A Servant of Servants

Picture: A Servant of Servants 3TC 400.1

This chapter is based on Luke 22:7-18, 24; John 13:1-17. 

Christ and His disciples had gathered to celebrate the Passover. The Savior knew that His hour had come. He Himself was the true Passover Lamb, and on the day the feast was eaten He was to be sacrificed. Only a few quiet hours remained for Him to spend for the benefit of His disciples. 3TC 400.2

Christ’s life had been one of unselfish service. “Not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28) had been the lesson of everything He did. But the disciples had not learned the lesson yet. At this last Passover, Jesus was troubled. A shadow came over His face. The disciples sensed that something weighed heavily on His mind. 3TC 400.3

As they were gathered around the table, He said, “‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover, with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’” 3TC 400.4

Christ was now in the shadow of the cross, and the pain was torturing His heart. He knew that the disciples would desert Him. He knew that He would be put to death by the most humiliating process inflicted on criminals. He knew how ungrateful and cruel the people He had come to save could be. He knew that for many the sacrifice He must make would be in vain. Knowing all that was before Him, He might naturally have been overwhelmed with the thought of His own humiliation and suffering. But He did not think of Himself. His care for His disciples was uppermost in His mind. 3TC 400.5

On this last evening, Jesus had much to tell them. But He saw that they could not bear what He had to say. As He looked into their faces, the words remained unspoken on His lips. Moments passed in silence. The disciples were uneasy. The looks they gave each other told of jealousy and conflict. 3TC 400.6

There was “a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.” This strife grieved and wounded Jesus. Each of them still longed for the highest place in the kingdom. James and John had dared to ask for the highest position, and this angered the ten so much that it threatened to split the group. Judas was the most severe on James and John. 3TC 400.7

When the disciples entered the upper room, Judas pushed his way next to Christ on the left side; John was on the right. If there was a highest place, Judas was determined to have it. 3TC 401.1

Another cause of conflict had arisen. It was customary for a servant to wash the feet of the guests. On this occasion the pitcher, the basin, and the towel were in place and ready, but no servant was present, and it was the disciples’ duty to perform the task. But each determined not to act the part of a servant. All of them put on the appearance of unconcern. By their silence they refused to humble themselves. 3TC 401.2

How was Christ to bring these poor followers where Satan would not gain a clear victory over them? How could He show them that merely professing to be His disciples did not make them disciples? How could He kindle love in their hearts and enable them to comprehend what He longed to tell them? 3TC 401.3

Jesus waited for a time to see what they would do. Then He, the divine Teacher, rose from the table. Laying aside the outer garment that would have restricted His movements, He took a towel. In silence the disciples waited to see what would happen. “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.” This action opened the eyes of the disciples. Bitter shame filled their hearts, and they saw themselves in a new light. 3TC 401.4

Christ gave them an example they would never forget. His love for them was not easily disturbed. He had full consciousness of His divinity, but He had laid aside His royal crown and had taken the form of a servant. One of the last acts of His life on earth was to clothe Himself like a servant and perform a servant’s role. 3TC 401.5

Before the Passover Judas had made the arrangements to deliver Jesus into the hands of the priests and scribes. The disciples knew nothing of Judas’s intentions. Jesus alone could read his secret, yet He did not expose him. He felt such a burden for Judas as He had felt for Jerusalem when He wept over the doomed city. 3TC 401.6

Judas felt the drawing power of that love. When the Savior’s hands were washing those soiled feet and wiping them with the towel, the heart of Judas throbbed with the impulse to confess his sin. But he would not humble himself. He hardened his heart against repentance, and the old impulses again controlled him. Now Judas became offended at Christ’s act in washing the feet of His disciples. If Jesus could so humble Himself, he thought, He could not be Israel’s king. After seeing Him degrade Himself, as he thought, Judas was confirmed in his decision to disown Jesus and admit that he had been deceived. Possessed by a demon, he resolved to complete the work he had agreed to do in betraying his Lord. 3TC 401.7

The Great Miracle of Changed Hearts

Judas, in choosing his position at the table, had tried to place himself first, and Christ as a Servant served him first. John was left till last. But John did not take this as a rebuke or any cause to be offended. When Peter’s turn came he exclaimed with astonishment, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Christ’s condescension broke his heart. He was filled with shame to think that one of the disciples was not performing this service. “What I am doing,” Christ said, “you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter could not bear to see his Lord, the Son of God, acting the part of a servant. His whole soul rose up against this humiliation. With great emphasis he exclaimed, “You shall never wash my feet!” 3TC 401.8

Christ said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Christ had come to wash the heart from the stain of sin. Peter was refusing the higher cleansing included in the lower. He was really rejecting his Lord. It is not humiliating to the Master to allow Him to work to purify us. 3TC 402.1

Peter surrendered his pride. Separation from Christ would have been like death to him. “‘Not my feet only,’” he said, “‘but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.’” 3TC 402.2

These words mean more than bodily cleanliness. Christ is speaking of the higher cleansing as illustrated by the lower. Someone coming from the bath was clean, but the sandaled feet soon needed to be washed again. So Peter and his brethren had been washed in the great fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. But temptation had led them into evil, and they still needed Christ’s cleansing grace. 3TC 402.3

Jesus wanted to wash the division, jealousy, and pride from their hearts. This was far more important than washing their dusty feet. With the spirit they had, not one of them was prepared for communion with Christ. Until brought into a state of humility and love, they were not prepared to share in the memorial service Christ was about to establish. Pride and self-seeking create strife, but Jesus washed all this away in washing their feet. He brought about a complete change of feeling. Jesus could say, “You are clean.” Now there was union of heart, love for one another. Except Judas, each was ready to yield the highest place to another. Now they could receive Christ’s words. 3TC 402.4

We, too, have been washed in the blood of Christ, yet often the heart’s purity is soiled. We must come to Christ for cleansing grace. How often we bring our sinful, polluted hearts in contact with the heart of Christ! How painful to Him is our evil temper, our vanity, our pride! Yet we must bring all our infirmity and defilement to Him. He alone can wash us clean. 3TC 402.5

Why Christ Instituted This Religious Service

After Christ had washed the disciples’ feet, He said, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” 3TC 402.6

So that His people might not be misled by the selfishness that lives in the natural heart, Christ Himself set the example of humility. He Himself, equal with God, acted as a servant to His disciples. He to whom every knee shall bow bowed down to wash the feet of those who called Him Lord. He washed the feet of His betrayer. 3TC 403.1

God does not live for Himself. He is constantly meeting the needs of others. Jesus was given to stand at the head of humanity so that by His example He could teach what it means to minister. He served all, ministered to all. In this way He lived the law of God and showed by His example how we are to obey it. 3TC 403.2

Having washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” In these words Christ was establishing a religious service. The act of our Lord made this humbling ceremony a holy ordinance. The disciples were to observe it, so that they would always keep in mind His lessons of humility and service. 3TC 403.3

This ordinance is Christ’s appointed preparation for the Communion service. While we cherish pride, divisiveness, and strife for supremacy, we are not prepared to receive the communion of His body and His blood. Therefore Jesus appointed the memorial of His humiliation for us to observe first. 3TC 403.4

In the human heart there is a disposition to think of ourselves more highly than our brother, to work for self, to seek the highest place. Often this results in evil suspicions and bitterness. The service preceding the Lord’s Supper is to bring us out of our selfishness, down from self-exaltation to the humility of heart that will lead us to serve our brother or sister. The Holy Watcher from heaven is present to make this occasion a time of heart searching, conviction of sin, and the assurance of sins forgiven. Christ is there to change the flow of thoughts that have been running in selfish channels. 3TC 403.5

As we remember the Savior’s humiliation for us, a chain of memories comes to mind, memories of God’s goodness and of the attentions and tenderness of earthly friends. We recall blessings forgotten and kindnesses ignored. Defects of character, neglect of duties, ingratitude, coldness, all come to remembrance. The mind is energized to break down every barrier that has caused division. Sins are confessed; they are forgiven. The subduing grace of Christ draws hearts together. We begin to desire a higher spiritual life. The soul will be uplifted. We can partake of the Communion with the sunshine of Christ’s righteousness filling the temple of the heart. 3TC 403.6

To those who receive the spirit of this service, it can never become merely ceremonial. Whenever the children of God celebrate this ordinance correctly, they pledge themselves to give their lives to unselfish ministry for one another. The world is full of people who need our ministry. Those who have fellowshiped with Christ in the upper chamber will go out to minister as He did. 3TC 403.7

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” 3TC 403.8