John 13:1-5; 12-17

1 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.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

People wore sandals and did most of their travel on foot in Jesus time, walking along dusty trails with animals, and I’m sure that guests arrived with more than dust on their feet. The most demeaning task in Jesus’ time was to wash the guest’s feet, and it was a common courtesy for the host to have the lowest slave wash the guest’s feet as they entered the house. Jesus had sent Peter & John ahead to make the arrangements for their meal together. The food had been cooked, the table had been set, and I’m sure the disciples expected this detail, of having a slave ready to wash their, to have been taken care of as well. It wasn’t, there is no slave ready to wash their feet as they enter the room. May be they paused as they enter, looking around for the slave only to see a towel & water basin. So they recline at the table, with that awkward uncomfortable silence, each looking at the other and thinking, “Somebody ought to at least wash Jesus’ feet, but if I do that, it would put me at the bottom of the social pecking order. If I volunteer I’ll get stuck with that job from now on, if I just wait somebody else will do it. So Jesus stands before His disciples and rather than begin with a sermon he gives them an example.

There was a Need and everyone could see the need, it was not hard to see what was wrong but who was going to do something about it? Jesus did, He met the need, He did something about it. Many times we see the need but do we act? That’s really what it takes, Action. Verses 4 &5 are filled with action words.

• “he got up from the meal”

He left his Comfort Zone. He made his body do something it may have not wanted to do. We want to see service as something glamorous, but the truth is often it’s washing a pair of smelly feet, and when that is dome there are 10 more pairs waiting. To be a servant you have to first get up.

•  “he took off his outer clothing”

To serve others we usually have to lay something aside, we live in a world where most of us already have a full plate of activity. If I’m going to add a service for somebody, I usually have to subtract something, often something I would like to do just for myself. Every servant has to deny himself something in order to have the time & energy to give to others.

•  “he wrapped a towel around his waist, After that he poured water into a basin.”

He made preparations to meet the need. Many of us are unwilling to prepare to serve, sometimes the towel is studying God’s word in order to be prepared to serve others. Sometimes it getting trained or being teachable. We prepare for careers, putting other things aside, some of which would have been fun, but wouldn’t have help prepare us. What are you doing to be prepared to serve.

•  “he began…”

This seems so simple but at some point we have to begin. We can think about it, we can pray about it, we can prepare for it, but at some point we must start doing it.

Are we ready to serve? Are there feet that Jesus wants us to reach out and touch? Or are we look around for someone else to do that? Whose feet are you really focused on, yours or others, what will you choose, selfishness or servanthood?

15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Many of us are familiar with the story in Luke 18 were Jesus bless’ the children and rebukes the disciples for getting in the way, what we often forget is that this moment occurs while Jesus is making His final journey to Jerusalem to lay down His life on the cross for our sins. If we back up for a moment and look at what Jesus did on His way to Jerusalem we see the ultimate picture of a servant, one who was willing to get self out of the way so others could be served.

Look back with me at Luke 17:11 and what happened along the way as Jesus heads to the cross.  At the start of this journey Jesus heals 10 lepers, the outcasts of society who stood at a distance and cried out to Jesus for mercy all were healed even though Jesus knew only one would come back praising God with thanksgiving in his heart.

As Jesus and His disciples traveled on He told them a parable about a judge, who neither feared God nor cared about men, and a poor widow who was being oppressed. She came to the judge to ask him for justice, and even though he was unwilling to assist her at first, she was so persistent that she finally wore him out and he help her.

Jesus then shared another parable dealing with the self-righteous hearts in those around Him, hearts that caused them to look down on others with contempt. The contrast in the parable is between a tax collector and a Pharisee who go to the temple to pray. The Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders, considered the holiest of holy men, and held in very high regard by most Jews. In contrast the tax collectors worked for the Roman government and were despised by the Jews as the scum of the earth. The Pharisee looked down on those around him and exalted himself while the tax collector just looked down and humbled himself. Parable of this story is that God despises the arrogant but give grace to the humble in spirit.

After this, we see parents bringing their children to Jesus so that He could lay His hands on them and bless them. When the disciples saw this they rebuked them, viewing these kids as bothersome, and assumed that Jesus would feel the same way. However, the Lord had a different attitude about the whole thing. Luke 18:16-17 “But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

As Jesus travels toward the cross to serve us by laying down His life for us, we start to see a pattern developing. A leper, a widow, a tax collector and a child, what do they have in common? They are all people of no social status, the nobodies in the eyes of the world. Jesus has a different opinion of them; He says that the kingdom of God belongs to the nobodies, people who don’t approach God on the merits of their own status, but fall at the feet of the Savior begging for His mercy and grace.

As Jesus served the nobodies scattered along the road of His life, we need to remember HE was on His way to the cross. He knew the pain and anguish that was ahead of Him and it would have been easy to focus on His own needs and ignore the needs all around Him. Jesus got out of the way of Himself, he didn’t let His situation block the way for others. Which is exactly what the disciples did, they got in the way of serving, in the way of letting the little children come to Jesus. What is getting in the way of your serving? Is it an attitude, may be looking down on the nobodies or tired of having to share Jesus, feeling left out and burned out so you try to keep them out. There is more than enough room for us all; God wants us to approach Him with the faith of a child. To climb up on His lap with no agenda, no preconceived notions, simply to settle into a love that is beyond comprehension, a love that is not earned but freely given. When was the last time you crawled into your daddy’s lap and just let Him hold you? Is it time to stop trying and start trusting? What is keeping you from God?

For some of us what is getting in the way of our serving is the dirt and smell, we don’t want to deal with the disease that comes with people. Let’s be honest Christianity is not a clean sterilized hospital where we all have our nice little jobs and there is always a team of professionals standing by. It’s a filthy slum, filled with the dirt and disease of sin, a slum Jesus was willing to wade through, the question is, are we? For some of us what is getting in the way of our serving is pride, or prejudice or selfishness. It’s easy to get in the way, but a servant is one who is willing to get out of the way so others can find the way. What is getting in the way of your serving?