Article December 4, 1954 Issue

SERVICE TO MANKIND

SARA B. VELTMAN

In the Gospel of John we read of Jesus' last supper with his disciples, just prior to his betrayal by Judas. We are told that Jesus laid aside his garments and, taking a towel, proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel. Walking the dusty roads, wearing only sandals, men considered a daily foot washing essential; but this service was usually performed by a servant. Can we not visualize the embarrassment of the disciples when their great Teacher stooped to this menial task? Can we not realize the great question that must have been in their thought?

This question was soon answered, for after Jesus finished this work and sat down again, he asked (John 13:12-15): "Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." Was not Jesus saying to them in effect that if he with his infinitely greater ability to demonstrate the Christ found himself in the position of servant to mankind, so they, as they rose higher in spiritual attainments, must make their lives of greater service to their fellow men? That the disciples understood and profited by the lesson is beautifully recorded in the book of Acts. We find them establishing churches, healing the sick, giving themselves to the cause of Christ.

The scene has changed in the intervening centuries since that significant event, but the truth Jesus imparted and the example he gave ever remain the same. The example is for all who would truly follow our loving Master. How may we today follow his teaching and example? The way is made plain by Mary Baker Eddy in the great spiritual discovery she named Christian Science. In this Science we learn what the nature of God, the one primal cause, is; and we see man as the image of God.

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