East Baptist Church – Denison, TX

The Upper Room Teaches Us the Humility Of Healthy Love  In Servanthood

John 13:2-5

We come now to a most unusual incident. I wish I could shock you, startle you with it. We hear it so often that we lose the wonder of it. Jesus Christ leaves Heaven’s glory and comes down to this earth and He takes the place of a slave and washes feet!

What does the Creator of the world do at His Last Supper? He becomes a servant, even to the one who will betray Him and to the rest of the other disciples who will forsake Him because of their fear. All things are committed to Christ’s hands, yet He picks up a towel and a basin to wash the feet of all the disciples. Open sandals made it necessary to wash the feet. We tend to make a name for ourselves, but Jesus made Himself of no reputation. He was concerned about being a servant to us.

Philippians 2:7-8 (NASB77) ⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

I think that one of the reasons so many suffer from depression is because we take our eyes off the path Christ has for us and try to chart our own path and then expect it to turn out healthy. When we come to Christ, we have a heart change, and we see that the success of the church the Body of Christ is serving others.    

Our culture has made pride a virtue and humility a sign of weakness. Sadly, this shameless approach to life has made its way into the deep roots of our churches. 

This chapter marks a transition in John’s Gospel and a key turning point in the life and ministry from publicly reaching out to Israel as they reject Him to putting Him on the cross of Calvary. Our Lord would die as the true Passover Lamb of God. We see a shift from Mount Sinai to the Hill of Golgotha and the Messiah that died for our sins on that hill. 

Now we come to the day before Jesus’ death. In less than 24 hours He would bear the weight for all of our sins. He spends His time teaching all generations about the true path to glorify God in service and humility. (What would you do if you knew in less than 24 hours you would die on the cross of a thief for doing nothing other than preaching the truth? Not washing feet!)

As pride was raging through the minds and hearts of the very ones He had chosen to carry on the mission of the church, we see our Lord trying to make sure they would put the needs and even wants of others before their own.

Mark 9:35 (NASB77) ³⁵And sitting down, He called the twelve and •said to them, ” If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

Christ’s love and His humility are inseparable.  Our Lord could not have been so far reaching in His love if not for His desire to give sacrificial love that put the pride of self aside and welfare of others first.