The First Last Supper and the Ultimate Hospitable Leader
At the Last Supper, Jesus demonstrated a blend of hospitality and leadership that is breathtaking. He created an environment where He modeled leadership at its very best, and led a leadership discussion that empowered His followers to change the world forever.
It began when He ensured the preparation of the physical space where the Last Supper was to be held. Luke puts it like this in his gospel:
Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”
This provision is often overlooked in the story of the Last Supper. And in discussions about leadership. Jesus ensured that His last dinner with His disciples would be held in a hospitable environment. He made certain that the room was large enough and adequately furnished. He instructed Peter and John to make preparations for the Passover dinner in that space—no doubt a meticulous and time-consuming task. A lamb slain. Wine purchased. A table set for twelve plus one.
When His guests arrived, Jesus set the spiritual climate in a way that reflected the importance of this dinner.
John said, in his gospel, that in this moment, Jesus showed the “full extent of his love.” The air must have been heavy with emotion. I don’t know what He said to convey that much passion, but He didn’t need to say much. The atmosphere was thick with love.
Then, in the greatest act of servant leadership ever recorded, “he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
He assumed the position of the lowest of servants.
He did what perhaps someone else in the room should have offered to do.
He washed the dirty feet of His followers.
I love the words that precede this act: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” I like to say, and will say, that hospitable leadership at its zenith is a state of being. It flows out of who we are. Jesus could serve His followers in this way because He knew who He was. And because He knew who He was, He could selflessly show them how much He cared for them.
“Hospitable leadership at its zenith is a state of being.
It flows out of who we are.”
You have to imagine that His disciples hung on every word Jesus uttered in that environment. As they ate and drank, and then finally walked together to Gethsemane on that fateful night, Jesus gave a leadership talk for the ages.
He cast vision for their shared future. He engaged in the most extreme team building, commanding them to love one another, even to the point of laying down their lives for each other. He prayed passionately for unity. He gave them buy-in, if you please, to His Father’s business, saying, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” He established expectations and let them know He would be measuring results: “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” He expected them to produce!
All this leadership activity happened in the context of hospitality.
“You can’t practice servant leadership unless you have welcomed people in.”
Hospitable leaders create space physically, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally where all other forms of moral leadership can be employed.
How have you created a welcoming environment for the people you lead? Was there a time when you were shown hospitable leadership? Drop a comment and tell us about it.
Adapted from The Hospitable Leader (Baker Publishing Group) by Terry A. Smith. All rights reserved.
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