Tonight was a great night as we came together to laugh and fellowship. We were blessed to have worship led by one of our worship leaders before we got into our lesson. But this evening we specifically kept the group close together. We did this becuase we wanted to simulate the closeness of the disciples during the last supper.
Last week we talked about how the act of Jesus coming to earth was an act of Humility. His very mindset was the think of us above his own needs. This week, we are going to fast forward the end of the timeline to see Jesus’ actions right before he was arrested and crucified.
In the book of John, Jesus leaves a new commandment for us to follow.
Read John 13:34-35
Ask: What is it that we are supposed to do?
Ask: What is the result of this commandment?
Jesus is telling us to love each other, not just for our sakes, but as a sign that we are His. This doesn’t mean we are just nice to each other, but we should have a genuine mindset or attitude of love for each other. But notice that he says, “Just as I have loved you,” meaning we are to copy his example. Let’s go back to see what He did exemplified how He loves us.
This event takes place at Passover during what we call “The Last Supper.” Let’s look at how this meal started.
Read Luke 22:7-13
Here, we see Jesus giving specific instructions to his disciples to find a place to meet and have their Seder meal together. This meal was very detail-oriented. There are a lot of steps that go into preparing for the Seder. Even sitting down for the meal required some sanitation aspects. Let’s now jump back to John.
Read John 13:2-5
Here, Jesus stands up and begins to wash his disciples’ feet. Now, this was odd on multiple levels.
- Foot washing was supposed to happen as soon as they came in.
- The foot washing was supposed to be done by a servant assigned by the house’s master.
Yet Jesus gets up mid-meal, seeing that this hasn’t been done and HE’s doing it. Culturally, as the bare minimum, one of the disciples should have taken on this task.
Read Vs 6-11
Here, Peter realizes this isn’t right and tries to stop Jesus. But Jesus rebukes him, saying that if he doesn’t do it, he has no place with Jesus. As we continue, keep this rebuke in mind.
Read vs 12-17.
Here, Jesus lays out the fact that he is, in fact, their teacher and Lord. Yet he’s taken on this servant position to care for them. This was not “His job,” but because his mindset is to serve, he did. Now we know that later, he will go on to serve us in a greater way by going to the Cross for us. If we don’t allow him to serve us, then we have no place with Him. Another interesting aspect is that He was willing to wash the feet of everyone, even the one who would betray him. Jesus didn’t skip Judas; He showed love and cared for him as well.
So, what can we take away from this passage?
- If we are truly Jesus’, then we should love each other as Jesus loved us.
- Loving each other may be uncomfortable and require us to serve in ways we don’t want. We may even have to do things that “aren’t our jobs.”
- This idea of servant leadership was Jesus’ entire life from birth to the cross he served.
With this final call to action—to love each other—Jesus institutes what we call communion. It’s believed this occurred during the third cup of the Seder Meal, the cup of redemption. While partaking in the bread and cup, the disciples also affirm their commitment to each other.
We ended this evening with a time of communion. We took time to reflect on the gravity of what communion is and what it means for us.
Take away questions:
- How can we better serve people at school?
- How can we better serve people at home?
- How can we better serve people at church?
Adventures in Student Ministry 