Serving like Jesus
Family worship guide · theme: Service · ages 3–14 · 20 min
Opening
Ask: what is the most boring chore in the house? Cleaning the bathroom, taking out the trash, folding socks? Who usually does it? Leave the answer hanging: today we are going to see Jesus doing the humblest job in a household.
Reading
Have a basin of water and a towel handy. An adult reads v. 1–5 very slowly while someone else acts it out: getting up from the table, taking off an outer layer, tying the towel around the waist. In v. 6–10, someone who reads well does Peter's voice.
1It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end. 2The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. 4So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist. 5After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8“Never shall You wash my feet!” Peter told Him. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” 10Jesus told him, “Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11For He knew who would betray Him. That is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am. 14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.
Teaching
John begins by telling us what Jesus knew: the Father had delivered “all things into His hands” (v. 3). And what does He do with all things in His hands? He picks up a towel. People wore sandals on dirt roads; washing feet was the job of the lowest servant in the house. Jesus does not serve because He feels small, but because He knows who He is. Whoever is secure in the Father's love has nothing to prove and can bend down.
Notice whose feet were washed: Judas, who was already planning to betray Him (v. 2), and Peter, who would soon deny Him. Jesus serves those who are still going to let Him down. Peter resists, because letting yourself be served also takes humility. In v. 15, Jesus leaves “an example”: serving is not the job of whoever counts least in the house, it is the way of the kingdom of God. But serving does not mean accepting exploitation or humiliation, and the weight of the household should not always fall on the same person.
Conversation
For little ones
- What did Jesus use to wash His friends' feet?
For kids
- Why didn't Peter want Jesus to wash his feet?
- What chore can you do this week without anyone asking?
For teens
- Jesus washed Judas' feet knowing about the betrayal. Is that weakness or strength? Why?
For adults
- When do I serve to be seen or to be in control, and not out of love? And where do I find it hard to let someone serve me?
Activity
With the basin and towel, each person washes and dries the hands (or the feet, if the family is up for it) of the person on their right. Start with the adults serving the kids. Then talk: was it easier to wash or to be washed?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You had everything in Your hands and You picked up a towel. Teach us to serve without expecting applause. Show each of us who needs help in this home. I want to serve ___ by doing ___. Give us also the humility to let others take care of us. In Your name, amen.
Blessing
Hebrews 13:20–21
During the week
Chore swap: each person picks a task that normally belongs to someone else and takes it on for three days, without announcing it. If one person in your home carries almost everything alone, the others take on part of that load for good, not just this week.