Serving Like Jesus

What is your favorite place to eat? Who is your favorite person to eat with? If you eat with anyone in the whole world, who would you eat with?

Well, in the Bible, we hear a few stories about Jesus eating with other people. And just about every time that Jesus ate with others, things got interesting!

There was one particular time, that Jesus and his disciples sat sound to eat for the Passover meal.

Now, the Passover meal was a very important meal. It was like our Christmas meal. People looked forward to it and prepared for it. There was a lot of excitement built around that meal!

And so, of course, Jesus sat down for an evening meal with his disciples.

But before I tell you what happened, I should tell you a bit about meals in Jesus’s day.

Back then, you didn’t eat at a table like we do. There aren’t any chairs usually.

Instead, you used to lounge on the floor on this big pillows. The food would be served on this really short table and you would eat on the floor.

Now think about this… everyone’s feet would be super close to the food of the person sitting next to them! Gross!

So back in Jesus’s day, they did something to solve this issue. Every time you came into someone’s house they would wash your feet.

Think about it, back in Jesus’s day there were no cars or motorcycles. There weren’t any roads like we had today. Everyone walked everywhere and they would walk on these dirty dusty paths.

How do you think their feet looked? How do you think they smelled?

But luckily, there would be someone just inside their house that would wash their feet.

Now, if you had the job of washing someone’s feet in the house, do you think that you would be the greatest or the least in the house.

Yeah! They would choose the lowest of the low to wash feet. The biggest loser. The one with the least money. The one who wasn’t going anywhere…they were going to wash feet.

So let’s go back to Jesus. All of the disciples were sitting around the table and the food was being prepared, so it was time to get their feet washed.

All of the sudden, Jesus stands up. He takes off his robe, wraps a towel around his waist and poured water into a large bowl. Then, he began to wash the disciples feet!

Jesus! He was washing the gross icky, stinky feet of the disciples.

What would you do if Jesus was going to wash your feet?

New International Reader’s Version Chapter 13

“Lord,” Peter said to him, “are you going to wash my feet?”

7Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”

8“No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”

9“Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!”

10Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean.

New International Reader’s Version Chapter 13

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. 14I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.

16“What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. 17Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus is saying that we should serve others! He has set the example for us! How can we serve others?