The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to His enemies. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under His power. He also knew He had come from God and was returning to God. So He got up from the meal and took off His outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a large bowl. Then He began to wash His disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter. “Lord,” Peter said to Him, “are You going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with Me.” “Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!” Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.” Jesus knew who was going to hand Him over to His enemies. That was why He said not every one was clean. When Jesus finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes. Then He returned to His place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you. What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:2-17)
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I doubt that there’s a parent anywhere who spends their time dreaming about their child growing up to be a servant. That’s no one’s dream. I don’t wake up in the morning and look at Hannah and think, “Wow. I sure do hope you end up waiting on tables one day.” I mean, there’s nothing wrong with waiting on tables. We have a nephew who’s a waiter. But nobody dreams about being a waiter. It’s no one’s life goal. I mean, if you watch Batman, sure, Alfred the butler is a nice guy, but it’s Bruce Wayne you’re interested in! He’s the guy. You’d rather be the millionaire than the butler. Or, as Satan says in John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” “Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” And to be honest that’s probably not far off how a lot of people think. No one dreams of being a servant. And it’s one of the reasons that the Gospel is a tough sell - because the Gospel calls us to service, and not just to any service - it calls us to the lowliest service, and to the service of the lowliest of the low. It’s the nature of the Gospel.
In some ways, it also seems as if it’s a contradiction. The scene that’s portrayed in John 13 happens after Jesus’ so-called triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Traditionally, this is the passage that’s been the origin of what we call “Maundy Thursday.” I’m not big on Maundy Thursday personally, largely because it’s so tied up in this passage and in the idea of foot-washing, to the point where foot washing becomes the point and it’s often re-created at such services as if this was a “sacrament” that Jesus was introducing. Yes, the words are “‘Do you understand what I have done for you? … You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.’” But lowly service is contextual. Foot-washing was a very lowly service in Jesus’ day. All you have to remember is that people wore sandals all the time, the streets were full of animals, and the animals did what animals tend to do. Washing someone’s feet was a dirty and unpleasant job in other words. Jesus isn’t really calling His disciples for the rest of history to wash each other’s feet. He’s calling on them to perform lowly acts of service for each other - things that some might even think beneath them - and Jesus sets the example for them. He’s calling for them not to be concerned with getting credit for their acts of service; not to seek to “lord it over” each other; not to worry about whether what they’re doing is dignified. He’s calling for them to simply be a community of self-sacrificing love who surrender even their own dignity for the sake of serving those who need service.
One of the great ironies of Holy Week is the movement from the ecstatic welcome of a kingly figure to the humble service of a lowly figure to the gruesome death of a rejected figure. Palm Sunday - which emphasizes that kingly figure - is a reminder to us that Jesus is Lord - that no earthly king or power or nation claims our first allegiance; that the demands of any earthly king or power or nation have to first be filtered through the lens of Jesus’ teachings, and that we are called - when the call of king, power or nation conflicts with the call of Jesus - to choose Jesus over king or power or nation, whatever the cost of that choice might be. But there’s a little more to it than that. Palm Sunday - seen with all the background of Holy Week - challenges us to understand what kind of Lord Jesus really is. There were two choices that could have been made when the Bible and biblical language started to be translated into English. The Celtic monks who first evangelized Britain chose to adapt the Old English word “lhoaverd” into “Lord” to explain Jesus. The alternative was the Latin word “dominus.” But “dominus” meant to dominate; to control; to subjugate. It implies a forceful authority. And what does “lhoaverd” mean? It combines the Old English words for loaf and warden. It refers to the person who makes sure that everyone in the household receives their daily bread. It refers not to the one who dominates but to the one who serves. That’s Jesus. That’s what we mean when we say “Jesus is Lord.” We’re talking about Jesus the servant. And that’s us, when we claim to be His disciples.
“You should do as I have done for you.” Those were the words of Jesus. And that’s how we should treat everyone. If you read on just a little bit in John 13, you discover that even as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, He knew that as He washed Judas’ feet, He was washing the feet of the one who would betray Him, and as He washed the feet of Peter, He was washing the feet of the one who would deny Him. But He still washed their feet. He still served them. As disciples of Jesus, we cannot decide or make judgments about who we will or will not be willing to serve. We simply serve, because Jesus served. From the person in the pew beside us, to our children, to our next door neighbours, to shop clerks and bank tellers and waiters, to telemarketers who irritate us at dinner time, to the lowliest and dirtiest homeless person we might encounter. We simply serve. That’s what Jesus calls us to. That’s the meaning of Jesus being Lord. And because Jesus served us, when we serve others, we’re serving Jesus. That’s the privilege of service.
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