The Humility of the Servant King

Before we begin this morning, I’d like us to take a moment and lift our neighbors in the western part of the state. We live in a broken world. A world that isn’t as it should be. One of the effects of sin is the presence of disaster. We here in the east are no strangers to catastrophic flooding and now our neighbors who have quite often come to our aid are struggling this morning. So, if you will, I’d like to ask you to join me in lifting them up in prayer this morning:

Heavenly Father, we lift up our neighbors this morning who are experiencing immense loss and fear. We pray that you would hold back the flood waters, grant success to the rescue efforts, and preserve as much life as possible. We pray for those who have lost their homes and those that are stranded and awaiting rescue. Father, would you bring relief today. Would restore what has been lost. We also ask that you be with those who are still searching for loved ones this morning. Would you guide first responders to the right locations, would you be with crews working to restore cell service and electrical service and other basic needs. Father, help us as your people be ready and willing to serve our neighbors in their time of need. And above all, show yourself to be merciful and kind in the days. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.

Turn with me this morning in your bibles to John 13. There's an old story from the 1700s that goes like this. During the American Revolution, a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!" The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." The rider was none other than George Washington, himself.

We recognize good leaders when we see them. And we recognize really poor leaders when we see them as well. Sometimes, we can articulate what it is that makes a good leader stand out. Sometimes, we can't quite put our finger on it, but we innately sense that something is different about this individual. More often than not, that mysterious quality is humility. Certainly, good leaders must be able to lead people and have the ability to accomplish a goal, but when we see humility mixed with this ability to lead, it's extremely refreshing and fires us up to want to be a part of what that leader is doing. And if we're honest, it's surprising when we find this attribute in a leader. How does our world typically work? Those in power, sadly, rarely have a concern for those whom they consider beneath them. The greater the power held by the individual person, the rarer and the more refreshing and surprising it is when we see humility in that leader.

So, yet again, we are surprised by Jesus this morning as we dive into this story.

Read Passage: John 13:1-17

The Humility of Christ

It can be hard for us to fathom just how humble an action is occurring here. During the time of Jesus, washing someone's feet was considered the lowest of tasks and was typically reserved for Gentile servants or women. In fact, earlier in John’s gospel, we get a glimpse of how belittling this task was. In John 1:27, John the Baptist is illustrating to his disciples just how high and worthy and holy Jesus is. In that verse, he makes the comment, “The thong of whose sandal I am unworthy to even untie.” John’s disciples would have understood what he meant. He was unworthy to perform even this belittling task for the Messiah. In the first century, they didn’t have sneakers, so their feet were always in direct contact with the ground. If you’ve ever spent a day outside barefoot, you know just how dirty feet can become. Now imagine a day’s worth of dirt and caked-up clay that has to be cleaned off at some point. Hence the necessity of foot washing. The passage tells us that this occurred while they were eating supper together. In this culture, they didn’t have chairs in the way that we would think of them today. Instead, they would recline while they ate, often propping themselves up on their left elbow and eating with their right hand. This meant that their feet were stretched out behind them. This was done so that their feet could be washed while they ignored the one washing their feet, thus the menial, insignificant nature of the task; they didn’t even want to have to acknowledge the slave that was doing the washing. They were nothing.

The act of washing feet was not just a practical task; it also had symbolic and cultural significance. It was a sign of hospitality, humility, and servitude. Symbols of status, such as honor and shame, were immensely important in the first-century Jewish culture. So, the touching of someone’s feet was an extremely important matter. But what is most startling in this story, and what would absolutely not be lost on the original readers, is the fact that the Messiah is the one doing the washing! As I said earlier, the greater the power held by an individual, the more surprising it is when we see such acts of absolute humility in them. What’s even more startling is that the Lord, the Great Rabbi, would do this for his disciples. Disciples were expected to serve their Rabbis, and even they were not expected to wash their Rabbi’s feet. But here, we have the Great Rabbi himself, humbling himself to wash the feet of his own disciples. To say this would have surprised them is an understatement; this would have been completely unthinkable in their minds. There is no other story from antiquity that we know of where a leader humbled himself to this low level of servitude. But Jesus is ALWAYS intentional, and he had an important lesson for his disciples and all of us who would follow after them.

The surprise and shock of what was going on was not lost on the disciples. In verses 6 and 7, Peter speaks up and shares what was most certainly on the minds of the disciples. He cannot fathom what he is seeing, “Lord, do you wash my feet?!” Is this really happening right now?! Peter isn’t so much asking a question as he is challenging Jesus. It’s reminiscent of Peter’s attitude when Jesus first mentions his crucifixion, and Peter responds, “Absolutely not!” In the same way, this does not make any sense at all to Peter and he is struggling to comprehend what he is experiencing right now. Jesus, gentle as ever, recognizes that Peter isn’t going to understand what is going on right now, but it’s important. Peter, rather than taking time to think about what Jesus is trying to do, goes even harder and directly confronts the Lord, “You shall never wash my feet.” In no way is Peter going to be a part of what seems like such a disgraceful act. Remember Peter. This is the guy who, in no uncertain terms, was certain he would never dishonor his Lord and. Peter is, essentially, making an oath with his statement (Peter’s oaths always seem to get him in trouble, don’t they?). He will never be served by his Lord and Master; he will never dishonor him, nor will he allow his Lord to dishonor himself. Therefore, he will have no part in such a dishonoring act. But Jesus’s response is very striking and one that I think is at the very heart of this passage. In verse 8, Jesus says, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” In other words, if you do not let me serve you in this way, you are not my disciple and have no share in my coming inheritance. Think about that for a moment. The King of the Universe is, in essence, saying to his disciples, “If you don’t allow me to serve you in this way, you will not be counted among my people and will not have a share in my kingdom.” That is the logical conclusion drawn from what Jesus is saying and demonstrates the full force of this statement, and it is staggering. We can say that is the logical conclusion because of how Peter responds. He gets what Jesus is saying here and begs the Lord to wash every part of him if that’s what is required to have a share in the Messiah’s kingdom. Peter, what’s everything Jesus has to offer him? We can chuckle at Peter’s lack of insight into what Jesus is saying, but oh, would we have a desire like Peter to want everything our Lord has to offer to us!

Continued Cleansing

Jesus, seeing that the disciples have yet again missed the deeper point that he is trying to make, again gently corrects Peter and directs the focus on the meaning behind what he is doing. What was Jesus’ mission? What did he come to do? Multiple times, Jesus reminds us in the gospels that he has come to cleanse and remove sin from his people. He has come to give his life as a ransom. There’s one portion of the Old Testament where this idea of Messiah as Servant is particularly highlighted and I think is informative for us today. In Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53 we see the Messiah portrayed as “suffering servant.” Here in this passage, we have the Messiah taking on an overt and visible servant’s task and I believe that connection informs what Jesus is getting out in his response to Peter. Jesus says, anyone who has bathed is already clean, they need only wash their feet. He then goes on to say, “and you are clean.” So, on one hand Jesus is saying to his followers, you are already clean. On the other hand they have need to continue to wash their feet. What is he getting at? Well, I believe here we see a clear picture of the Christian walk. In Christ, we, too, are clean in the sense that, as was the suffering servant’s task, Christ has born the totality of our sin. As Paul says in Colossians 2:13-14, the record of our sin that stood against us has been nailed to the cross and wiped clean. We are indeed clean. But we still have need to wash our feet. What does that mean? Well, what are feet used for? Walking. And what happens when you walk? Your feet get dirty. So, on the one hand we are indeed bathed, washed, fully clean. On the other hand, we still have the need for continual cleansing as we walk around in the world. We live in a world that is still broken and tainted by sin. And as such our “feet” get dirty. I believe we see here a picture of growth in Christlikeness. In Christ, we have full salvation. But we still stumble as we walk about in the world. Even though the penalty of our sins has been fully removed, we still need the occasional washing of our feet. And I think this lines up very well with images we see of living a life of continued confession and repentance of sin. Not in an effort to maintain salvation but as a means of continued sanctification in our lives. Think of the Lord’s prayer: forgive us this day our trespasses. And think of James 5:16: be confessing your sins to one another and find healing. And think of 1 John 1:9, if we are confessing our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleans us. There is this concept in the Christian life that sin continues to taint us and we need to be keeping short accounts as we walk through this world. I believe that is what Jesus is implying here. You have received your full salvation, but those who have been cleansed still need continued foot washing as they walk about in the world.

Follow My Example

Now, as Jesus finishes this visible object lesson for his disciples, he points them back to the humility of what has occurred and leaves them with a charge. In vv. 12-17, Jesus gives them the charge to have the same servant heart that he has just displayed to them. He says, “if I have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” The point is, the Christian life is not about lordship and position and power and title. It is about service. Just as the Lord, God in human flesh, has lowered himself to serve those whom he loves, so too are his disciples to humble themselves to serve those whom Jesus loves. The disciples missed this point a few times. We read in the gospels that Peter jockeyed for position with Jesus. We read that James and John, the Sons of Thunder, jockeyed for the opportunity to sit at prominent positions in Jesus’ kingdom. But Jesus is reminding them that his kingdom doesn’t operate in the way that earthly kingdoms do. His kingdom is an upside-down kingdom in which the first will be last, and the last will be first. If you want to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven, you must humble yourself and cultivate a heart of service. And if the Lord himself is willing to do this, those that follow him, who are not in any way greater than him, must be willing to do the same. And this is important to Jesus that here, in the last night with his disciples, he feels the need for this to be one of the last examples and lessons he imparts to his disciples.

Application

Check Your Heart

There is so much we could do with this story this morning. So many points of application and so many ways of digging deeply into what Jesus is doing and teaching; it would take us a month to really mine the depths of what’s here. For the sake of today, we have to pick somewhere to land with this. So, as we think about what we do with this surprising story this morning, I want to turn our attention to three takeaways for us today. First, I want us to look at the Lord Jesus’ direct command in vv. 14-15. The Christian life is about service. To follow Jesus is to enter into a life of humility and service to our brothers and sisters. We are not to lord our positions over them. We aren’t to be people who jockey for position, or title, or prestige. We are to be people whose hearts are set on humble service to those around us. So, the charge to us today is to examine our hearts. Are we following in the footsteps of Jesus? Are we seeking to serve others or, to use Paul’s phrase, outdoing one another in showing honor and grace? Perhaps, if we’re honest, we sometimes struggle with this aspect of the Christian walk. We don’t live in a society that prizes humility. It’s dog-eat-dog out there, survival of the fittest. But Jesus is calling us to a better way. A way of humble service. And this thread carries on throughout the New Testament as we are told time and again to consider others more highly than ourselves. So, my question for us this morning is, where can we do that? Where are we not doing that? Is God calling you to something this morning that, on the surface, seems beneath you? Is he calling you to do something that, to the rest of the world, looks like a demotion or a setback? I want to challenge you to ask Him how you might have a heart of humility. Keep an eye out for how the Lord might be calling you to lead others by not considering yourself and your own ambition but by humbling yourself to serve others.

Cleanse Your Feet

Second, let’s look at Jesus’ comment on the need to wash our feet. We’ve already established that our salvation is full and complete in Christ. You don’t need to continually confess your sin in order to maintain your standing with God. But, we do still sin, do we not? We are still in need of having our own feet washed. We pick up the dust and dirt of this world as we walk through it. So, how often are you washing your feet? Are you keeping short accounts with the Lord with regard to your sin? If you aren’t, I encourage you to start. Set aside a regular time each week for self-reflection and confession. Perhaps it's during your commute, a morning walk, or just before bed. Keep short accounts with God and let Him cleanse you, so you can walk in freedom and confidence. Don’t let sin linger in your life. Be about the business of killing it and having your feet washed. When we don’t have our feet regularly washed, it’s not that our salvation is necessarily in jeopardy, but it does slow us down. It does weigh us down. And it is a tool used so often by the enemy of ourselves to fill us with despair and shame and to render us ineffective in service to the Lord. So how do you take that weapon, that weight, out of the enemy’s hand? You confess it to the Lord. You confess it to a friend. You bring that sin into the light and allow your feet to be washed so that you are ready and prepared to step back out into the world and be about the business of the kingdom.

Come for Washing

And finally, I’d like to end by taking us back to verse 8. In verse 8, Jesus says, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” In other words, if you do not let me serve you in this way, you are not my disciple and have no share in my coming inheritance. Think about that for a moment. The King of the Universe is, in essence, saying to his disciples, “If you don’t allow me to serve you in this way, you will not be counted among my people and will not have a share in my kingdom.” That is the logical conclusion drawn from what Jesus is saying and demonstrates the full force of this statement, and it is staggering. Don’t let that be lost on us this morning, and let’s not gloss over it. The heart of Jesus is one of humility and service. As I said before, He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53. I’m reminded of Philippians 2:1-11 where Paul describes the level to which Christ humbled himself in order to rescue us from the penalty of our sin and rebellion. Our Lord and our Savior is a man, a god, of immense humility and kindness toward those who are perishing. So, my question to you this morning is, have you allowed the Lord to wash you? Have you been cleansed? If you have not, I encourage you with everything I have this morning to come to the Savior for cleansing. Let him wash you. If he doesn’t wash us, we have no share in his kingdom. If the Lord Jesus doesn’t wash us, we still bear the weight of our sin and we will still pay the penalty for that sin. But that is not what the Lord wants this morning. He wants to wash you. This is one of the very reasons he came, to wash sinners clean of their sin so that they might share in his glorious inheritance, that you might have eternal life this morning. And I tell you, he stands ready this morning to wash you from head to toe if you would only come and ask. So, as you search your heart this morning, if you sense the Holy Spirit impressing upon you that you haven’t come to the Savior to be washed before you leave today, please find me, find Ben, find one of the elders, find another believer here this morning, and tell them. We would love nothing more than to lead you to the Savior who desires to wash you clean this morning. As Jesus said, if I do not wash you, then you have part with me. Oh, would you have a part in the eternal life that the Lord Jesus offers to you freely this morning?

Let us pray.

If you would, please stand with me for the benediction:

Today, we go out as people of the risen Lord, so

May the love of God our Father,

The peace of Christ our Savior,

and the presence of the Holy Spirit be with you today

Go in peace!