by Rachel O.

Read

John 13:1–17, Luke 22:7–27

A Master Class on the Suffering Servant

I think we have forgotten how shocking and confusing Maundy Thursday was for the disciples. They had spent the past few years with Jesus, expectantly awaiting His kingly revolution as the Messiah, and the momentum of Palm Sunday was on their side.

But Jesus chose to make His last evening with His disciples a master class on the suffering Servant, modeling and preparing them for the traumatic days ahead, just like the loving Rabbi-Teacher that He always was.

“I am a different kind of king,” He said with His actions as He removed His outer clothing and kneeled before them, taking the lowly position of a servant washing feet. Peter loudly refuses Him—this is no job for the Messiah. But Jesus gently models what it means to die to self, and tells Peter that if he cannot accept the suffering servant Messiah, he has no part with Jesus at all.

“I am the Passover Lamb,” He implies as He serves the bread and wine, giving imagery to help the disciples process His outrageous death before it ever happens. He will be broken and suffer for the sins of the world, and they will mourn. The tender Rabbi Jesus talks them through it, using His precious last moments to prepare those He loves for His death.

Across cultures and millennia, every human wants the same things: power, control, and comfort. And every religion’s deity is immortal. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus bookends His Sermon on the Mount, turning the world’s values on their heads. The pathway to victory is not through domination, but through submission. Blessing comes by loving our enemies—those who will deny, betray, and break us. And the Son of God will humble Himself, and become obedient unto death, even death on the Cross (see Phil. 2:8).

In the upper room, Jesus shows us He is the suffering Servant, then twice in these passages calls us to imitate His servant example. This is the theme of Maundy Thursday—Jesus dies to self in the upper room before He dies for the world on the Cross. Today, will you listen as He calls you to pick up your towel, pick up your cross, and follow Him?

A Prayer Prompt

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” —John 13:17

Jesus, help us to understand that blessing does not come through being morally right like the Pharisees. Give us the faith to believe that blessing comes through loving our enemies, through service, and even through obedient suffering. May we model our lives after Your example.