Daily Devotional

Imagine being invited to a fancy event or party, where the host is a very important or well known person, maybe an important political leader or community leader. Now imagine once you are seated, he begins going around and waiting on you, doing the most menial tasks. How would you feel? Would you feel that was right, or would you feel like he shouldn’t be doing that for you, and you would be trying to refuse his help or service? Well this is similar to what Jesus did for the disciples in this passage. Washing of feet was one of the lowest tasks someone could do. Unlike today, most people were wearing sandals and walking on dusty or muddy roads, and so feet were generally very dirty. You can imagine that washing others feet would not be something that anyone of status would do, how much less the Son of God.

But this is Jesus’ point in this passage, He is setting an example for us to follow. Part of how we are to live out our Christian faith is to be of service to one another. It’s easy to say I love you, but it is much more meaningful to show it. In Matthew 20:27–28 Jesus said, “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus came to earth not as King of the Universe, even though He is, but came as a servant and ultimately as a sacrifice.

As christians, we are to follow His example. We are to be servants to one another, which often runs contrary to how our society is structured. However the way Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven often seems backwards to our own thinking. Statements such as “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” for example. If God Himself came and served others, how can we as followers not also give ourselves to the service of others. So look for ways in your everyday interactions to be of service to others, it could be physical service, helping to clean or setup, it could be personal service, being a listening ear to someone who is having a hard time. Maybe it's financial service, offering to help someone who is struggling, or maybe it's just asking others how you can be praying for them. There are many ways to serve others and as followers of Christ we should always be looking for ways to be servants of one another just as Christ served us.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.