The Master Servant

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

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.

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” (John 13:1-20, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

We are now at the threshold of one of the greatest passages in all of Scripture. In John 13-17, Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room on the night of his betrayal, arrest and trial—the night before his death. At this point in his narrative, John gathers together the crux of Jesus' teaching, distilled through the apostle's own meditations on the Lord and his glory.

Interestingly, John does not describe the Last Supper in any detail. He merely says that Jesus arose from the meal table, so we can assume that the meal has already taken place. Back in the sixth chapter of John's gospel, Jesus speaks about eating his body and drinking his blood (John 6:53-58); here, John focuses our attention in a quite different direction. It is really all contained in the very first verse: "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." For John, the Passover festival is the key to understanding what Jesus was going to accomplish. His death and resurrection would constitute the great act of exodus and liberation, setting God's people free just as the Passover celebrated the time when God led his people out of Egypt, under the shed blood of the lamb, through the Red Sea and off towards the promised land.

When John tells us that Jesus knew his hour had come (verse 1), he is picking up a theme developed throughout the Gospel: Jesus' "hour" was the moment when he was going to accomplish the mission for which he had been sent into the world. John characterizes this moment in terms of departing from the world and going to the Father, which is why the following chapters are known as the "farewell discourses," when Jesus says goodbye to his friends and followers. Still in the first verse of the passage, John says that Jesus had loved his followers "to the end." This phrase "to the end" doesn't just mean that he went on loving them as long as there was breath in his body, although that was true as well. John clearly means that he loved them to the uttermost—there was nothing that love could do for them that he did not do for them. And this introduces us to the next scene, when Jesus enacts, symbolically, the love of God.

John notes that Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, had already found it in his heart to betray Jesus. As betrayal involved an act of accusation—of accusing Jesus before the chief priests and the Jewish rulers—John attributes this betrayal to the devil, who in Hebrew has the name "the Satan," which means "the accuser." Judas now personified the sense of accusation that had been hanging over Jesus for so much of his ministry, and that was about to confront him openly. But Jesus is described as knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God (verse 3). He understood his true identity as God's beloved Son and he knew that he would soon be returning to his Father. He knew that the accuser was a liar and that his true calling was to be and do for Israel and the world what only God could be and do for them. He was committed to a course of action which was the very embodiment—or incarnation—of the love of God.

After supper, to express the love of God graphically, he got up from the table, took off his outer robe, tied a towel around himself, poured water into a basin and washed his disciples' feet. When John describes that sequence, he is describing not only the action of Jesus at the table but also the action of Jesus in coming down from God, laying aside the garments of his glory, taking instead, the form of a servant, girding himself with a towel and doing for his friends the work that a servant would normally do (see Philippians 2:6-8). Washing the feet was a normal routine in most well-to-do houses, where it was the task of a slave to wash away the dust and dirt of the road from the feet of guests. Although this was a regular social courtesy, it was not one that would normally be performed by a social superior, let alone someone who was called Lord and Master.

This becomes apparent when we observe the almost comedic interchange between Jesus and Peter. Peter misunderstands. He does not want Jesus washing his feet. But Jesus insists: You don't understand this at the moment, he says to Peter, but you will later. Peter goes on blustering: I'm not going to let you wash my feet. And then Jesus responds, rather sharply: If I don't wash you, you can have no part in me, no share in what I'm doing. You must let me wash you. Peter's innate human pride means he doesn't want a humble leader. He might have to be humble in turn, and that would never do. But when he is faced with the threat that, unless he goes through with it, he won't have any part in Jesus' work, then, typically, he flips to the other extreme and says: You had better wash all of me—"Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus replies: "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." In other words, he has already accepted Peter—he has already cleansed him. But, as Peter walked on through the world, his feet will get dirty again and once more need washing. In the same way, when we pray the Lord's Prayer we don't have to start every time as totally unforgiven sinners. We come as God's beloved children, saying, "Our Father in heaven…" but halfway through the prayer we admit gladly and freely that we have some things that need sorting out, some problems that need addressing today. And it will be the same tomorrow.

So, Jesus washes his disciples' feet, and explains to Peter what it means—how it connects with their sharing in his life, his glory, his work. When he has finished, put on his robe again, and returned to the table, he explains further to them the significance of what he has done. This combination of active symbol, followed by explanation, was typical of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus says: You call me Teacher and Lord and you are right to do so, because that is what I am. You must learn, though, that if your Lord and Teacher has washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet (verse 13). Jesus is deliberately standing the normal social order on its head, turning the values of the world upside-down. He reminds them that servants are not greater than their master (verse 16), nor messengers to the one who sent them. In other words, because they are his servants, his messengers, they can and must follow his example and do nothing else.

Throughout all of this, Jesus is aware that one of those sitting at the table, one of those whose feet he has washed, is about to get up and leave the company, never to return. The only time they will see him again is when he appears in the Garden of Gethsemane to betray his master. Jesus is less concerned about that, however, than about conveying to the disciples the meaning of his action. This is what it means to be equal with God, to reveal the glory of God. Loving his followers to the outermost, he wants to bequeath them this new way of life which is no less than the love of God—love that was expressed uniquely in Jesus, but then given by his Spirit to all his followers.

PRAYER:

Jesus, Master and Lord, teach us by your loving service how to serve one another in love so that we, in turn, may embody the love of the Father. Guide us by your Spirit to understand the truth of our identity and our calling so that we might be freed to give ourselves away in service to others, even those who may wish us harm.

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and this is my favorite time of year for watching sports. In baseball, the pennant races are heating up. As each team struggles with all its might to reach the playoffs, the intensity of the game ramps up. With only 26 games to go, will the Texas Rangers be able to hold onto or expand their current standing as division leaders? Will they be able to return to the playoffs and, if so, will they be successful enough to return to the World Series? Time will tell. And, thankfully, football season has finally arrived. There so much anticipation about the upcoming season, whether in college or the NFL. Will the Horns get off the schneid and return to their winning ways? Will Johnny Football and the Aggies be able to repeat last year's stunning season? Will the Cowboys' changes on defense and offense lead to a winning record or a trip to the playoffs? Will Beth Peeples and Jennifer Babb continue to berate me for being a Cowboys fan? We'll see…