Servant

   What if you were a King or a Queen? What kind of King or Queen would you be? Think about it.. You can have anything you want.. set any kind of laws you want.. Wow! I don't know about you, but I'd be setting a National Kelsey is Cool day and have all this fun stuff going on in the villages of my little country. Wow. Being royal would be so cool, I mean, legit. Lets discover a country now!

John 13:1-17

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

 ¹ Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.^{[a] 2} It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,^[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. ⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
 ⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
 ⁸ “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
   Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
 ⁹ Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
 ¹⁰ Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet,^[c] to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
 ¹² After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Footnotes:

1. John 13:1 Or he showed them the full extent of his love.
2. John 13:2 Or the devil had already intended for Judas.
3. John 13:10 Some manuscripts do not include except for the feet.

 

    Okay, now that we read that, lets go back to talking about royalty. Let's talk about Jesus! Jesus is the Son of God. He is the way, he is the truth, he is the light. There is no other way to God, but through Jesus because he is the one who died to forgive our sins. We are all well aware of what Jesus did for us, and what he did was rather generous and just amazing. There are no words to describe a man dying for you so we can be saved when we don't deserve it. Jesus is high above all of us, am I right? Then why is this man, who is practically royalty, washing his disciples' feet? Jesus is high above them, he sits at the place of honor next to God on his throne in heaven and here he is on Earth washing these men's feet which one disciple, Judas, even ends up betraying Jesus and Jesus knows that he is going to. But Jesus still washes his feet. Why are you washing these people's feet, Jesus? You know you are practically royalty! They should be washing your feet!

    

   No. Jesus does this to show us that he is a servant of God too. He is here because God told him to come and die. Jesus is God's servant. He shows us he is by washing his disciples' feet. Not only that, it teaches us humility. Even though Jesus is going to be sent to the cross at this point and time in John any second now where he will definatley teach about humility, he still chooses to wash their feet. He is but a servant of God like us, but so much greater because he died for us and was sent from Heaven. He is the Royal Servant of the Kingdom of God. He himself is royal and a servant at the same time. 

   "Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me." Jesus told Peter this when he protested.Then Peter asks Jesus to give him a bath, and he says no because all of the disciples, but Judas, are already cleansed. Their feet just need washed. Jesus washed us all when we accepted him into our lives. He even washed us all the moment he died on the cross.

   Then Jesus says to all of the disciples that now the Lord has washed their feet, they should wash each others' feet, and take this as an example. 

   If you are following Jesus in your life, you should take this as an example too. All though Jesus now calls us friends, we are still servants to God on this Earth, just as Jesus was. We still have a calling and a plan to fulfill. Jesus fulfilled his to the fullest, and now he sits next to God in the place of honor, like a King. 

   Think about your kingdom if you were a King or Queen of a country. Would you want to rule the country with an iron fist and strike laws for the heck of it? Or would you be like God, and send your son to serve you in the greatest way, and make him forever famous?  Would you be fair and kind like God, or would you want to do what you wanted?

   As servants of God on this Earth, all we can do is what God tells us to do. We aren't Kings or Queens of a country. But what we can do is be a reflection of the Kingdom of God on this Earth. And that's all God wants, for us to glorify and spread the name of Jesus Christ as servants and friends of God.