Servant-Leadership in the Gospel according to John 13:1-17
INTRODUCTION
Leadership is an essential ingredient in social entrepreneurship. It entails
envisioning the future, taking initiatives, clarifying goals, believing in people, providing
opportunities for learning and growth, building up others through encouragement and
affirmation, modeling appropriate behavior, shares leadership to people, and many more
(Laub, 1999). Without leadership, it is assumed that a particular social entrepreneurial
venture will only be a failure, a waste of time and resources, and more so, provides false
hopes on people aspiring to be alleviated from their unpleasant condition. In the pre-digital
era, a certain theory of leadership had risen and become the subject of interest in different
disciplines and institutions. It was servant-leadership, that of Robert K. Greenleaf. It had
remained sternly popular even up to mid-digital age, the very period where we are in now.
Greenleaf was recognized by many as the person who first popularized the theory of
servant-leadership for our time with the publication of his classic essay, The Servant as
Leader.
Greenleaf may have been accorded with such honor as the person who laboriously
asserted the theory of servant-leadership in the pre-digital period, but a lot of people had
thought that the very idea behind servant-leadership was primordial. That it goes back to
more or less two thousand years, and something that may have been well thought out ahead
by the existing faith traditions then. One of these perhaps was Christianity. Many were
thinking that through its Sacred Scriptures, the Christian idea of servant-leadership have
already been known and presented to the world by Christ, the leader of the perceived
revolutionary cultic group for a time, which was branded at the start as the “New Way” in
the Jewish society and religion more than two thousand years ago, and whose members
were later called as “Christians.” Accordingly, Christ clearly and authoritatively taught his
concept of servant-leadership among his socially and culturally persecuted followers
through purposeful utterances. It was allegedly one of the most important life-ethos that
his early followers had heard from him. It seemed that it was a moral concept that Christ
had all his believers follow up to these days.
The researchers, at this juncture, would like to give focus on the Gospel according
to John, chapter 13, verses 1 to17, one of those popular biblical references from the New
Testament Gospels that are being acknowledged as embedded with servant-leadership
principles. So, this research is primarily to investigate if John 13:1-17 truly embodies or
possesses a hint of servant-leadership principles. It will be a challenging task, for this will
either prove or disprove the general proposition that: the theory of servant-leadership of
Greenleaf was influenced by the ancient principles of servant-leadership, particularly of
Christianity. Or this may be an amazing experience, for this may discover the underlying
principles of this biblical reference that are in collusion with Greenleaf’s servant-leadership
theoretical underpinnings.
In this context, this research has the following objectives: (1) determine the content
of John 13:1-17, in terms of the issues, facts, and figures that surround it, and the manner
of presentation; (2) analyze the context by considering the culture, situation, setting,
prevailing ideology, people involved, and the intentions behind the contents of the said
biblical reference; (3) identify the underlying principles of John 13:1-17 that are in
collusion with the theoretical underpinnings of Greenleaf’s servant-leadership; and expose
the relevancy of the primary leadership principles embedded in John 13:1-17 in social
entrepreneurship.
The proponents of this research used biblical hermeneutics with its three-world
approach and several biblical criticisms to help in drawing out the major principles within
the text of John 13:1-17 that may be found in collusion with Greenleaf’s principles of
servant-leadership upon reflective discernment. The three-world approach considered here
were the three essential components of the hermeneutical process. These are the following:
world of the text (text-centered approach, which relates to the literary elements of text);
world behind the text (author centered approach, which is comprised of the social, political,
cultural and ideological aspects from the author’s world and his intent); and world before
the text (reader-centered approach, where the reader brings his or her perspective to the
text) (Paron, 2013).
Several biblical criticisms were also used in order to draw out the real meaning of
the text being studied. They are as follows: form criticism (concerns about the literary type
and features of the text); narrative criticism (considers elements, such as the author’s
purpose in the narrative, plot development, conflict, foreshadowing of future
developments, themes, character development, and so on); philological criticism (studies
the biblical languages for an accurate knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and style of the
period); historical criticism (focuses on geographical, social, economic, political, cultural,
and religious factors impacting on a text); and source criticism (attempts to uncover the
sources of ancient texts of the Bible) (Brisbane Catholic Education, 2018).
The researchers compounded the essential components of the hermeneutical
process with the specified critical methods of biblical interpretation. A method of
interpreting the text of John 13:1-17 was used, which is the historical-grammatical nature
of interpretation. Upon observing the hermeneutical rules and going through the whole
hermeneutical process that is reflective of the three-world approach, varied principles,
issues, and themes surfaced that altogether comprised the meaning of the biblical reference.
The meaning of the biblical text, through its identified principles, issues, and
themes, was then tested on whether or not they are in collusion with the theoretical
principles considered by Greenleaf’s in his theory of servant-leadership.
The World of the Text
The text itself
The biblical reference, John 13:1-17, is a popular gospel narrative known as the
Washing of the Disciples’ Feet. Here is the complete Greek, English, and Filipino text of
the said biblical narrative., using the interlinear Bible of Bible Hub, New American Bible
Revised Edition, a Catholic translation of the Sacred Scriptures.
Greek Translation
(Parallel Greek, Bible Hub)
Πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς τοῦ πάσχα εἰδὼς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ἡ ὥρα ἵνα
μεταβῇ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, ἀγαπήσας τοὺς ἰδίους τοὺς
ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, εἰς τέλος ἠγάπησεν αὐτούς. καὶ δείπνου γινομένου, τοῦ
διαβόλου ἤδη βεβληκότος εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἵνα παραδοῖ αὐτὸν Ἰούδας
Σίμωνος Ἰσκαριώτου, εἰδὼς ὅτι πάντα ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Πατὴρ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας,
καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἐξῆλθεν καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑπάγει, ἐγείρεται ἐκ τοῦ
δείπνου καὶ τίθησιν τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ λαβὼν λέντιον διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν· εἶτα
βάλλει ὕδωρ εἰς τὸν νιπτῆρα, καὶ ἤρξατο νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν
καὶ ἐκμάσσειν τῷ λεντίῳ ᾧ ἦν διεζωσμένος. Ἔρχεται οὖν πρὸς Σίμωνα
Πέτρον· λέγει αὐτῷ “Κύριε, σύ μου νίπτεις τοὺς πόδας;” Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ “Ὃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ σὺ οὐκ οἶδας ἄρτι, γνώσῃ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα.”
Λέγει αὐτῷ Πέτρος “Οὐ μὴ νίψῃς μου τοὺς πόδας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.” Ἀπεκρίθη
Ἰησοῦς αὐτῷ “Ἐὰν μὴ νίψω σε, οὐκ ἔχεις μέρος μετ’ ἐμοῦ.” Λέγει αὐτῷ
Σίμων Πέτρος “Κύριε, μὴ τοὺς πόδας μου μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ
τὴν κεφαλήν.” Λέγει αὐτῷ ‹ὁ› Ἰησοῦς “Ὁ λελουμένος οὐκ ἔχει χρείαν εἰ μὴ
τοὺς πόδας νίψασθαι, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν καθαρὸς ὅλος· καὶ ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε,
ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ πάντες.” ᾔδει γὰρ τὸν παραδιδόντα αὐτόν· διὰ τοῦτο εἶπεν ὅτι
“Οὐχὶ πάντες καθαροί ἐστε.” Ὅτε οὖν ἔνιψεν τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν καὶ ἔλαβεν
τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνέπεσεν πάλιν, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς “Γινώσκετε τί πεποίηκα
ὑμῖν; ὑμεῖς φωνεῖτέ με Ὁ Διδάσκαλος καὶ ὁ Κύριος, καὶ καλῶς λέγετε· εἰμὶ
γάρ. εἰ οὖν ἐγὼ ἔνιψα ὑμῶν τοὺς πόδας ὁ Κύριος καὶ ὁ Διδάσκαλος, καὶ
ὑμεῖς ὀφείλετε ἀλλήλων νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας· ὑπόδειγμα γὰρ ἔδωκα ὑμῖν ἵνα
καθὼς ἐγὼ ἐποίησα ὑμῖν καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιῆτε. ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἔστιν
δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος
αὐτόν. εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε αὐτά.
English Translation
(New American Bible Revised Edition)
1 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass
from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved
them to the end. 2 The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the
Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, 3 fully aware that the Father
had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was
returning to God, 4 he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He
took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a
basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel
around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are
you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am
doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” 8 Peter
said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I
wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to
him, “Master, then not only my feet but my hands and head as well.” 10
Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet
washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” 11 For he
knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are
clean.” 12 So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on
and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have
done for you? 13 You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for
indeed I am. 14 If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your
feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 I have given you a model to
follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do. 16 Amen, amen,
I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater
than the one who sent him. 17 If you understand this, blessed are you if you
do it. Filipino Translation
(Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version (FSV))
Bago sumapit ang pista ng Paskuwa, alam ni Jesus na dumating na ang
kanyang oras upang iwan na ang mundong ito at magpunta sa Ama. Dahil
mahal niya ang kanyang mga tagasunod na nasa sanlibutan, minahal niya
sila hanggang sa katapusan. 2 Bago pa man ang hapunan, naipasok na ng
diyablo sa puso ni Judas, anak ni Simon Iscariote, na ipagkanulo si Jesus. 3
Alam ni Jesus na ibinigay na sa Kanya ng Ama ang lahat ng bagay at siya
ay nagmula sa Diyos at papunta sa Diyos. 4 Tumayo siya pagkahapunan at
naghubad ng kanyang panlabas na damit, at nagbigkis ng tuwalya. 5
Pagkatapos ay naglagay siya ng tubig sa palanggana at sinimulan niyang
hugasan ang mga paa ng mga alagad at punasan ang mga ito gamit ang
tuwalyang nakabigkis sa kanya. 6 Pagdating niya kay Simon Pedro ay
nagsabi ito sa kanya, “Panginoon, kayo ba ang maghuhugas ng mga paa
ko?” 7 Sumagot si Jesus, “Hindi mo naiintindihan ngayon kung ano ang
