The Master Servant

John 13:1-17

John 13:1–17 ESV

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

This week, we are going to look at a story about the Disciples and Jesus in John 13. Here we find Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper. It was going to be just a few days before Jesus was going to be crucified. In Luke, we found out that they were having a discussion, actually an argument. Guess what they were arguing about? They were arguing about who was the greatest. This week we are going to find out that a disciple of Jesus washes feet.

John 13:1-4

We need to catch what is going on here. Jesus knew when He was going to die. He knew when His hour was up. In about 2 days, He was going to be tortured and crucified. Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot was going to betray Him. Jesus knew that He was the Son of God. He knew that God had given Him all the power.

Jesus did exactly what He came to do- Served. Jesus took off His outer garment, grabbed a towel, and put it around His waist. In the 1st Century Jewish culture, other people that would wear similar type of clothing, a towel, some kind of garment that they could use to clean, were slaves, servants. So, here’s Jesus putting on a towel in such a way as a slave would do, and the Disciples are in the room thinking, “What is going on?” Jesus was doing this outward reminder of an inward truth that “I am here to serve.”

How about you? Why are we here at Southside Baptist Church? Are you here to serve, or are you here to be served? Be honest. Are you here to really be a part of what God is doing in people’s lives every week here, or is it sort of a spiritual consumer idea where you get in, listen to the message, and then you are on with life? Or are you more of a spiritual contributor that when the sermon is over, you begin to serve those around you? You begin to have the heart of Christ to serve.

John 13:5-17

To wash feet is not something that everyone was jumping up to do, (especially in this time). Who was the kind of people that would wash feet? Some hosts would wash the feet of guests; but usually it would be a Gentile servant- The lowest of the low. The Disciples knew what this task was and who usually performed this task. The fact that Jesus was doing this was shocking to them.

Now, take that principle and plug it into the contents of your life. How is God asking you to serve others? Are you willing to do what He is calling you to do? How can you be sure that you have the same heart as Jesus did on that night when He washed the disciples’ feet?

Ask yourself these 3 questions to determine if you have the same heart that Christ did when He served.

1. What is your motivation?

Jesus was motivated by love. When Jesus takes off his outer garments and ties a towel around his waist, it is such a beautiful picture of His earthly ministry. The outer garment represents His glory, which He freely lays down. The towel represents His sacrifice for us. Here’s the deal. Jesus laid down His glory and stepped into the physical realm. He then, at the appointed time, took upon Himself the cross, when the cleansing was finished, He took of the filthy garment and once again picked up His glory. Please think about this and allow it to sink in. The feet of the disciples were very dusty and dirty. As he washed the feet of each disciple, the white towel became more and more dirty. The picture here is that Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself. In doing so, He cleansed us and added our filth to His white towel. Jesus was motivated by love, what are we motivated by?

2. What is the need in front of you?

Not what you are planning to do next week or the volunteering you signed up for. Jesus had a huge thing coming up. In 2 days, Jesus knew that He was going to suffer like no other and be crucified. I mean, this is the greatest act of service and humility that has ever been seen in the world, and yet, in the middle of that kind of knowledge, He looks at the need in front of Him. You’ve got to ask yourself, what’s the need in front of you?

3. What do you have to give?

Remember Peter and what he went through in that upper room during the foot washing, and then later, we find him preaching that Jesus has risen from the dead, that He is the Messiah. We see him walking in Jerusalem, and he’s going to the temple during an hour of prayer, and he sees a beggar on the side of the road and the beggar is asking him for money, and he hasn’t walked since birth, and Peter looks at him, and says, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

What do you have to give? Is it time? Is it an ear to listen to someone’s problems? When Jesus washed the Disciples’ feet, it was not some task that He was trained to do. He was not gifted in foot washing. This was the task that fit the need at hand. What do you have to give?

Conclusion:

Jesus used a basin to wash the Disciple’ feet; but there was another basin used shortly after that. When Pontius Pilate was going to release Jesus to them, the people were screaming, “Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him.” Pilate’s reaction was to take a basin of water and wash his hands clean of this crucifixion.

We all have a basin of water in front of us and you have 2 choices in how to handle it.

* You can take the basin of water and say, “I wash my hands of this. I don’t have anything to do with it. I don’t want to have anything to do with this kind of being a disciple and what that means.”

* You can take that basin of water, and you can kneel down and wash feet. You can serve just like Jesus did.