13. Servant
| It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, 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. (John13:1-5) |
Being a king is congruent with being served but not with serving.
Especially not washing dirty feet that have sweated all day in sandals on dusty roads!
When John introduces this beautiful account to us, he does a couple of interesting things:
- First he tells us that Passover is near. Passover is synonymous with rescue and deliverance from oppression. The Passover is effected by a sacrifice of a blemish-less lamb.
- Second he tells us that the time had come for Jesus to leave this world and go to the Father. This reminds us that Jesus is not of this world and does not have to be subject to its limitations. It also tells us that He is nearing the end of His mission.
- Thirdly, when he uses the word "world" ("Kosmos" in Greek) he almost always uses it in the sense of a "worldly system." John is indicating that while Jesus was able to leave this world, His disciples (His own) were in this world. There is a sense of stuckness implied here and Jesus' actions relate to this stuckness.
- Fourthly, this is the full extent of His love - John is making clear that Jesus' actions here are significant - He isn't just setting a good example - this action epitomises who Jesus is and what He came to do. He came to serve. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom to many." (Mark 10:45)
And so Jesus, the Passover Lamb, who will later in the week die to free us from the oppression of the world system (kosmos), washes feet. By this act of unnecessary service Jesus is breaking the mould of our dog-eat-dog world system and lifting up service as greatness. His act of footwashing is subversive: it sabotages the rules and norms of power and status, it breaks the grip of broken self esteem (watch Peter trying to stop Jesus washing his feet) and it creates a new reality where service is love.
He even washed the feet of Judas Iscariot...
That is amazing subversive love!
