Learn how Jesus redefines greatness through humility and service in this sermon on Luke 22:24–30. Explore the surprising moment when the disciples begin to argue over who is the greatest only moments after Jesus washed their feet and revealed His betrayal and coming death. Instead of rebuking them harshly, Jesus offers a life-changing teaching on true greatness, humility, and servant leadership.

Instead of rebuking them harshly, Jesus offers a life-changing teaching on true greatness, humility, and servant leadership.

https://youtu.be/uyI4wm01DZQ

Table of contentsThe Importance of Foot WashingJesus’s Passover PreparationsJesus Washes the Disciples’ FeetJesus Was Teaching Service and HumilityThe Disciples Wouldn’t Wash Each Other’s Feet Because of PrideHumility Is Thinking of Ourselves Less Versus Less of OurselvesPhilippians 2: The Humility ChapterThe Disciples’ Sad Response to Jesus’s Statement About His Betrayal and DeathThree Things Making the Disciples’ Argument Even WorseHow Could This Argument Happen?Jesus Used the Moment to Teach The Disciples About LeadershipLeaders Should Be HumbleLeaders Should Be ServantsThe Greatest Are ServantsPursue Rewards in God’s Kingdom

The Top Tens lists the top 10 of many things, such as songs, movies, albums, cell phones, workout programs, and mountain bikes. Here’s their list of the Top 10 Greatest People of All Time:

Jesus

Martin Luther King Jr.

Albert Einstein

Muhammad

Buddha

Gandhi

Abraham Lincoln

Moses

Nelson Mandela

Isaac Newton

If the disciples read this list, they would be upset because they thought they should be on it! They argued about who was the greatest, not once but at least twice, first in Luke 9 and again in Luke 22. These are just the recorded instances; maybe it happened more than this!

Context is always important, but sometimes it is especially important, and this is one of those instances. We will never fully appreciate this account without considering what occurred before it: Jesus washed their feet!

The Importance of Foot Washing

To understand Jesus washing the disciples' feet, let’s first look at a few verses in Luke 7. Beginning at Luke 7:36, we have the account of Jesus going to eat at the home of one of the Pharisees. During the meal, a woman, probably a prostitute, approached Jesus, wept, and washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Then she anointed His feet with ointment. This would’ve been a dramatic and moving scene to witness. Unless you are the Pharisee, in which case it makes you mad:

Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

The Pharisee only thought this to himself, but you must be careful around Jesus because He can read people’s thoughts. He rebukes the Pharisee and contrasts the woman’s actions toward Him after entering the Pharisee’s home with the Pharisee’s actions when Jesus entered his home. Consider what He said about the situation:

Luke 7:44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Jesus commended the women for washing His feet and rebuked the Pharisees for failing to do so. This reveals how big of a deal it was in Jesus’s day to wash your feet before meals because dust, mud, and other filth accumulated on people’s feet as they walked on unpaved roads.

Jesus’s Passover Preparations

Notice Jesus’s attention to detail as He tells Peter and John how to prepare for the Last Supper:

Luke 22:8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying,