At various points throughout our study of the Gospel of John, we have assumed a connection between the suffering of Jesus and our own suffering. Is this a safe assumption to make? Jesus’ suffering is redemptive in a way that ours is not, so that no amount suffering we endure can save us or anyone around us. If this is the case, then how can we see any connection between Jesus’ experiences and our own? Can we legitimately argue from the fact that Jesus’ glory is revealed in his suffering to make the case that his glory will also be revealed in us through our own suffering? What glory does the Master retain, and what does he share with his servants?

As Jesus enjoys his final meal with his disciples in John 13:1–20, our Lord begins to make these connections clearer when he passes on his pattern of servanthood to his disciples. In this passage, Jesus serves his disciples as yet one more form of his humiliation and suffering. Then, he tells them to follow his example by serving just as he has served. Ultimately, no one could ever replicate the glorious, redemptive, suffering servanthood of Jesus, but Jesus calls all of us to imitate it. The suffering servanthood of Jesus connects to our own suffering in this way: Jesus takes the form of a servant to save and to send.