For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:15)

Last month, I wrote about being humble like Jesus. Humility is not just a state of mind, it should also be an action.

In John 13:15, Jesus told his disciples to “do just as I have done to you”. The background to this verse is Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Washing the feet of arriving guests is a job normally assigned by the master to the lowest tier of servants in a household. Jesus and his disciples were having their last supper together using a borrowed room. Apparently the room does not come with servants. And no one was humble enough to take up the role of feet washer. So Jesus “laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:4-5) After washing their feet, Jesus said to them “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15).

What lesson was Jesus trying to teach? I think he wanted the disciples to learn to serve one another in humility. That means being willing to do things which they may not think is their job, or not worthy of their effort.

As their teacher, Jesus did not have to wash the disciples’ feet. But he did so to set an example for the disciples. Jesus did not have to come down to this world to do the work of saving us from our sins. Having done so, he has set an example for us to follow. May we follow the example of Jesus, and do as Jesus has done for us. There should not be anything beneath us, that is not worthy of our sacrifice, when it comes to serving one another.