Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet

(John 13:1-17)

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

February 7, 2010

 

I.  Introduction

A.  Please turn to John 13:1. 

While you are turning....  You know, "Humility is a strange thing.  The minute you think you've got it, you've lost it."[1]

The moderator of a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, gave J. Hudson Taylor a flattering introduction.  When the founder of the China Inland Mission stepped into the pulpit, he quietly said, "Dear friends, I am a little servant of an illustrious Master."  The late A. W. Tozer was once presented to a congregation in a similar manner, and his response was, "All I can say is, dear God, forgive him for what he said--and forgive me for enjoying it so much![2]

 

As Howard Hendricks said, "God is not looking for more stars; He's looking for more servants."[3]  Today, we will take a look at the Lord Jesus Christ's example of humble service.

II.  Exposition

A.  Background

1.  Jesus' public ministry is over.

2.  He has begun His private ministry to His disciples (John 13-17)

3.  We are in the upper room in Jerusalem.

4.  John's gospel is different from the other gospels. 

a.  In relating to us the Last Supper, John follows his normal pattern of not covering material that would have been widely known from the other gospels.  John wanted to fill in the gaps in the history. 

b.  This is the reason that John omitted the institution of the Lord's Supper altogether even though he and Peter prepared the supper (Luke 22:8). 

c.  However, John related the incident of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, which none of the other gospels does. 

d.  In setting the scene for us, John emphasized what Jesus knew. 

e.  Jesus must have confided these personal details to His beloved disciple, John. 

f.  Thus, John's gospel is more intimate and revealing.

B.  Exposition: Private Ministry of God, the Son (John 13:1-17:26)--The Last Supper of the Servant King (John 13:1-38)--Jesus washes the disciples' feet (John 13:1-17).

1.  Humility: Jesus and the Father (John 13:1-5)

a.  What Jesus knew (John 13:1-3)

                ^13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.  ² During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God (John 13:1-3).

 

1)  John placed this supper "before the Feast of the Passover," but the other gospels clearly consider the Last Supper to be "Passover" (Matt 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13). 

a)  According to the Mishnah, Galileans considered the day to begin at sunrise, but Judeans considered the day to begin at sunset.[4] 

b)  This means that Passover lambs would be slaughtered in the temple on two days, Thursday, for the Galileans, and Friday, for the Judeans. 

c)  The Passover Seder would have been Thursday night by Galilean reckoning, but Friday night by Judean. 

d)  This enables Jesus to eat the Passover, and yet be crucified at the same time the Passover lambs are being slaughtered.

2)  First, Jesus knew His time had come. 

a)  We were told five times that Jesus' time had not yet come (John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). 

b)  Now, we are told four times that the time had come (John 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1). 

c)  Daniel's great stopwatch had run its course (Dan 9:24-27). 

d)  "Messiah the Prince" had come (Dan 9:26) and been presented to the nation at the Triumphal Entry (Zech 9:9). 

e)  Soon, "the Messiah will be cut off," that is killed (Dan 9:27).

3)  Next, Jesus knew that He was leaving this world to return to the Father.

a)  The time of His glorification was drawing near. 

b)  Even though the cross and the grave were in His path, Jesus longed to return to the Father.  

c)  Although He was leaving this world, Jesus loved His people in this world to the uttermost; He was not leaving because He did not love His own.

4)  Jesus also knew that Satan had already influenced Judas Iscariot to betray Him. 

a)  The Gk. word translated "put" (ballō), which means "throw," is reminiscent of "the flaming arrows of the evil one" thrown at us (Eph 6:16).[5] 

b)  John 13:11 indicates that Jesus already knew who was betraying Him. 

c)  Indeed, Jesus knew the identity of His betrayer in John 6:64, 70-71.

5)  Jesus also knew that the Father had given Him all authority--Jesus said after the Resurrection that "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt 28:19). 

6)  Finally, Jesus knew where He was from and where He was going; He was from God and was going back to God. 

a)  The Gk. phrase translated "to God" is exactly the same as that used in John 1:1, "the Word was with God."[6] 

b)  Jesus humbled Himself while in full awareness of His deity and authority.

b.  What Jesus did (John 13:4-5)

⁴ got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  ⁵ Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded (John 13:4-5).

 

1)  Jesus got up from the dinner. 

a)  According to Luke, Jesus will later rebuke the disciples by referring back to this incident.

b)  The disciples had been arguing:

            And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.  And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.'  But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.  For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves?  Is it not the one who reclines at the table?  But I am among you as the one who serves (Luke 22:25-27).[7]

 

2)  Jesus dressed Himself as a servant. 

a)  Jesus had promised those who are alert and looking for His coming:

Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them (Luke 12:37).

 

b)  All of these actions would have seemed humiliating to the disciples.

3)  Jesus began to wash the disciple's feet. 

a)  Since they wore open sandals, the feet would be soiled while walking. 

b)  Foot washing was so menial a duty that not even Jewish slaves were required to perform it, only Gentile slaves.[8] 

c)  They would be reclining around low tables with their feet facing away from the table. 

d)  Jesus would have gone around the outside washing the disciples' feet.[9]

e)  Jesus acted out the humility that He preached.

2.  Holiness: Jesus and Peter (John 13:6-11)

a.  Peter protests the purification (John 13:6-8a).

⁶ So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?"  ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter."  ^8a Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" (John 13:6-8a).

 

1)  As Jesus came to Peter's feet, Peter protested the Lord Jesus Christ washing his feet. 

a)  It seemed scandalously inappropriate to Peter for his Master to do such a humiliating thing. 

b)  The words "you" and "my" are emphatic in this sentence.[10]

2)  Jesus tried to assure Peter that, though he did not yet understand the significance of this act, he would understand later. 

a)  The words "I" and "you" are emphatic in this sentence.[11] 

b)  Ironside asked:

When would Peter really enter into the meaning of this and understand what it meant for Jesus to wash his feet?  It was after he fell into the muck and mire of sin, after he, because of cowardice, denied his Lord and declared that he never knew the Man.  Then it was that Jesus sought him and applied the water of the Word to Peter's denied feet, and made him fit once more to walk in fellowship with the Lord.[12]

 

3)  Peter emphatically stated that he would never allow Jesus to wash his feet. 

a)  The word "never" translates two Gk. phrases. 

i)  The first is a double negative.

ii)  The second means "forever."[13] 

b)  The word "my" is emphatic.[14]

b.  Jesus clarifies the necessity of cleansing (John 8b-11).

^8b Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."  ⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head."  ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."  ¹¹ For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean" (John 13:8b-11).

 

1)  Jesus explained to Peter that this cleansing was necessary to share in fellowship with Him. 

a)  Note that our Lord said, "no part with Me," not "no part in Me!" 

b)  Barclay translates, "'If I do not wash you,' Jesus answered, 'you can never be my partner'" (Barclay). 

c)  Peterson paraphrases, "If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing" (The Message).

2)  Peter impulsively changed his position completely and asked to be thoroughly washed.

3)  Jesus explained that, if one had bathed previously, the washing of the feet was all that was required to restore him or her to complete cleanliness. 

a)  On one level, Jesus was referring to the ceremonial bath, the mikvah, which they would already have taken in preparation for the feast (John 11:55).[15] 

i)  The Gk. word translated "bathed," which means "to use water to cleanse a body of physical impurity, wash, as a rule of the whole body, bathe," is different from the word that has been translated "wash." 

ii)  In addition, the Gk. verb translated "bathed" is in the perfect tense, which describes completed action.[16] 

b)  On another level, this is a picture of being spiritually clean. 

i)  Paul reminded Titus that "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). 

ii)  John will later write:

If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin....  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7, 9). 

iii)  Ironside explains that "when a Christian fails and becomes defiled in thought or deed or word, he does not thereby cease to be a Christian ... but he simply needs to have his feet washed.  He needs to have his walk cleansed.[17]

iv)  The believer is forever cleansed; however, our moment-by-moment fellowship with God depends on being continually cleansed from sin. 

4)  Then Jesus enigmatically said that they were clean, but not all of them. 

a)  The Gk. word translated "you" is plural. 

b)  One of them had never experienced the cleansing of salvation.

c)  John explained that Jesus was referring to Judas Iscariot, His betrayer. 

d)  Mark records that Judas had already made an agreement with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus:

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.  They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money.  And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time (Mark 14:10-11).

 

e)  John is increasingly foreshadowing events that will soon come to a climax with Judas' betrayal.

3.  Happiness: Jesus and the disciples (John 13:12-17)

a.  Obligation of humble service (John 13:12-14)

                ¹² So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?  ¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.  ¹⁴ If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:12-14).

 

1)  When Jesus had finished washing their feet and had returned to the table, He asked if they understood what He had done. 

a)  We see echoes of this action in later Christian thought.

b)  Paul wrote that we should

do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:3-11).

 

2)  Jesus stated that they rightly called Him Teacher and Lord.

3)  Jesus explained that, since He is their Teacher and Lord and had washed their feet, He had established an obligation for them to wash one another's feet. 

a)  Paul said of widows who had helped fellow Christians and had a "reputation for good works" that they had "washed the saints' feet" (1 Tim 5:10). 

b)  This phrase was evidently used for humble Christian service.[18] 

c)  This is a first-class condition, i.e., if-and-it-is-the-case.  Jesus Christ is, in fact, our Teacher and our Lord. 

d)  If He is your Teacher, learn from Him; if He is your Lord, obey Him.

b.  Example of humble service (John 13:15-16)

¹⁵ "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.  ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him" (John 13:15-16).

 

1)  Jesus has set us an example to follow. 

a)  The Gk. word translated "example" means "an example of behavior used for purposes of moral instruction, example, model, pattern."[19] 

b)  Barclay translates this, "for I have given you an example to teach you to treat others as I have treated you" (Barclay).

2)  Jesus solemnly reminds them that neither is a slave greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than his sender. 

a)  The phrase, "truly, truly" (Gk. amēn, amēn) marks a solemn pronouncement. 

b)  We are not greater than Christ. 

c)  Therefore, since He took on the role of a servant, how do we think that we will avoid it?

c.  Benefit of humble service (John 13:17)

¹⁷ "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them" (John 13:17). 

 

1)  Jesus said that, since they knew about the obligation to follow His example of humble service, they would be blessed only if they did so. 

a)  The first "if" is a first-class condition, i.e., if-and-it-is-the-case.[20] 

b)  This has been translated, "Now that you know these things" (NIV, NLT, see also NJB). 

c)  The Gk. word translated "blessed" means "characterized by transcendent happiness or religious joy blessed, happy."[21] 

d)  Jesus taught that true happiness comes by humble service to others, of which He is the ultimate example.

II.  Applications

A.  What this says about Jesus Christ ...

1.  Jesus humbled Himself while in full awareness of His deity and authority.

2.  Jesus is the ultimate example of humility.

B.  What this says to us ...

1.  The believer is forever cleansed; however, our moment-by-moment fellowship with God depends on being continually cleansed from sin.

2.  Jesus taught that true happiness comes by humble service to others.

3.  The order is humility, holiness, and happiness in humble service.