Three Reasons to Serve Others
John 13:12–17,
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
In the year 1521, an artist named Lucas Cranach published a pamphlet of several woodcut images he had made of the pope.
The printing press had been around almost a hundred years, but only a small fraction of the population could read, and so pictures were an important way to get a message across.
And in these woodcuts images, Cranach, who was a good friend of Martin Luther, had two panels side by side: on the right side was a depiction of Pope Leo, but on the first side was a depiction of Jesus. And one of his most famous woodcuts features the scene of Jesus in John 13.
The text beneath the image is our passage today, John 13:14–17.
In this image of Jesus, you can see he is basically doing what the passage says: his disciples, a ragtag looking bunch, are huddled together in line, and Jesus is stooped down on his knees, by a water basin, washing their feet.
We’re supposed to contrast that image with the image on the other side: it’s the pope sitting on an elevated platform, and there’s a room full of dignitaries, and they’re all in line to kiss his feet.
It’s clear that the pope is doing the exact opposite of Christ, which is why the heading at the top, on the right side, says, “Antichrist.”
Some of you may know, our Reformation forefathers thought the pope was the antichrist — and I just wanna say they were not crazy to think that because the pope literally did antichrist things … And nothing made that more obvious than how the pope treated people so differently from how Jesus did.
See John 13 was (and is) a standard of authenticity for every true disciple of Jesus. We should read this passage and ask ourselves:
Does anything in my life look anything close to what Jesus is doing here?
If you could put a picture of yourself on that right side, what would it look like?
I believe it’s God’s providence that John 13 is our text at the very beginning of 2026. And we’re gonna look closely at this passage today, but here’s my goal: I want this passage to shape a prayer for our church for this entire year.
The prayer is this: that we would grow as joyful servants of one another like Jesus is of us.
That’s the prayer — and there’s a lot we could say about this — but I wanna start with the most basic this morning. Following the words of Jesus in this passage, I want to tell you three reasons we should serve one another like Jesus serves us.
Here’s the first. We should serve one another like Jesus serves us …
1. Because Jesus is our Teacher and Lord (vv. 12–13)
Look at verse 12. This is after Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet.
John tells us that Jesus basically cleaned himself up, sat back at the table, and then he began to teach with his words. See, the whole thing has been teaching, but now it’s formal. And the first thing Jesus says, the end of verse 12, is:
“Do you understand what I have done to you?”
He’s implying here that they don’t understand, which is what he already said in verse 7. In verse 7, Jesus told the disciples: Hey, you don’t get what I’m doing now, but you will later.
And now is that later: Jesus is about to explain the meaning of his washing their feet — and we’re on the edge of our seats for this!
What Jesus did was shocking enough, but now he’s gonna tell us the deeper meaning. He starts in verse 13. Verse 13:
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.”
Notice the first thing Jesus does here is affirm the disciples. He starts by telling the disciples something they get right. And what they get right is who Jesus is. He is their “Teacher and Lord.”
The word “Lord” here could be just a respectful way of talking to somebody with authority, but we know it’s more than that in the New Testament. This is a confession of the deity of Jesus. Jesus is God the Son. He is the Lord Jesus. And we would expect this word to be front and center in what Jesus is called.
But look at that word “teacher” in verse 13 — it’s another way to say rabbi. And “rabbi” or “teacher” — that was something these early Jewish disciples called Jesus, but we don’t really use that language today, at least not in our circles.
I grew up in the church, and I’ve been a Christian for about three decades, and I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone refer to Jesus as their “Lord and Teacher Jesus Christ.”
But why don’t we say that? That’s a fair question to ask, isn’t it? Because Jesus says it is right to call him Teacher, but we don’t. So why not?
It’s actually a simple answer. It’s because we combine Jesus as Teacher with his identity as Lord. This comes through in our third baptism vow:
We affirm that, “with God’s help, we will obey the teachings of Jesus and follow him as Lord, Savior, and Treasure.”
“Learn from me”
So we may not use the word “Teacher” but it is absolutely implied!
This is the way we relate to Jesus as his disciples — we obey his teachings, we follow him.
I think it’s okay that we don’t commonly call Jesus our “Teacher” — but it’s okay only as long as we know he is that to us. He’s certainly more to us than Teacher, but never less — Jesus teaches us how to live in this world!
I think of Jesus’s famous invitation in Matthew Chapter 11 to come to him and find rest. Remember he says: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me …” (Matthew 11:29). Learn from Jesus how to live!
Or in the Book of Ephesians, Paul warns us not to live like the Gentiles — because their hearts are hardened and they’re full of greed — and Paul says, “That is not the way you learned Christ!” (Ephesians 4:20).
Hear that?
We learn Christ. We learn from him! Jesus is our Teacher.
It is right to call him that, but what matters most is that we know that’s who he is.
And when we know that, when that fact is established, then of course we’re gonna do what he says. This is foundational: we should serve one another like Jesus serves us because Jesus is our Teacher and Lord, and he tells us to.
And we could stop here, to be honest, because that’s enough. But there’s more.
We should serve one another like Jesus serves us …
2. Because Jesus has given us an example (vv. 14–16)
This is verses 14–16, and it’s really the central part of the passage. So let’s read it again, and notice this whole unit is an argument. Verse 14:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
The logic of what Jesus says is grounded in the disciples’ relationship to him — the Teacher/disciple relationship is implied, but Jesus names two more relationships in verse 16: master/servant, and then sender/messenger. We see that in verse 16.
Now, what’s the same in all of these relationships is that there’s a hierarchy, and in each one, Jesus is the superior and we are the inferior. This is vital to the argument. Jesus is saying plainly in verse 14: If I, your superior, have washed the feet on my inferiors, then my inferiors ought to wash one another’s feet.
And in case we get stuck on the feet-washing part, in verse 15 Jesus explains that what he did was an example bigger than feet. Jesus has given us a model for how we treat one another.
He has given us a pattern for all of life — it’s not about one specific act of washing feet, but this is about a way of being.
This is how we live together as the body of Christ: we serve one another the way Christ served us — which included washing our feet.
And so, get this: if our Teacher, our Master, if he went that low to serve us, what would we consider too low in serving one another? See what he did there?
Jesus has opened up for us endless possibilities of good works. Because now, following his example, nothing can be too low. Nothing can be too inconvenient.
The degree of our serving is not determined by our station, but by the needs of our brothers and sisters. That is not the way it is in the world! Seriously, don’t try this at work! Stick to your job description.
What About Spiritual Gifts?
But the local church is different. And this is where, heads up, we need to be careful with the topic of spiritual gifts. Now we’re gonna get there one day in First Corinthians, but let me just offer a word of caution here … There is a school of thought that says it’s incumbent that every Christian find a church where they can use their spiritual gifts.
But see, the problem with this thinking is that it can lead individual Christians to hop from church to church asking the questions, “Can I use my gift here? … Can I use my gift here? What about here? Here? Who wants this gift?”
And look, it’s not bad to want to use your gift, but, instead of looking for the church where you can use your gift, how about commit to a church and let the first thing you ask be: What are the needs? Where can I help? Show me the places where I can follow the example of my Teacher and wash some feet!
Look, I’m not gonna mention names (because I don’t wanna embarrass anybody), but I’ve seen that kind of needs-first serving in this church over and over again. And when the whole church serves one another this way — in the example Jesus has given us — it is one of the most beautiful, compelling realities on the planet. Because Jesus is the only reason it makes sense.
He is our Teacher and Lord, and he gave us an example.
Here’s the third reason. We serve one another the way Jesus served us …
3. Because there is a blessing that comes through doing (v. 17)
This is verse 17, and it’s a verse that I want everybody to see. There are few keywords in this verse that we’re gonna focus on, but first, everybody find verse 17. Chapter 13, verse 17, Jesus says:
“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
First word to see here is “blesséd.” This is a wonderful word. It’s used 50 times in the whole New Testament, and 40 of those times are by Jesus himself. I think that counts as one of his favorite words!
And the most famous place Jesus used this word was during his Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew Chapter 5, Jesus starts that sermon with what’s called the Beatitudes. You’ve heard these before …
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” …
Jesus goes on to mention nine different blesséds, and none of them are what you’d expect. They turn the way of the world upside down — which tells us that Jesus’s idea of “blessedness” is probably different too.
To be blessed, according to Jesus, does not mean to be comfortable or to have things easy — it does not mean more power, money, and fame (that’s the world’s idea).
But to be blessed according to Jesus means to be truly happy in relation to God — it’s about the ‘good life’ under the kingdom of God, which is the only ‘good life’ that is true and lasting.
To be blessed according to Jesus is not cheap fun, but it’s a deep joy in God, given by God.
Don’t we want that? I’ll take some of that in the New Year!
The Way to Blessing
Well, good news! Jesus is gonna tell us how we can get it. Everybody track with me — Look back at verse 17: Jesus starts, “If you know these things” — what things? He’s talking about what he has just said. He’s talking about the explanation he just gave in verses 14–15 for what he was doing in washing their feet. Jesus is saying: If you know I’ve given you an example! Or: now that you know I’ve given you an example! — Hey, it’s good to know things isn’t it? I’m so thankful that we can read the Word of God and know things about God and about life. It is a gift to know, amen. And we wanna grow in our knowledge! (2 Peter 3:18).
But in verse 17, where does Jesus saying the blessing is?
Verse 17: “If you know these things — or, now that you know I’ve given you an example …
Blessed are you if you [have a Bible study and talk more about it] …
Blessed are you if you [listen to a sermon and take good notes] …
All goods things. But what does Jesus say in verse 17?
“If you now know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Do them. Like in real life, actually do the thing. Do what Jesus did!
But Your Neighbor Does
You know, thanks be to God, the heart of the gospel is that we are saved by grace, not by works. Romans 4:4,
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Amen! We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. It’s like Martin Luther said:
“God does not need your good works … but your neighbor does.”
Your brother does. Your sister does.
Listen: there is a blessing from Jesus that you can only have when you serve others the way he serves us. That’s why we’re joyful servants!
And again, the blessing is not comfort. It’s not ease. It’s not convenience. It’s not power, money, and fame. In fact, in the serving it’s pretty much the opposite of all those things.
There are at least moments of discomfort, difficulty, and inconvenience.
You stoop low, at a cost, with no fanfare. But Jesus says, in doing that you will be blessed.
And we all raised our hands and said we want that blessing. All that’s left is the doing.
How Does That Look?
What does that look like for you? (Come back at 5 tonight to hear more about this), but I want to ask you now: in this New Year, in what ways are you gonna follow the example of Jesus, and do what he did? Where are the needs in our church, the needs around you, that God would call you to meet?
Hey, let me just say: for those of us who are worried about our church growing this year, if we just do this, we’re gonna be okay.
The question is not: Am I going to be cared for with all these people here?
The question is: How can I serve all these people the way Jesus served me?
And when we’re all asking that … it’s beautiful.
And look: it starts here. It starts with me; it starts with the pastors. All of us are in the same boat in that we all want to be more like Jesus.
I’ll tell you a story I thought of last week, and this is kinda crazy, because I haven’t thought of this in 22 years, but it popped in my head a few days ago.
When I was a freshman in college and trying to figure out God’s calling on my life, I went to an FCA event to hear this guest preacher who was talking about calling. And I don’t remember his message other than this one story he told, about a dream he had. This guy has preached to people all over the country, and seen a lot of fruit, and he had this dream where he was sitting on a white horse … He is sitting on this horse, looking out over all the people he had preached the gospel to. And then he sees Jesus walking up to him, through this crowd of people, and when Jesus finally gets to him, Jesus looks up and says, “Hey, would you get off my horse?”
The guy said: Hey, whatever Jesus is calling you to in life, it’s never to be on his horse.
We’ve actually seen in John 13, Jesus calls us to serve like he serves. And I want you to know: your pastors are in this for that. That’s my heart for you.
And what I’m about to say — I don’t mean this as anything different from the past, but I just wanna tell you: with God’s help, I’m gonna serve you the best I can this year. With all the grace that God supplies.
And that’s our prayer together, for all of us. It’s that God would grow us as joyful servants of one another like Jesus is of us.
That’s what leads us to the Table.
The Table
I want us to sense in a new way the wonder that we are children of God. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus, and one another, and we live by him and for him. It’s all grace! All gift! And at this Table we rest in that.
We come here to thank Jesus for his cross and resurrection, and to receive afresh all that he is for us — Lord, Savior, Treasure, and Teacher.
