Friday, March 20, 2026 

Opening Scripture

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, taking into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.”

“Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.” Exodus 12:1-7,13-14

Opening Prayer

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness stretches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. How priceless is your unfailing love! Your people find shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own table, letting them drink from the river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Daily Bible Reading

John 13:1-17

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Reflection  

John has spent twelve chapters covering the first three-and-a-half years of Jesus’ earthly ministry in what is referred to as The Book of Signs. John will now spend the next nine chapters covering the final week of Jesus’ life in The Book of Glory. In fact, the next five chapters all take place in the Upper Room at the Passover meal.

Chapter 13 begins with Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. In a dramatic act – no doubt awkward and embarrassing for these men – Jesus took off His cloak, got down on His knees, and began washing His followers’ dirty feet. Walking everywhere on dusty, soiled roads in sandals left everyone’s feet extremely filthy.

In that part of the world, the custom at the time was to share a meal, reclining on mats and pillows around a low table. The host typically reclined at the head of the table, with guests arranged based on their relational closeness to him. As such, everyone’s feet were next to the table, rather than under the table.

In tomorrow’s reading, we discover that John and Judas were apparently positioned next to Jesus at the dinner. They were at least close enough for John to whisper a question to Jesus and for Jesus to hand a piece of bread to Judas. What a contrast: John, The Disciple Jesus Loved, and Judas, The Betrayer, each at Jesus’ side.

Festival meals and other special occasions were lengthy and highly relational. They were a time for discussion and bonding among the participants. Eating together was a sign of friendship. That’s why the religious leaders criticized Jesus for “eating with sinners.”

When He finished washing their feet, Jesus asked the disciples, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” While John doesn’t record their response, the truth is, they probably didn’t – at least not fully. That’s revealed to some degree by Peter’s request for a full scrubbing. The true meaning of Jesus’ action would dawn on them later.

John introduces this episode as an expression of Jesus’ deep love for His disciples, “loving them to the end.” This whole encounter is summed up well by John in his first letter (1 John 4:7-12).

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Jesus makes a final point that the blessing is in the doing, not the knowing.

Flourishing Habit

Intentional Discipleship

During this final Passover Meal, the other three gospel writers focus on the establishment of the Lord’s Supper. John instead gives special attention to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. As the one reclining next to Jesus at the table that night, we can imagine what a powerfully shaping moment that was for him.

Foot washing was a job normally done by a servant. Since there was no servant at the dinner, and since none of the disciples had stepped up, it was left to their Teacher and Lord to embrace this lowly task.

Of course, this was less about the disciples having clean feet and more about Jesus illustrating a profound point. The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served. As followers of Jesus, we are called to serve others in His name. Since God loved us, we ought to love one another. When we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us.

Do you think it was hard for Jesus to wash Judas’ feet?

Who is it easy for you to serve? Who is it hard for you to serve?

Ask God to help you have a servant heart, motivated by your love for Him.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!