To Serve - Easter Reflections pt. 1 - Maundy Thursday

This Easter, I'm reflecting on serving, and what Jesus teaches us about serving through the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. Join me? Here's Part One.

It's the Thursday before Easter, which is traditionally recognized as the day of the Last Supper. A day when Jesus gave his disciples a lesson for them to remember, just before he would be crucified. And how important that final lesson was -- is.

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)

Jesus chose to do what the lowliest of servants would do: He washed their feet. Feet... were not nice things in those times. Walking around on dusty roads does not improve the state of one's feet, much less when one wears only leather sandals! To wash someone's feet was a highly unpleasant task. Yet Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Jesus. The Teacher. The Rabbi. The Son of God. Washing his servants' feet. 

The disciples were surprised as well. 

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" (John 13:6)

Not surprisingly, Jesus's action startled Peter. Jesus? Washing his feet?

"Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."  Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." (John 13:7-8)

And Jesus washed his disciples' feet. 

The first step is cleansing. Jesus showed his disciples this by physically washing their feet. When Peter protested, Jesus told him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." That's the first step. Peter could not reject the cleansing, and neither can we. We must first be washed clean by Jesus's blood; otherwise we "have no share" with him.

"You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."  (John 13:13-14)

Jesus, the authority, took the role of a servant. His disciples were to do the same, and not just them, but us as well. Once we have been washed by Jesus, we can fully serve him.

He chose the disciples. He washed their feet. He called them to serve. He took the form of a servant, as Philippians 2:7 says. He washed us clean. He loved us, and we then love him by showing love to others. 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

This Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, this passage about the Last Supper reminds us to show love by serving. Opportunities to serve surround us daily. Maybe you'll even be washing someone's feet! For me, that might be my little siblings after they've been playing outside. If that's you too, grab the towel -- or maybe the baby wipes -- and serve willingly. For by doing so, we serve Jesus, who gave his life to cleanse us. 


For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

All Scripture quotations from the ESV version.