If you’ve ever worked in the corporate world or in business, you’ll hear about succession planning: the way that leaders prepare to hand over power and responsibility after they’ve left, in particular by nurturing leaders to succeed them. It’s not a new idea – apparently Genghis Khan did something similar 800 years ago, involving his sons in leadership from a young age, and appointing a primary successor before his death. (I draw no direct comparison here with modern business!)
Today we begin what you might call the final stage of Jesus’ own ‘succession planning’. He has lived and trained a group of close friends over the last three years, but now he is approaching the climax of his ministry – something of which he is well aware: (v1) ‘Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.’ He has one more evening and night, before he leaves them. How would any of us use that time?
All the gospel writers place a strong emphasis on these last 24 hours of Jesus’ life. The events are recorded in detail, and many of us know them off by heart: the Last Supper, Gethsemane, betrayal, arrest, trial, Pilate, Simon carrying the cross, crucifixion. However, only John focuses primarily on Jesus’ teaching, on the way Jesus prepares his disciples for what is to come. Chapters 13-17 are some of the greatest and most profound in all of scripture, and one gets this strong sense of walking on holy ground whenever we open these texts, so I must confess to some trepidation as we approach these next few weeks. Thankfully it’s God who speaks, and not me! The text will do its own work in all of us.
But what strikes me at the start is how extraordinary Jesus’ interpretation of succession planning really is. In the world, it’s about the transfer of power. Here, Jesus’ form of succession planning is all about self-giving service. His primary act is to wash his disciples’ feet – the task of a servant.
It tells us everything we need to know about how to lead, Jesus-style. This is not some sort of pre-death self-loathing, or tokenistic ritual: (v3) ‘Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.’ Jesus exercises his ‘power’ precisely through humble service. Or, as he says elsewhere: ‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.’ (Mark 10:43)
It is nothing less than a revolution in our understanding of how things really work. It also makes no sense to those who see life through the lens of worldly power. And yet, less than 70 years after Genghis Khan’s death, his great empire split into four; ten years after that, three of those four territories submitted to the rule of a different emperor. But the Kingdom of Jesus continues to grow: 2,000 years and counting. The humble servant triumphs – with a towel around their waist.
Today, let’s give thanks for Jesus’ example. And let’s pray for all Christian leaders, that they might continue to live out the way of Christ – the Christ who loves us all ‘to the end’.