Good Morning Friends,
From time to time, many of us have served a meal to those with less privilege—only to discover that receiving service from them can feel harder than giving it. In today’s text, Jesus meets this same tension in the Upper Room. At the Passover meal, He kneels to wash His disciples’ feet, and Peter resists. It would not be the last time Peter chose the wrong answer to a probing question. Yet Peter—like every generation—needed to learn that in God’s kingdom, we are called both to serve and to be served.
Some things God must do for us. Some things we must do as an act of love for God. And some things we do together—shared actions that deepen love for God and neighbor. Holy Week invites us to ask: Are we willing to both serve and be served for God’s glory?
Scripture Summaries
Exodus 12:1–8, 11–14
God institutes the first Passover: a lamb is slain, its blood marks the homes of Israel, and the people eat a sacred meal as God prepares to deliver them from death and slavery.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
Paul recalls Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, teaching the church that every time we break the bread and share the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again.
John 13:1–15
On the night before the cross, Jesus washes His disciples’ feet, showing that true greatness is found in humble service and commanding them to follow His example.
Psalm 116:12–18
The psalmist responds to God’s saving love with thanksgiving, vows of faithfulness, and public worship, offering himself as a servant of the Lord.
Message: A meal shared in the shadow of death shaped both the first Passover and the Last Supper. In the Upper Room, Jesus gathered His disciples to remember God’s deliverance, to share bread and wine, and to reveal that He Himself was the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world. They sang the Passover psalms and walked into the night, not yet understanding that God—not they—was in control.
Holy Week draws the past, the present and the future together. These moments are felt as we remember God’s rescue in Egypt and now as we experience Christ among us in the community of faith and finally in our hope for the future in the Lord’s return and the fullness of His Kingdom realized. In communion, we remember that God is not only above us but within us. We belong to a community where love requires both giving and receiving. Music, scripture, service, and the Eucharist become gifts of transcendence—reminding us that Christ’s love gathers us, shapes us, and sends us.
Here we learn again that dignity is preserved when we serve and when we allow others to serve us. Christ sets the standard: no matter our status, we are called to love in action. In this shared life, we taste redemption, experience compassion, and live in the “now but not yet” of God’s kingdom. Even as we face our own mortality, we discover meaning, hope, and purpose in the One who washed feet and carried the cross.
And So, across today’s passages, a single truth rises: God serves us before we ever serve Him. He rescues Israel, feeds the disciples, washes their feet, and gives His life for the world. Holy Week invites us to embrace both sides of love. To kneel and serve. And to sit still long enough to be served by Christ and by one another. Both require humility. Both reveal God’s glory. So, the question becomes: Are we willing to both serve and be served for God’s glory? The question we are pondering is whether we will offer our hands in compassion—and open our hearts to receive grace we cannot earn. Hopefully we follow the Lamb who saves, the Lord who kneels, and the Savior who still feeds His people with mercy. Hopefully the church will be more like a sailboat than a rowboat as we discover the power God has given us to follow the pattern of the Leadership demonstrated in Jesus.
Pray the Lord open our hearts to the gentle leanings of the Holy Spirit. Pray we learn when to serve and when to be served. Pray we declare our fellowship with Christ, remembering His sacrifice, and anticipating His return. Pray that the Lord bring forth bread from the earth and fruit of the vine to feed the world with goodness, grace, kindness, and mercy.Pray we realize that each day matters. Pray God place a new song in our hearts. Pray we are shaped into a people ready to love, ready to serve,and ready to receive love in return. Pray we realize that Jesus is not only the giver of the feast…He is the feast.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 