Not So With You

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
— Matthew 20:25-26 NKJV

To get the most out of this text you need to read Matthew 20:17-28. But in summary, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to be betrayed, condemned to death, mocked, scourged, and crucified. He will be betrayed by His own people and abused by the Gentiles and die a horrible death. Jesus also announces that he will rise from the grave on the third day.

The very next thing that happens is the mother of Zabadee’s sons comes to Jesus and asks that her sons sit on His right and left in His kingdom. I imagine Jesus smacking His forehead with the palm of His hand. Jesus is telling His disciples that He is going to die and their mother is asking Him for positions of eminence.

How could this be?
How could anyone miss the point of what Jesus was saying to this degree?

Yet how often do we experience something similar in Christian churches? Jesus is talking about sacrifice and service, and we come expecting power, prosperity, and a life of ease.

Jesus makes things even clearer. He did not come to be served but to serve!

27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
— Matthew 20:27-28 NKJV

Sadly the disciples did not learn their lesson. This conversation took place before the triumphal entry when Jesus comes to Jerusalem with the crowd cheering “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12) We don’t know exactly how much time goes by, but I don’t think it was very long before Jesus gathered the disciples for the Last Supper.

Last Supper

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
— John 13:1-5 NKJV

The disciples considered the washing of feet too humble an activity for any of them. The Midrash (and Talmud) are commentative and interpretative writings that hold a place in the Jewish religious tradition second only to the Bible (Old Testament). (Britannica.com) I found an interesting comment on Midrash Mekilta commenting on Exodus 21:2 where it says:

A Hebrew slave must not wash the feet of his master, nor put his shoes on him, nor carry his things before him when going to the bathhouse, nor support him by the hips when ascending steps, nor carry him in a litter or a chair or a sedan chair as slaves do. For it is said: “But over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigour”
— Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, New ed. (Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society, 2004), 358. See also Strack—Billerbeck, I, 707; cited in Beasley-Murray, p. 233 et al.

This gives us the cultural context of Jesus’ act and the reason none of the disciples wanted to do it. This act was so humble that a Hebrew slave was not required to perform. Jesus’ closest followers were too proud to wash feet. Jesus was about to give His life for humanity and those in charge of continuing the work were still too proud.

It should come as no surprise that most churches also avoid the foot-washing aspect of communion. Even though most of us wear shoes and drive cars and therefore our feet are cleaner than what the feet of the disciples must have been, we still shrink back from washing the feet of another. Even in the 21st century USA we resist humbling ourselves to the point of washing the feet of someone else. Are we so different from Jesus’ disciples during the Last Supper?

Saved to Serve

We are saved by grace, through faith. This is a gift we receive from God. (Ephesians 2:8) This is a core biblical teaching, but to stop there would be to miss the mission. To stop at my salvation would be selfish. I am saved by grace, that is incredibly good news! My next question becomes how should I live my life? The answer is we should live a life of service.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
— Galatians 5:13 NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
— 1 Peter 4:10 NIV

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
— Romans 12:10 NIV