Oct 15
11
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:23–24
“And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” (Ezekiel 34:23–24, ESV)
New Testament Reading: John 13:1-20
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’ When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.’” (John 13:1–20, ESV)
Introduction
John13:1 introduces a new section in the Gospel of John. Chapters 11 and 12 built up to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and to Jesus’ interaction with the multitudes who had welcomed him with the words, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’” (John 12:13, ESV)
Here in chapter 13 we see the focus shift to the interaction between Jesus and his disciples. Even a quick look at chapters 13-17 reveals that they are focused upon Jesus’ interaction with his disciples from the time of the celebration of the Passover feast to his betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had much to say to his disciples in those hours.
13:1 introduces this beautiful, and wonderfully intimate, section by saying, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1, ESV) What follows, then, is a demonstration of this very thing – that is, Jesus loving “his own… to the end”.
The word end has a twofold significance. It means that Jesus loved those who were his – his true disciples; the elect – up to the final moment. But, perhaps more importantly, it also means that he loved them to the full. He loved them in a complete way. It was, to quote Ridderbos, “love to it’s last breath and love in it’s highest intensity.” Chapters 13-17 tell us about that. It isn’t until 18:1 that we read: “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.” (John 18:1, ESV) 18:1 marks another transition where Christ, having invested intensely into his disciples, begins to suffer at the hands of his enemies.
I say all of this in order to draw your attention to the fact that we are entering a very unique section in John’s Gospel. We are given a glimpse into the interaction that Jesus had with his disciples in the moments leading up to his arrest, trial, and death. We see Jesus, from chapter 13 through 17, preparing his disciples for his departure. School is in session, we might say. The words are intimate. The lessons are powerful and potent. It is no wonder, then, that many of the most beloved portions of John’s Gospel are found here in these chapters.
That being said, it is important to notice how it is that John introduces this section. He does so by telling a story – the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. May I suggest to you that this story is told in order to set the tone for what is to come. School is in session. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure. Everything is intense, powerful, and potent. And this story sets the tone for it all. Jesus is putting the finishing touches on his disciples, if you will. He is preparing them to live the Christian life as he desires them to live it. He has been training them for some time now, but it is the last hour. You know how this goes. Think back to your days in school. You study all semester long, but the night before the big exam is that night that you cram. John 13-17 reminds me a bit of that. Jesus is preparing his disciples, in an intense way, for the challenges that the future will bring. And he begins the session by washing their feet.
Two truths, which are basic and fundamental to the Christian life, emerge as we consider the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The first is this: We cannot walk with Jesus, nor can we benefit from him, unless we allow him to first serve us. And the second principle is this: Once we have allow Jesus to serve us, then we too are to go on serving one another.
We Cannot Walk With Jesus, Nor Can We Benefit From Him, Unless We Allow Him To First Serve Us
Let us consider the first point together: This story makes it abundantly clear that it is impossible to walk with Jesus, or to benefit from him, if we do not allow him to, first of all, serve us.
The scene is set when we are told that Jesus was, yet again, celebrating Passover with his disciples. This is significant given that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We know that the Passover, as it was celebrated by the Jews in remembrance of the Exodus event, pointed forward to the coming of the Christ. In other words, Jesus was the fulfillment of the Passover feast. It was, in many respects, a picture of him. But it is interesting how little John makes of this fact. There are theories as to why John seems to downplay the Passover. Could it be because the other Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – have already adequately emphasized Jesus as the fulfillment of the Passover? It is in the other Gospels that we learn of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper at the last Passover. This clearly communicates that Jesus had fulfilled and advanced that which the Passover signified. Notice that John does not mention the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Or could it be that John felt he had already introduced and developed the Passover theme in a sufficient way earlier in his Gospel, and so he leaves it to the reader to work out the connection? Or perhaps, given that he was writing a relatively late date (85-90 A.D.), John knew that it was common knowledge amongst Christians that Jesus was the fulfillment to the Passover.
It’s difficult to know for sure. The thing to recognize is that he chooses to passover the significance of the Passover and to emphasize the foot washing instead (something the other Gospels tell us little about; see Luke 22:24-26). And that is the thing to be noticed. John downplays the Passover in order to emphasize Jesus’ washing of the disciples feet.
We are simply told that Jesus, being fully aware of the significance of the moment, and the fact that (verse 3) “…the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:3–5, ESV)
You and I know this story well, and so it is possible that it has grown common to us. I hope not. It is meant to surprise. To think of Jesus setting aside his outer garments and taking upon himself the garb of a servant – to think of him humbling himself in this way, washing the dirty feet of his lowly disciples – should surprise us. It should be especially surprising to us given all that we have learned of him in the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God”; “I am the light of the world”, Jesus says; “I am the bread of life”; “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me”; “Before Abraham was, I Am”. It was this one – the eternal Son of God come in the flesh – who rose from the table, clothed himself with the garb of a servant, and began to wash the filth from the feet of his lowly disciples. This should surprise us.
It surprised Peter. As Jesus made his way around the table he came to Peter. I would imagine that most of the men were thinking the same thing, but it was Peter who spoke, saying, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” (John 13:6, ESV) It was a reasonable question, don’t you agree? This act seemed out of place, backwards, and upside down. But Jesus replied, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” (John 13:7, ESV) Peter should have taken the warning, but instead he doubled down saying, “You shall never wash my feet.” And to that Jesus responded more firmly, saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8, ESV) And then Peter, true to character, overreached yet again but in the opposite direction, saying, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:9, ESV) And again the Lord offered a corrective to Peter’s impulsiveness saying, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” (John 13:10, ESV)
What is the meaning of this exchange between Jesus and Peter? What does it reveal?
The thing it reveals – and this is certainly the main point of it all – is what has already been said. We are reminded that we cannot walk with Jesus, nor can we benefit from him, unless we allow him to serve us.
At first glance we might see Peter’s refusal to allow Christ to wash his feet as a good and humble thing. Lord, who am I to have someone as great as you stoop down to serve me in this way? There is a sense in which Peter was right to object. This indeed seemed to be a backwards and upside down act. Peter should have been washing Jesus’ feet, and not the other way around.
But this act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples was meant to demonstrate an all important principle. It illustrated the fact that Christ came to serve us. And it pointed powerfully to the reality that we stand in need of his service.
Jesus rose from the table, girded himself with the garb of servant , and began to wash in order to teach his disciples a lesson. And the first point of the lesson was this: he came to serve! And if we refuse his service, we have nothing to do with him – he benefits us nothing at all!
Matthew 20:25 puts it this way:
“But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Matthew 20:25–28, ESV)
Here is a difference between true and false religion. False religion promotes, first and foremost, the service of God, but refuses to be served by him. True religion, on the other hand – the Christian religion – begins with being served by God. And only after having been served by him – cleansed by him – does it proceed to the service of God. This may seem insignificant at first glance, but it is in fact the difference between true and false religion. False religions says, I will serve God and thus earn my place before him. True religion says, God I have nothing to give. Have mercy upon me, Lord!
The true Christian sings from the heart the words found in the old hymn, Rock of Ages:
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.”
Peter’s refusal to allow Christ to wash him at first seems reasonable, humble, and altruistic, but in the end it sets him at odds with Jesus. “If I do not wash you [Jesus says], you have no share with me”. In other words, our whole relationship is predicated upon me washing you; It starts with me serving you, Peter. We must begin there! “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me”.
Peter’s response to this is true to character. He said, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:9, ESV) At least now Peter understands the symbolism of the washing. But he overcorrects saying, if that it was it takes Lord, then wash me head to toe.
This is a bit of a side note, but it is worth saying. As a rule of thumb it is best to remain silent when you do not understand something. Questions are good. But when we speak to something before we understand it, we tend to look foolish. Proverbs 17:28 puts it nicely, saying, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” (Proverbs 17:28, ESV)
But it was this statement from Peter, misinformed as it was, that provided an opportunity for Jesus to elaborate upon the symbolism of the foot washing. He replied to Peter, saying, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” (John 13:10, ESV)
It becomes clear, then, that the thing symbolized by the washing is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus refused to wash Peter (and the others) from head to toe because they had already been cleansed. In other words, they had already been forgiven; their sins had already been washed away; they had already been justified because they had already believed upon Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus insisted that “the one who has bathed does not need to wash… but is completely clean. And you are clean…”
A bath was not needed. What was needed is for their feet to be washed. They had bathed in the morning, perhaps. And now, after walking through the dusty streets all day in their sandals, it was necessary to have their feet washed as they reclined at table to celebrate the supper.
As it is with bathing and the washing of feet, so it is with the Christian life. We are washed completely in the moment we believe upon Christ. Our sins are washed away – all of them. We are forgiven; we are justified; we are declared “not guilty” by God Almighty on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection. “Though your sins [were] like scarlet, they…[are] white as snow; though they [were] red like crimson, they [have] become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, ESV) This is true and real and cannot be undone. But as we walk in this world we find that our feet our dirtied. And here is why we are to come to Christ regularly to confess our sins to him from the heart, and to turn from them. This is why we give time for the confession of sin and the assurance of pardon each and every Lord’s Day. The regular confession of sin from the heart is a key component of the Christian life. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8–9, ESV) This is one thing that the foot washing symbolizes.
But the main point should not be forgotten. We cannot walk with Jesus, nor can we benefit from him, unless we allow him to first serve us.
Let us turn our attention for a moment from Jesus’ interaction with Peter, to what is said about the other prominent figure in this text, whose name is Judas.
Have you noticed that Judas is mentioned a lot in John’s Gospel? This is significant especially when you consider that little to nothing is said about many of the other disciples of Jesus. But Judas is mentioned time and again!
Notice that it is often emphasized how Jesus was aware of Judas’ wickedness all along. This is especially important given that John has emphasized time and again that Jesus came to save his sheep, that he knows his sheep and they know him, and that he has lost none of those given to him by the Father from before the foundation of the world. This is a repeated theme in John’s Gospel. All is well and good concerning this until you think of Judas. What about Judas? we say. How could it be that Judas betrayed Christ if it is true that Jesus lost none of those who were his. This is why we are told time and time again that Jesus knew of Judas’ wicked heart from the beginning. Here we read, “‘And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’” (John 13:10–11, ESV) Jesus did not loose Judas given that Judas never belonged to Jesus. He was never “clean” as the others were. Judas belonged to Christ externally, but not internally and from the heart. He was not found and then lost, saved and then unsaved, but rather lost and unclean all along. This is why Jesus says in verse 17 “…I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.” (John 13:17–19, ESV)
I want you to notice two things about Judas before we move on.
First of all, remember that he was worldly. He was fleshly. He followed Jesus so long as he thought there was a chance that it would benefit him in this world. He was in love with money. It would seem that he, like the other unbelieving Jews, was looking for a Messiah that would establish an earthly kingdom and reign forever. And it would also seem that as it became more and more clear that Jesus was not interested in this kind of kingdom, his heart grew more and more cold to Jesus, leading to his act of betrayal. I cannot help but think that the act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples helped to seal the deal for Judas. We know that there was a spiritual struggle going on. We read in 13:27 that, “after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’” (John 13:27, ESV) The spiritual struggle was real, I’m not denying that. But you can imagine the battle that raged within the heart of Judas as he watched Jesus clothe himself in the garb of a servant and proceed to wash the feet of his disciples in such a lowly way. I think Judas looked upon Jesus with disdain. I imagine him looking down upon Jesus thinking to himself, what a pitiful thing this is! What kind of Messiah is this? Peter, after he came to understand the significance of the washing, was eager to be washed! But in contrast it would seem that it was the washing which helped to seal the deal for Judas. He evidently had no appetite for a lowly, humble, and servile Messiah such as this. He had this in common with the unbelieving multitudes who were ill-prepared to receive a Christ who was a humble servant in fulfillment to Isaiah 53.
Secondly, I want you to notice that Judas, though his heart was far from Jesus, and though he in fact disbelieved, still identified with Jesus externally. He had walked with him for years. His feet were washed by him! He would eat the meal with him! But it benefited him nothing, because his heart was far from him. This should serve as a warning to you and I as we identify with Jesus today in an external way. May we also identify with hm from the heart. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12–13, ESV)
Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk with Jesus, nor can we benefit from him, unless we allow him to serve us. And we must allow him to serve us with a heart full of faith. An external show of religion will do us no good. We must trust in him from the heart if we are to be cleansed by him.
Having Been Served By Jesus, We Must Then Go On To Serve One Another
Let us now briefly consider the second truth revealed in this story. The second truth is this: having been served by Jesus, we must then go on to serve one another. This is the way of the Christian. The Christian – once he has been cleansed by Jesus, having received, by faith, the forgiveness earned by him through his death and resurrection – is to go on living a life marked by the selfless service of others. Christ has served us, and we are likewise to serve one another.
In 13:12 we read:
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’” (John 13:12–17, ESV)
Notice that a blessing is pronounced upon those who know these things and do them? Do you want to be blessed in this life – blessed in your marriage, blessed in your parenting, blessed in the church, blessed in all things? Then know and do what is said here. Wash one another’s feet.
Some Christian’s have taken this literally and have, as a part of their liturgy, the practice of foot washing. This seems to me to be a misunderstanding of the text. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in order to symbolize the way in which he came to serve in the whole of life in general, and particularly through the cross. In the same way we are exhorted, not to wash one another feet in ceremonial fashion, but to apply the principle to the whole of life. We are to wash one another feet, figuratively speaking.
Brothers and sisters, we are to serve one another. We are to serve one another even it that means engaging in the most lowly and humble of tasks. This is the kind of love that Christians are to have for one another. Listen to how John speaks of this in his brief letter:
1 John 3:11: “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11, ESV)
3:23: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” (1 John 3:23, ESV)
4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7, ESV)
4:11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11, ESV)
4:12: “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12, ESV)
The point is this: Those who have been served by Christ – those who know what it is to be loved by Christ, ought to extend that same kind of love to their brother and sister in Christ, and even to their neighbors.
Pride is the thing that hinders this. The proud person thinks to himself, I am better the him, or I am better then her. The proud person reasons within herself, that job is to low for me; I am certainly above it.
The remedy to this deadly disease called pride is to reflect deeply upon the cross of Christ and God’s great love for us. He did not die for us because we were high and nobel and worthy, but because we were lowly and in great need. And consider who it is that has served us! God himself! The second person of the Trinity has humbled himself in order to meet our great need. If God has loved us in this way, how could we possibly withhold this kind of love from one another? If Christ stooped down to serve us in this way, how could we possibly refuse to serve a brother or sister who is our equal.
Conclusion
It would seem to me that Paul had all of this in mind when wrote to the Philippians, saying,
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8, ESV)
This was the mindset of Christ towards us, and it is to be the mindset of every Christian. Brothers and sisters, having been loved by God in Christ Jesus, and having been served by him in such a magnificent way, let us love and serve one another to the end.
