Servant

^“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.”

John 13:3-5 (ESV)

The following is written by John Bloom, Executive Director of Desiring God.

Peter had grown used to Jesus doing and saying unpredictable things. But what Jesus was doing now was wrong. He was the last person in the room who should be washing feet.

All of Peter's life he had been taught that feet were dishonorable members of the body. They were usually dirty, frequently smelly, and among the most likely members to come in contact with things that the Law declared unclean.

Outside of immediate family, feet were washed by slaves and servants - ideally non-Jews so as not to subject any of the Covenant People to such humiliation.

And one certainly was never to insult an honored person by pointing one's feet at them.

But here was the Messiah, the most honored Jew to ever walk the earth, stripped like a common slave with a towel around his waist willingly handling the unclean feet of his disciples. This was backwards. If anything, Peter should be down there washing Jesus' feet.

John Bloom explains to us what washing feet meant in the Jewish culture that Jesus lived in. We see just a glimpse of what Jesus was willing to do for the twelve disciples that night. Jesus was still yet to complete his final act of service however. Jesus life of service would soon culminate at the cross.

How can we be servants in our day to day lives? C.S. Lewis once said “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” I think C.S. Lewis knew the key to being a servant. Let us think this week about how we can look past ourselves and serve others.

- Matt Simmonds

Servant

SERVANT

“…whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 20: 26-28 (ESV)

During my undergrad studies, I took several business classes that explained the structure of businesses both large and small. We looked at companies that have complex levels of hierarchy and others that have a much simpler structures. Our world is organized by leaders that have worked for years in order to gain power and responsibility to make decisions that affect the large majority of employees. Those at the very top seem to rarely interact with those at the bottom. In large corporations, the decision makers do not spend the majority of their time mingling with the lowest level of employees.

Jesus ran things different than our world does today. He was the leader and decision maker in his ministry, but he still took the time to be visible to his followers. Instead of being served by his following, he came to serve the people.

Our attitude should also be to serve first. God promises that by being a servant we will be “great” and placed “first” in his eyes. I encourage all of us to look for new ways to serve the world around us in this New Year. What a great opportunity it is to refocus and let God change and work in our hearts like we have never allowed him to do before.

- Matt Simmonds