Day 45

Sorry- I know this was intended to come out last Friday! Thankful for you all joining me in this study, and caring when it doesn't show up!

We'll be wrapping everything up this week! What a journey!

Jesus spends the week teaching at the temple during the day and communicating with His Father each evening on the Mount of Olives (Luke 21:37). The things Jesus teaches this week are incredibly significant. They are a study, in and of themselves, full of leadership lessons and truths. The week is coming to a close, and Jesus’ time is short, so He has a few of His disciples make arrangements for a Passover supper in town. Jesus has been eagerly anticipating and preparing for this particular evening. He says, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16). So what will happen at this last Passover feast?

Read: Luke 22:7-38; Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; John 13:1-38

What does this passage (John 13:1-38) tell us that Jesus knew?

What is Jesus modeling for us about leadership?

Did the disciples understand what Jesus was doing? How were they viewing what He was doing?

There is so much here that Jesus is modeling for us about leadership. It is a long night of last-minute instructions, encouragement, vision, and expressions of love. John says that Jesus “now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1). One of the most significant expressions of His love follows as Jesus gets up from the supper, lays aside His outer garments, takes a towel, and wraps it around Himself. He takes the role of a servant and washes His leaders’ feet. I am sure they are stunned and a little embarrassed. None of them had taken the role of a servant and washed the feet of those entering. This, of course, was a custom in Jesus’ day that when a person entered someone’s home, they would have someone wash the dirt of the city streets off their guests’ feet.

Jesus takes the role of a servant and then says, “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” (John 13:14-15). Jesus leads the way for teachers to wash students’ feet and for leaders to wash the feet of those they lead. Jesus couldn’t be much more straightforward, could he? Wash one another’s feet, humble yourselves, and serve one another. But it is so hard! IT is much easier to tell people what to do than serve them. servant leadership is often seen as weak. We think we will lose the respect of those we lead if we get on our knees and serve. It is true– some people will respond as Peter did, “you shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8). Some do not want to see you humble yourself because they do not want to do the same. In their minds, it is better to all stick together so as not to feel convicted. But we do not wash each other’s feet because it is the “cool” thing to do. We wash each other’s feet because that is the model our Master left us. For the true disciples of Jesus, there is only one model: Jesus. That is why we call ourselves Christians, Jesus’ followers– or better, people who allow Christ to live in and through us.

After washing their feet and explaining that this was an example he was expecting from them, Jesus returned to the table to eat His last Passover supper. Why the last supper? Because tomorrow, the Lamb of God, was to die as our Passover, one final sacrifice for all time (Heb. 10:1-10). AS Jesus takes His place at the supper, He becomes deeply grieved and tells them that one of His inner core leaders will be the one to betray Him. Already the plot has been hatched– Judas has become disillusioned with the movement. He had already struck a deal with the religious leaders to betray our Lord. Something strikes me as odd: Why do the other disciples not suspect Judas as the betrayer when he gets up and leaves the supper? John must have been asked this question later on, for he writes, “Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy whatever was needed for the Feast or to give something to the poor” (John 13:29). My thought is that maybe, of all the disciples, Judas was the least likely. After all, he must have been the most trusted one because he held the money box. It is obvious that when he leaves, no one flinches. Another unseen guest at the supper was Satan: “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him” (John 13:27). That means that Satan must have been hanging around and probably saw the foot washing, laughing in a corner, thinking that Jesus was a ridiculous kind of leader.

After Judas had left the room, the disciples started talking once again about which one of them was the greatest. Jesus’ words cannot be more explicit. Reread them in Luke 22:25-27. They are powerful words that you should never forget. A leader serves, not one who bosses others around.

To see what Peter learned about servant leadership, go to 1 Peter 5:1-9. At this same time, Jesus seizes the moment to give His leaders a new commandment, one He has lived in front of them for three and a half years now: “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). The model for how they were to love one another was Jesus, Himself. Our model for how to love one another is also Jesus. Do what Jesus did; love as Jesus loved. He adds, “by this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35). Wow! The hallmark of a true disciple is love. Paul puts it this way, “And now these three remain: Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Love is the mark of a faithful Christ- Follower, A love for God, for others, and specifically one another!  Is love the mark of your life? What does  love look like in your life? 

How do you practically wash others’ feet in your culture?