When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, he demonstrated how important it is to serve without status. Imagine. The son of God on his knees washing the feet of his followers. When he got to Peter, Peter said, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” (John 13:6). Jesus replied, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (vs. 7). Rather than trust Jesus, Peter protested and said that Jesus would never wash his feet. Jesus answered, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” (vs. 8). Peter’s famous response was, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (vs. 9).
Jesus said that anyone who has bathed is completely clean but only his feet need washed. He was referring to their baptism. They are not in need of washing over and over again but they must serve one another and remain humble. Jesus asked them if they understood what he had done for them in the washing of their feet. He said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. . . 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” (vs. 14, 16).
This theme appears other places too. When James and John requested that Jesus allow one to sit on his right and the other his left in glory, Jesus corrected them. He said that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them “but it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. We all must serve without status.