13:14-17

Just before Jesus performed the lowly task of washing the disciples’ feet, those same disciples had been arguing about which of them was most important. How ironic that people who thought they were so important were about to behave so poorly in response to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. This didn’t take Jesus by surprise, though. He knows what we are all like deep down inside our hearts.

“Jesus knew that one of his disciples had already decided to betray him. Another would deny him by the next morning. Even this night, they would all desert him. In the next hours they would repeatedly display ignorance, laziness, and lack of trust.”^a Even though Jesus had good reasons to give up on all of them, he continued to show them his love. It was amazing, incomprehensible love because the disciples neither deserved it nor immediately appreciated it.

We are just like those disciples. We are sometimes unfaithful to Christ, and he knows the details of our experiences. But he died for us, he continues to love us, and he wants to guide us and encourage us. Do we realize how much Christ loves us? Are we willing to imitate him by serving one another in love?

Father,

Forgive us for spending too much time thinking about how important we are and not enough time serving you. Thank you for the example you left us and for the love you showed to your disciples even though they were an imperfect bunch. Amen.