By Todd Barrier 

In John 13, we read the story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. In the second verse, the Bible says, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 

I underlined the most interesting part of that verse to me. It’s so interesting because a few times before this, the Bible says that Jesus’s time had not yet come. Now the time is near and Jesus’s public ministry is about to end. He chooses this time to teach His disciples about servant leadership. In verses 3-5 there is great detail in the description of what Jesus did. It was vivid in the mind of those who saw it, including the writer. It had an impact, it set a tone and it gave an example. We can only come to the conclusion that Jesus saved this lesson for this time because He wanted it fresh in the minds of His followers. He wanted them to remember how important being humble and serving others is. What a great lesson for Jesus to teach us. Even the One who came down from Heaven and helped create the world was willing to wash feet, something usually reserved for the lowest of household help. The question for us is, do we remember the lesson? Do we humble ourselves and serve others? Is Jesus our example, our standard bearer? Are you a humble servant?