The Big Takeaway: By washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus serves them as though he were a slave on the night before he dies the death of a slave. John describes the Lord’s service as love (v. 1) and quotes the Lord as saying, “you also should do just as I have done to you” (v. 15). In this way, humility, service, and love are bound together, essential to Christian character, and foundational in the household of faith.