Exhortations to a Church: Love One Another

God has placed within the human heart a deep longing for love. Worldly distortions of love only exacerbate this deep-seated longing. Christianity has a wonderful opportunity to speak into this void.

Jesus’ actions on the eve of his crucifixion, in which he stooped to wash his disciples’ feet (John 13), offer a powerful model of love through humble service that challenges worldly distortions of love and our natural inclination toward self-importance. This narrative demonstrates the revolutionary nature of Christian love and calls us to follow Jesus’ example.

After washing his disciples’ feet—an action that deeply shocked and offended them—he said, “If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:14–15). If Christian discipleship is about conforming to Christ, this instruction has much to teach us. Three characteristics of Christlike love are apparent from these verses.

The cultural context of the foot washing scene is significant. In first-century Palestine, roads were dusty and filled with animal waste. Open sandals were the footwear of the day, which made it necessary to wash feet before meals. This demeaning task was reserved for the lowest of household servants.

That night, Jesus and his disciples came to a borrowed room where there were no servants. None of the disciples volunteered to wash feet. No one addressed the awkward cultural oversight.

Jesus did not share their self-importance. Instead, “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, [he] rose from supper” (v. 3). John’s intentional reference to Jesus’ divine authority and origin makes what follows even more striking.

Jesus removed his outer garment, which likely identified him as a rabbi, leaving him dressed like a common servant. He then wrapped a towel around his waist—the uniform of someone performing menial tasks—and began to wash the disciples’ feet.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus demonstrated this pattern of disregarding social hierarchies to show love. He welcomed children when his disciples tried to send them away. He spoke with a Samaritan woman at the well when no Jewish man would ever dare to do so. He allowed an “unclean” woman with a bleeding medical condition  to touch him. He permitted a woman with a questionable reputation to wash his feet with her tears and hair. He ate with tax collectors and sinners, earning criticism from religious leaders.

Jesus was never concerned about appearances or social standing. He simply did what was necessary to show love. We will never love as Jesus loved until we overcome our self-importance.

When he saw that no one had volunteered to serve in this capacity, Jesus took action. His love wasn’t merely emotional; it was practical and service-oriented.

Remarkably, Scripture highlights two primary acts of love in Jesus’ life: washing the disciples’ feet and dying on the cross. One was history-changing and eternally significant; the other was a simple act addressing a cultural and practical need. Yet both receive prominence in Scripture.

This teaches us that true love embraces both the profound and the mundane. As one pastor wisely observed at a wedding, “I’m confident the husband would throw himself in front of a bus to save his wife, but will he faithfully take out the trash?”

A genuine servant thinks beyond designated roles. While Jesus clearly understood the priority of his teaching mission, at times leaving towns even when people were still seeking miracles, he never used role definitions to avoid meeting needs. He modelled the instruction of Galatians 6:10: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”

Rather than focusing solely on our specific responsibilities, or waiting to be asked, we should actively look for opportunities to serve others.

By the time they entered that upper room, Jesus’ disciples had repeatedly demonstrated their failings. They had argued over greatness, shown minimal faith despite witnessing numerous miracles, and, within hours, would flee when Jesus was arrested. Yet Jesus loved and served them.

Most astoundingly, Jesus served Judas. Verse 11 tells us that “he knew who was to betray him,” and yet he did not exclude Judas from his act of loving service. When he later announced that one disciple would betray him, the others were “uncertain of whom he spoke” (v. 22). The disciples’ confusion reveals that Jesus had consistently treated Judas with the same love he showed everyone else. He was not cold or distant to his betrayer; he showed him faithful love.

This wonderfully embodies Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Even unbelievers love those who treat them well, but Christlike love extends to everyone.

Jesus’ new command is found in the context of this foot-washing scene: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (vv. 34–35).

Jesus’ life was one of humiliation and service. He consistently demonstrated humility in meeting the needs around him. On the cross, he met our greatest need. As he said of himself, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

When Peter protested Jesus washing his feet, Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” (v. 8). Peter’s initial reaction was understandable—the Lord of lords was kneeling to wash his feet!—but Jesus insisted because this act represented the essence of his mission.

The King of kings became a vulnerable baby, submitted to earthly parents, endured temptation, had no place to call home, suffered ridicule, was betrayed by a friend and mocked by bystanders, and died the most humiliating death in the Roman Empire—all to serve us.

With this perspective, how can anyone be too lowly for us to love? How can any wrong against us be too great to forgive? How can any need be too burdensome?

When we love each other as Jesus loved us, we demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel. We show that we are family in Christ with bonds that transcend earthly differences. We reveal that we have been transformed by Jesus’ love. This not only honours Christ, but offers a compelling witness to a watching world.

This article is based on a sermon preached in early 2022 to the core group that Living Hope Church would send out to plant Pretoria West Bible Church.