The Serving Saviour
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.
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 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. 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.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
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.
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. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
“Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:1–17, 31b–35
On the night He was betrayed… The night when evil crept close. The night the betrayer slipped out into the shadows. The night the cross drew near.
You’d expect Jesus to draw a sword. Or call down angels. Or at least gather His friends close and prepare for battle.
But instead—He stood up from the table, took off His outer robe… and picked up a towel.
John tells us: “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father” (John 13:1). He knew His suffering was just hours away. He knew the cross was near. He knew Judas would betray Him. He knew Peter would deny Him. He knew His disciples would scatter.
And still… He took off His outer robe, tied a towel around His waist, and began to wash their feet.
It’s not weakness. It’s not a symbolic gesture. It’s love. Real love. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1b). It’s the love that kneels to serve. It’s the love that cleanses, restores, and calls us to do the same.
But Peter protests: “You shall never wash my feet!” (John 13:8).
He knows what’s on his feet. He knows the dirt—the mess, the pride, the sin. We, too, recoil at the idea of the Lord stooping so low. “Surely not, Lord. Not me. Not these feet.”
But Jesus answers: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
In other words: “you cannot belong to me unless you let me serve you.” You cannot be clean unless I cleanse you.
That humbles us. And it confronts us.
We would rather do the serving than be served. We’d rather earn grace than receive it. We’d rather stay standing than be vulnerable and bare before the Lord.
But tonight, Maundy Thursday, we come as we are. Dusty. Weak. Proud. Needy.
Tonight, Jesus kneels. Jesus washes.
Before we take up the towel to serve, we must let Him serve us. Before we love one another, we must be washed in His love.
So now, we do what the disciples did that night: We come to Him. We open our hearts. We let Him, through His Word, expose the dirt we’d rather hide.
The hands that stooped to wash feet are the same hands stretched out on the cross—for you. So, let’s confess our sins to God our Father and ask Him to forgive us in Jesus’ name.
