Following His Example

Devotion for the Week...

Jesus tried to teach His disciples to serve rather than seeking to be served. He even told them straight out, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28), but they tended not to get the point. Instead they argued over who was the greatest among them.

When the opportunity presented itself, Jesus served them to demonstrate what He meant. When there was no servant around to do the job, Jesus “got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him” (John 13:4-5). 

People in those days wore sandals, they walked everywhere and the roads were dirty. Not only was there actual dirt, there would also have been animal droppings on the road, since animals were used both for transportation and to carry goods, so I don’t even want to think about how dirty their feet were. No wonder it was customary to wash your feet after entering a house! I can almost see the disciples sitting there, realizing no servant was coming to take care of their feet, nervously wondering who would have to do the job, and then going a little wide-eyed when Jesus stood and started getting ready.

Then, “After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (vv. 12-15).

Jesus is our example in so many things, but this is a big one and it’s possible we are still more like the disciples than we would like to admit. How often do we sit, looking around for someone else to do the job we don’t want to do? How often do we think, “Not my job” and wait for someone else to step up? Even worse, how often do we think a particular job is beneath us, so we don’t even consider doing it?

Jesus told us to follow His example and do as He did. That means being willing to step up to do the lowly jobs regardless of our status or position and to serve others by doing the work no one else wants to do.