“Man is a creature that is led more by patterns than by precepts.”
George Swinnock
Jesus Christ instructs his disciples, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:15) Why do you serve others? And what kind of service are you willing to perform for the glory of God and for the benefit of others? Jesus sets the pattern for us and gives us his expectation. He engaged in the most menial, lowliest, and miserable of tasks (foot washing) to set an example and a pattern for us. He clearly expects that we “should do just as I have done to you.”
On the heels of this expectation is a proverb. Jesus restates an aphorism or proverb that appears in other places throughout the gospels. About this saying, which will be presented soon, Leon Morris writes, “This saying (with variants) is found on four occasions (here [John 13:16], 15:20; Matt. 10:24; Luke 6:40; and cf. Luke 22:27). It was evidently a saying that Jesus loved to repeat.” (Leon Morris, NICNT, 552) What was the saying? “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.” (John 13:16) A servant is not greater than his master. D. A. Carson explains the saying, “The point of the aphorism in this context is in any case painfully clear: no emissary has the right to think he is exempt from tasks cheerfully undertaken by the one who sent him, and no slave has the right to judge any menial task beneath him after his master has already performed it.” (Carson, PNTC, 468) Today, Jesus calls us to and expects us to engage in various acts of service that, in our pride, we might view as beneath us. But if Christ is found doing them, how can we excuse ourselves from those tasks? Have a blessed week and may the Lord lead you to those small and menial tasks that when done cheerfully demonstrate the spirit of the Lord.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
