A child walking in an adult’s footsteps copies everything: the gesture, the tone, even what we would rather not have shown. From that observation the sermon moves to the evening when Jesus rises from the table, wraps himself in a towel and begins washing his disciples’ feet, including the one he knows is about to betray him (John 13). Peter’s protest reveals how hard it is to accept a God who stoops that low, and how deeply the picture of God we carry shapes our lives. Listen, and ask yourself what the people around you would call you.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- The sermon explained that in Jesus' day washing feet was the job of the lowest servant, and disciples washed their rabbi's feet, never the other way round. How does this change the way you see the scene in John 13:1-20?
- How do you understand Jesus' words to Peter, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me"? Why is receiving His service a condition for passing it on to others?
- Jesus washed Judas' feet too, knowing he would betray Him. What does this say about a love that does not choose only the people we like?
- The speaker said love has more to do with what we do and choose than with what we feel. Where in your life do feelings most often take the place of action?
- The sermon asked what picture of God you carry in your mind: distant and stern, or close and full of humble love. How does that picture affect your readiness to serve others?
- A missionary who washed a boy's bloodied foot came to be called a man from God. How would your family and neighbours describe you in a few words, and whom can you serve in a concrete way this week?
