6. Sent by the Master (John 13:12-20) – a mission of servanthood
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. You call me “Teacher” and “Lord”,
and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now
that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one
another’s feet. I have set you an
example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no
servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who
sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them…. Very
truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts
me accepts the one who sent me.’
The pace changes in John
13 as we are given an insight into Jesus’ most intimate moments with His
disciples. Leading up to this point,
ever since the journey to Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles, John’s
account has told of increasingly intense confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Tension has been building in the narrative as
people debate the significance of this man and His words. The pace of the story has increased as Jesus moves
relentlessly towards the cross. Yet here
we have a breathing space as we join Jesus in the upper room with the
twelve. John 14-16 contains some of the
most profound recorded teaching of Jesus.
His relationship with His Father, His approaching departure and the role
of the coming Spirit are major themes.
Before He teaches them with words, however, Jesus will teach them
through example. He does something truly
profound and shocking. Jesus, the
Master, washes the feet of His followers.
Peter (who else?) protested
when Jesus stooped to clean the accumulated muck of Jerusalem’s feet from his
feet, but Jesus insisted that it had to be.
Peter’s problem was deeper than the mired skin of his soles – He had a muddy
heart, contaminated by sin and this too needed washed. Until he could admit his need and allow
himself to be served, he could never be clean and truly belong to Jesus. As this realisation dawns on him the big
fisherman, never one for half measures, asks Jesus to wash his hands and
feet. Before Peter can add any more body
parts to his list, Jesus explains that Peter is already clean (the reason why
becomes clear in Chapter 17, as we will
see in the next post). So are the other
disciples with one exception – an allusion to Judas who will soon leave to
betray his Master. Indeed the account will
soon shift to Jesus’ predictions of Judas’s betrayal and of Peter’s denial. Before that, however, Jesus takes the
opportunity to explain the significance of what He has done with a basin of
water and a towel. He has set an example
to be followed.
The path of servanthood
is not a natural way for the sinful human heart. Even within the Church, among the people
Christ has redeemed, it is too common for people to seek self-promotion and
status. The disciples, struggling to
comprehend that Jesus really is God’s Messiah, are depicted several times in
the Gospels bickering over who deserved the highest position in Jesus’
kingdom. Their story is all too true and
we must recognise ourselves among their number.
Yet this is not the path of Christ.
The One sent by the Father has taken the form of a servant. He is the Master, yet He has taken this
downward step. Do they really think they
are greater than He is? Will they refuse
to do what they have just seen Him do? No
servant is greater than the master! The
path of service in Jesus name will be one of repeated self-denial. The call to Christian mission is one of
following in the example of the Servant King.
In practice, this means
that the Christian missionary does not come to a context with arrogance,
expecting to be acknowledged and given status.
There are situations, even today, where missionaries and pastors are given
special respect. Tele-evangelists in the
USA and self-styled apostles in African-origin churches in the UK get rich and
receive a level of adoration from their followers that verges on idolatry. The white missionary in some parts of Africa
will still be regarded as deserving special honour. In these situations, and in every other, the
Christian servant will remember that the root meaning of the word ‘ministry’ is
‘service’. She will not regard her
‘ministry’ as something to be possessed and praised, but simply as obedient
service to the Master. She will remember
that the heart of Christian service is to bow the knee and meet the needs of
those who are most needy.
Christian mission
proceeds by listening to its context and by proclaiming Christ in tandem with
acts of compassion. The Church is a
servant. She is called to lay down her
life and give herself away for the sake of those who are without Christ. She lives to become less so that Jesus may
become more. Yet as she does this, she
hears the words of Jesus: “whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and
whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” It is through receiving His messengers and
the message they bring that people come to receive Christ. Just as knowing Him meant knowing His Father,
so knowing His people means knowing Him.
Christ is made known through relationships with those who know Him, in
whom He lives. We have authority as we
go in His name, as His representatives.
This begins with the eleven men whose feet dripped as He spoke these
words. To them Jesus gave a special
apostolic authority – to teach and to extend the forgiveness of sins that comes
through Christ to new groups of people (John 20:23). We are not apostles of Christ, but we rest on
their foundation and we carry on the mission they began as we take the good
news of Jesus to a world that needs to know Him. As we go, we go in His name as His
representatives and we serve others in His love.
The lesson for mission
from John 13 is:
-
Christian
mission is servanthood after Christ’s example – we are called to be
servants of Christ, servants of the gospel and servants of those to whom we are
sent, motivated by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
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