If You Know You Know...
Recently I was invited to join the leadership board of my area’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (you can find more info here, “What is FCA”). For our monthly board meeting, I was asked to share some thoughts on “Serving” as it is one of our core values based on Jesus’ example in John 13:1-17. I’ll post the passage below and highlight a few thoughts I shared with our team. Hopefully, it is an encouragement to you in the same way that it encouraged me!
Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet - John 13:1-17
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, 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, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their 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 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.
As I reflect on these verses and what they show us about what it means to serve like Jesus, I’m drawn to this phrase that John repeatedly put into the text, “Jesus knew…”. I’ve highlighted them in the text above for you to see and I hope to share what I observe about how Jesus modeled serving.
In Verse 1 it says “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end”. One of the facets of God that always strikes me is his intentionality in everything that He does. This is a God of “all things work together”, there are no wasted moments or happenstance occurrences when He is involved. Even as this verse tells us that Jesus was aware of what was about to happen in his life, namely the crucifixion and resurrection (the pinnacle of His work here on earth); he intentionally chose to wash the disciples’ feet in service to them. In his last official gathering with his disciples before his betrayal and execution, he chose not to begin with a great speech or an awe-inspiring miracle. He began with service. Jesus was intentional about prioritizing service. In addition to that, this verse speaks about His love for his disciples and how He “loved them to the end” and then suddenly pivots into this example of serving through foot-washing. The service of Jesus was fueled by His love. Later on in this same chapter of John, Jesus tells his disciples “all people will know that you are my disciples by how we love one another” (John 13:35).
Our love should fuel our service to others and intentionally be a priority for us.
Verses 3 & 4 add “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist…”. I have always loved this depiction of Jesus being willing to humble himself as God in the flesh by washing His disciples’ feet. I will admit that I had previously missed one thing that John was trying to say in this. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power…so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist”. Because Jesus was confident in who He was and His relationship with the Father, he was willing to humble himself. Jesus was secure in His identity, His authority, and His position with God which made Him secure enough to serve. In my own life, I wonder how much more willing and eager would I be to serve others if I lived with 100% confidence in who God made me to be and in my relationship with Him as His child. To follow this example of Jesus means that we serve from a place of humility and that humility comes from being secure in Christ.
Our service to others is marked by humility empowered by our security in Christ.
Lastly, in Verses 10 & 11 we are provided with another instance of “Jesus knew…”. “Jesus answered, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.' For He knew who was going to betray Him, and that was why He said not every one was clean”. In that room of disciples, Jesus has Judas who this passage reminds us early on was prompted by the devil to betray Jesus, and Peter who would go on the deny him multiple times when confronted during Jesus’ trial and torture. He washed both their feet anyway along with everyone else’s. Hebrews 4:15 affirms to us that “we have a High Priest (in Jesus) that can sympathize with our weaknesses and was tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin”. I think it’s safe to assume that Jesus, who was 100% God yet 100% man, might have dealt with a similar type of internal conflict that one of us might feel knowing that one of the people that you have been closest to over the previous few years (spending almost every day together for 3 years of ministry) was about to give Him up to be arrested, tortured, and killed. The sorrow that He navigated in that moment had to be a torture within itself, yet He still washed their feet. Although this one is much easier to say than to practice, the example of Jesus is that we serve even in difficult situations and when we know that not everyone will respond to our serving the right way. For us, it might look like an underserved bad attitude, a general lack of gratitude, or possibly entitlement. However, we must still position ourselves to serve others even if the response is not always appropriate to the level of service.
Our service to others is not dependent on the response we will receive from others.
In verse 17, Jesus talks to His disciples and tells them what they can “know”. “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”. In the words of Peter the disciple (who, poetically, was restored after His betrayal and “bad response” to the service of Jesus), this is an example of a “great and precious promise” that we can pray into for our own lives. Let’s pray that we can model Jesus’ example of serving by making service a priority in our lives fueled by love, empowered by humility, and not dependent on the response that we might receive. Amen.
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