Week 1 of 4
The Lord of the table knelt at their feet. That is the shape of a man’s authority.
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
John 13:14
They were arguing, in the same week, about which of them was greatest. Jesus stood up from supper, laid aside his outer robe, and washed their feet. He did not resign the title. He said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right.” Then he knelt. Authority that cannot kneel is not Christian authority. It is the Gentile kind, and he forbade it.
Formal study reading, written for this series
Formal study reading, written for this series
Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example.
He resumes the robe and explains the act. Service is not an accident.
You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. It shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
The world leads by pressure. The Son of Man leads by a ransom.
Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is greater, the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? I am among you as the one who serves.
The argument about greatness happened at a table. So did the answer.
NASB, the Amplified, and the ESV open on Bible Hub. The Legacy Standard Bible opens on its own reader. Close, Expanded, and Easy on this page are original study readings. WEB is the World English Bible, public domain.
John 13 is not a lesson in niceness. Jesus keeps the titles Teacher and Lord while the towel is in his hands. Christian headship, if a man uses that word, has to survive this room. If your leadership cannot wash feet — take the low chore, hear a rebuke, go second — it is the Gentile pattern with Bible words pasted on it.
Mark 10 names the ransom. Service is not a technique for getting loyalty. The Son of Man gives his life. A husband who serves in order to be obeyed has only changed tactics. The ransom expects nothing back from the many. Your smaller services should have that freedom in them.
Take a job everyone assumes is hers, and take it without announcing a new era. Foot-washing is concrete or it is a speech.
When the children watch you, they are learning what authority looks like. Let them see a strong man do a small thing without contempt.
Stays on this device. No account.
Lord Jesus, you did not lose the name Lord when you took the towel. Break the Gentile way in me. Make my strength useful to the people with my name. I do not want a house that fears me. I want a house that has seen what you are like. Amen.
Save a copy of your devotionals and week notes, or put a saved copy back. Nothing leaves this device until you save the file.