February
21, 2003
SERVICE
"After
washing their feet and taking his garments again, he sat down,
'Do you understand what I have done for you?' he asked"
(John 13:12, NEB).
In the
act of washing His disciples feet, Jesus not only expressed
the importance of cleansing, He also demonstrated the importance
of service, serving one another. He said, "You
call me 'Master' and 'Lord' and rightly so, for that is what
I am. Then if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet,
you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you
an example: you are to do as I have done for you. In very
truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,
nor a messenger than the one who sent him. If you know this,
happy are you if you act upon it" (John 13:13-17).
Jesus
had spent His life in service for others. He reinforced this
lesson time and again in His life. "The
Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve"
(Matthew 20:28, NKJV), was the lesson of His every act. "I
do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent
me" (John 5:30). "I
have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the
will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). Jesus' life
was a life of service and His purpose was to do the will of
God on our behalf. The disciples had not yet learned the lesson.
At this Passover supper, Jesus repeated His teaching by an
illustration that impressed it forever on their minds and
hearts. And Jesus has shared with us this honor and privilege
and pleasure of serving and becoming involved with Him in
His ministry of service to others.
"I
have set you an example"
He said, "you are to do as I have
done for you. --a servant is not greater than his master,
nor a messenger than the one who sent him" (John
13:15, 16). Jesus is our 'Master' and 'Lord.' If we understand
this, and if we learn to serve others, as He has served us,
then we will be blessed beyond comprehension. "If
you know this, happy are you if you act upon it"
(John 13:17).
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