servant leaders

⁴²But Jesus, calling them, said to them: “You know that those who seem to be leaders among the Gentiles dominate them, and their leaders exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it is not to be this way among you. Instead, whoever would become greater shall be your minister; ⁴⁴and whoever will be first among you shall be the servant of all. ⁴⁵So, too, the Son of man has not come so that they would minister to him, but so that he would minister and would give his life as a redemption for many.”

⁴⁵So, too, the Son of man has not come so that they would minister to him, but so that he would minister and would give his life as a redemption for many.”

³not so as to dominate by means of the clerical state, but so as to be formed into a flock from the heart.

¹²And so, after he washed their feet and received his vestments, when he had sat down at table again, he said to them: “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord, and you speak well: for so I am. ¹⁴Therefore, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash the feet of one another. ¹⁵For I have given you an example, so that just as I have done for you, so also should you do.

³⁵I have revealed all things to you, because by laboring in this way, it is necessary to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

²⁶But it must not be so with you. Instead, whoever is greater among you, let him become the lesser. And whoever is the leader, let him become the server.

³Let nothing be done by contention, nor in vain glory. Instead, in humility, let each of you esteem others to be better than himself. ⁴Let each of you not consider anything to be your own, but rather to belong to others. ⁵For this understanding in you was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be seized. ⁷Instead, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and accepting the state of a man. ⁸He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the Cross.

⁷Remember your leaders, who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith you imitate, by observing the goal of their way of life:

²⁶It shall not be this way among you. But whoever will want to be greater among you, let him be your minister.

²⁸Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.

²⁸even as the Son of man has not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a redemption for many.”

¹²And so, after he washed their feet and received his vestments, when he had sat down at table again, he said to them: “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord, and you speak well: for so I am. ¹⁴Therefore, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash the feet of one another. ¹⁵For I have given you an example, so that just as I have done for you, so also should you do. ¹⁶Amen, amen, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, and the apostle is not greater than he who sent him. ¹⁷If you understand this, you shall be blessed if you will do it.