Our scripture this morning is John 13:12-15 (NLT).
After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your 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.”
Jesus often did the unexpected. As they prepare for the Passover celebration, He washes each of their feet, a job usually reserved for a low ranking servant. Then He says if they want to follow Him they must learn to “do as I have done to you.” In Matthew 20:28 He tells them “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I remember taking a group of high school kids on an urban mission trip. One of the locations we went to work at was a huge food pantry. A girl from our group was very excited to hand out food to people, but when we arrived we were assigned to do cleanup in the warehouse. She was disappointed at first but did what was asked. She was unusually quiet the rest of the day. That night during prayer time she said God taught her about true serving, that all things work together for good, even cleaning!
I remember hearing that if the cross were not the symbol of our faith, reminding us of Christ’s sacrifice for us, the basin and towel would be a wonderful reminder of what we are called to do in the world. Jesus wants us to love and care for each other as He has shown us. May we use the gifts we have been given to serve all God’s children.
Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the example Jesus gave us of service to each other. Help us to see the needs of the world and go in Your name to care for our brothers and sisters. Amen.
