As Jesus and His disciples prepared to enjoy the Passover feast, something terrible was happening—Judas was making a plan to betray Jesus. But even though Jesus knew what Judas was doing, He still washed His disciples’ feet, Judas included. Jesus gave His followers, then and now, an example of what it means to serve one another.
[Jesus said,] “Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
In the first century in Judea, people didn’t wear sneakers or boots, or even socks to keep the dirt away from their feet. They usually just had open, sandal-type shoes. When people went to someone’s house, often a servant or the wife of the host might wash guests’ feet as an act of hospitality. Washing feet was a dirty job and would not have been done by the most important person in the house. When Jesus chose to do this for His disciples, He was showing them how to lead others with humility and through service.
Find a way to serve someone this week. Choose a chore that’s dirty or annoying to do and offer to do it for free!
God, thank You for serving us and giving us an example of how to serve others. Amen.