“The Chosen” is a wildly popular television show based on the Gospels. It uses some artistic license — that is to say, it adds details and scenarios and characters — but without contradicting Scripture. One of my favorite scenes from the show is in season 2, episode 3. Jesus returns to camp from a day of healing and He, in His humanity, is absolutely exhausted. The disciples are sitting around a campfire having a discussion that has spiraled into an argument. Then Jesus straggles in, bids His followers goodnight, and heads to His tent. Everyone is immediately silenced upon seeing the Master so bedraggled. 

In this speculative account, Jesus’ mother Mary is present at the campsite. When He shuffles to His tent, Mary approaches Jesus, bends down and removes His sandals. She pours water on a cloth and washes His feet, wipes His hands clean of the blood of the injured and sick, and mops His brow of the sweat beading across it. It’s a tender demonstration of a mother’s service to her son. Moments before, Mary expressed how Jesus needed her when He was a child, but didn’t need her anymore. Here, she is given one more opportunity to serve Him. Yes, it’s a fictional encounter, but even so, it’s beautiful to watch. 

Imagine being given the opportunity to serve the Master Himself! To soothe His brow, to clean His tired feet! It may seem as though such an opportunity could never be ours, but it can—by proxy. Jesus Himself told us that when we serve “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” (Matthew 25:40 NIV), we are serving Him. 

We have a strong sense of serving Jesus when we go to a nursing home and distribute Easter gifts. Or when we give toys to families in need at Christmas time. Or when we offer a meal to an unhoused person. We remember what Jesus taught in Matthew 25 about those with critical, desperate needs and we feel a surge of goodness when we do as Jesus directed. But the story from “The Chosen” reminds me of another kind of service—a sort of spontaneous service that isn’t only for the indigent or incarcerated. This service comes from the heart of a person who is always alert to need, no matter how big or small. Mary demonstrates that by sponging the concerns of the day from Jesus’ skin. 

There are a number of benefits to serving other people, whether in large, Matthew 25 ways or smaller, Romans 12:10 ways. Here are a few: 

Serving others puts your own needs in perspective. We put our needs to the side for the moment when we serve others. In doing so, we often realize that our needs aren’t so urgent after all. We may even realize that some of our needs are really just wants. 

Service honors God by honoring someone He created. Every human being has been made in God’s image. We demonstrate respect for God’s careful crafting of an individual life every time we serve someone. We acknowledge before God that His handiwork is good. 

Service extends dignity to those who have forgotten their worth. When we serve with godly motivation, we give no thought to power or position. A serving heart ministers to the unhoused as readily as to the rich. Those who have been overlooked or made to feel undeserving of kindness can feel the warmth of respect and remember they are created by God. And those who may feel that they are only seen for their wealth or position may understand that they have intrinsic value. 

Service is an exercise in humility. Scripture tells us to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 ESV). When we serve others, we prioritize them. This is the kind of selflessness Christ would have us demonstrate — not only for the sake of those we serve, but also to free us from our own arrogance. 

Christ modeled service. Christ’s very departure from Heaven was an act of humble service (Philippians 2:6-8). While on earth, He healed and preached and fed the masses, traveling the countryside without a home to call His own. His whole life was about service, culminating in the ultimate act of service. We have no greater goal in life than to imitate Christ. 

Fortunately, opportunities to serve are all around us all the time. Strangers, coworkers, fellow worshipers at church, friends, family — everyone we encounter provides an opportunity to serve in one way or another. Listen to a lonely person’s reminiscences. Do the dishes when it’s not your turn. Buy lunch for your boss! Watch cartoons with your child and laugh with them, even though you could be watching your favorite sports team. Send financial support overseas. That single mom with the wild children who started coming to (and disrupting) church? Have her — and her children! — over for Sunday lunch. 

The thing I love about the scene from “The Chosen” is that it demonstrates that Jesus was willing to serve even after the others got tired and retreated to a nice campfire. For Jesus, the needs of others took precedence over personal comfort. What a wonderful, healthy habit it would be to regularly look to the needs of others before withdrawing to our couches, our televisions, our video games — our soft, self-pleasing spaces. There is a time for all of that. But according to our Savior’s example, it comes after service.