A Servant’s Heart

 "You called me ‘teacher’ and ‘master’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a new model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”  (John 13:13-15)

Can you imagine all that must have been going on in the heart of Jesus and the disciples? Jesus, knowing that he would soon be enduring the suffering of his Passion, spends time with his disciples and passing on his teachings. And he doesn’t just tell them what they need to do, he shows them. He shows no partiality, he washes the feet of Judas the Iscariot knowing that he would betray him with a kiss. He washes the feet of Peter even when Peter is adamant that Jesus will not wash his feet. Jesus washes Peter’s feet knowing that he will soon deny him not once, but three times. He does this knowing that the disciples will abandon him during his time of need.

So many questions must have been running through the minds of the disciples. Jesus has been talking about leaving them, how he must suffer and die. During the Passover meal he is doing all these things that are foreign to them. First he washes their feet, then he tells them this is my body, this is my blood, do this in remembrance of me. What does all of this mean? After washing their feet he asks the disciples, “Do you realize what I have done for you?” Of course they could not comprehend what Jesus had done for them. There is always some mystery, a depth to what God is doing in our lives that we cannot understand. But if we take time to reflect on our day and see what God has done for us we may get a glimpse of his love for us. It is during these times of reflection that we understand what it means to have a servant’s heart and how we are to do for others what Christ has done for us.