In the late eighteenth century, Oliver Goldsmith wrote a play that told of a well connected young woman who assumed the identity of a much poorer maid in order to discern the true intentions of her suitor. The play was called She Stoops to Conquer, and it was the seed for the title of this message. In the thirteenth chapter of John’s gospel, our author shows us a glimpse of the Son of God also assuming a servant state, but what we find of our hero is that it is no pretension. It is, rather, an example of what he expects from us.
When I was growing up, my parents taught me that it was important to make a good impression on people. They taught me to dress up for a job interview. They taught me to shine my shoes, front and back, to brush my teeth, to comb down my cowlick, square my shoulders, shake hands firmly and to look people in the eye. They taught me that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Sound familiar?
When someone dies, we dress that person in his or her best Sunday go-to-meetin’ clothes, the nattiest tie, the finest brooch. We have their hair shampooed and styled. In many cases, death is the finest these folks may have dressed in some years.
Men and women come home from deployment or from war and they “stand the rail” as they come into port, always decked out in their “dress whites” or “dress blues,” looking more like they are ready to receive an award than to go home to waiting arms of loved ones.
When we have been somewhere or done something we consider important, we dress the part. When we need to make a big impression, we dress the part. When we are about to propose or retire or go through a job interview or entertain friends, we “put on the dog,” don’t we. We break out the good silverware and china and polish the brass and pewter and go to the beauty shop or the barber. We want to be remembered.
So did Jesus. John tells us that “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.” All the preparation, all the miracles, all the teaching, and the journeys up and down the dusty roads of Galilee and Samaria and the Decapolis had come down to one last meal, one last night, one great ordeal. Jesus knew all this as he sat among his disciples and dear friends for the last time before his death. It was a time for speeches and toasting. It was a time for dedication. It was a time for dressing up to show the kingly, regal splendor which he had kept under wraps for so long.
His disciples had begun to believe. They had been known to lobby Jesus for position in the coming kingdom. James and John, upon their ambitious mother’s urging, had asked Jesus for favored positions in the new kingdom. In Luke’s gospel, he reports that even on this last night together while reclining at the table, “a dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest” (Lk. 22:24).
Amidst this verbal sparring, Jesus rose and shed his outer garments. And then in the most regal humility ever witnessed, the king of all mankind, the savior of all humanity, tied a towel around his waist, knelt down and washed the feet of every soul in the room. That included Judas Iscariot, who only a short time later would be blessed by Jesus to leave and go complete the betrayal of his master. Even Jesus’ betrayer received unconditional love.
Jesus tied a towel around his waist and washed the feet of his friends. He stooped to conquer. His own words in John’s gospel give us his explanation:
For I have given you an example, that you should
also do just as I have done to you…a servant is not
greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater
than the one who sent him. If you know these things,
blessed are you if you do them.” (Jn. 13: 15-17)
Here, John uses the Greek word apostolos for messenger, one of the few times in the New Testament that this word does not mean apostle or disciple. And yet this use offers another message, for an apostle or disciple was and is today a messenger in the same tradition that Jesus came from God to bring the good news. As Jesus was God’s messenger, so too can we be the messengers of Jesus.
This is our example. In only a few short hours, the Son of God would be subjected to humiliation, torture, pain, anguish and even separation from God Himself, all for you and me. On this last opportunity to receive credit for all that he had done and all that he was about to do, instead of taking a bow, he took a knee. Consistent to the end, his example of his priesthood, of his kingship, of his divinity, of his humanity…was servanthood. As we remember Him, celebrate Him and worship Him… think on these things.
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