Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

Jesus Washes the Disciples' FeetThe Gospel account of when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet found in John 13:1-11 is a familiar and beautifully moving story. John’s Gospel was the last of the four Gospels to be written and reveals John’s strong emphasis on the divinity of Jesus (John 1:1), but also reveals the humanity of Jesus. This is why John would, early in the Gosspel, declare, “The Word became flesh” (1:14a). The New Testament image of Jesus clearly teaches that the God of the Old Testament has taken on flesh in order to reveal “His glory” (1:14b). What’s surprising is that the God revealed in Jesus is not the God we would normally expect.

Whether we see Jesus as the “Lamb of God” in John 1:29 or the strange “King” who would enter Jerusalem “sitting on a donkey’s colt” on Palm Sunday (12:15), Jesus was not the Messiah the people were expecting. Even today, our inclination is to see Jesus (and God) as something other the servant washing His disciples’ feet. Nonetheless, the story of when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet in John 13:1-7 points to the incarnation of God in Jesus on the one hand and how Jesus died to serve our deepest needs on the other.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

It was the night before His crucifixion and Jesus gathered His disciples for the annual Passover Meal. It was no coincidence that Jesus would die on the Passover. Jesus had planned for this and had managed His time and activities carefully so He would die as the final Passover sacrifice. John makes this clear in verse 1 of chapter 13 when he wrote, “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father.” John connects Jesus’ impending death with the Passover. John then notes that the events to follow were all part of a plan born of love… “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” This verse sets the stage for the last supper and the horrific events of the next day. This would be a Passover sacrifice that revealed the love of God.

Verse 2 heightens the drama by noting that “the Devil had already put it in the heart of Judas… to betray Him.” The ultimate Passover sacrifice was part of the cosmic drama between good and evil; between God and “the Devil.” This dramatic setting was no accident on John’s part. The crucifixion and subsequent resurrection was the apex of history and the biblical story. John wants us to know that all of history had been moving toward this moment in time and this location in the world.

To underscore the significance of this moment, John records what, in some ways, is a summary of Jesus’ entire life… “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God” (v. 3). John is deliberately pointing us toward the dramatic conclusion of Jesus’ entire life and ministry. We should be on the edge of our seats with anticipation at this point.

Verse 4 begins with “So…” Because of where we are in the cosmic drama, because of where we are in the biblical story, because of where Jesus is in the final moments of His earthly life, Jesus now acts. And what does the God of the universe do at this most critical moment in all of history? “He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him” (vv. 4-5).

Did we miss something? Is that it? This is not what anyone would expect from the King of kings on His final evening. Once again, the God Who “became flesh” (1:14) surprises us.

John’s writing often carried layers of meaning and this story is no exception. Jesus’ act is intended to speak to us at multiple levels.

Jesus Becomes the Servant

At one level we see Simon Peter’s reaction to the washing and Jesus’ response. Peter certainly understood that Jesus was assuming a humble, even humiliating, role of servant as He took on the lowly task of washing another’s feet. It was almost in disbelief that Peter asks, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?” (v. 6). Whatever we might say about Peter’s impulsive behavior, he clearly understood that Jesus was the master here, not the servant. Peter may not have felt he should be doing the washing, but he certainly understood that it shouldn’t be Jesus! How could our Master and Teacher become our servant? This simply isn’t how it is supposed to be. And that’s part of the point.

The way we typically do things is not how Jesus, the Messiah, the God of the Old Testament, does things. Jesus turns things upside down. He surprises us. Just as we are expecting Him to do one thing, He does something entirely different. And in this case the different thing is a thing of humility and service.

A few verses later, Jesus explains that this act of service was to be “an example” (v. 15)… “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, 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 for you” (vv. 12b-15).

In the Kingdom of God, things will not operate as in the world. In the Kingdom of God, the “Teacher and Lord” will be a servant. This is a radical departure from how the world thinks, but it underscores the point John made in verse 1… “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” This act of service was an act of love, and in the Kingdom of God, it is love that characterizes the “Teacher and Lord.” This is a common theme for John and is nowhere demonstrated better than here.

This theme of loving service provides the context for all that follows in John’s Gospel. The cross would be the ultimate act of service and love for Jesus. John carefully notes that as Jesus was hanging on the cross, Pilate “had a sign lettered and put on the cross” that read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews” (19:19). The Chief Priests objected, but here again we see the upside down nature of God’s Kingdom. The man being crucified is, in fact, the “King of the Jews.”

“You Are Not All Clean”

At another level, the story symbolizes the presence of Judas, the betrayer, in their midst. When Peter acknowledges his need to be washed, he says, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head” (13:9). We have to admire Peter’s enthusiasm, but Jesus then uses the opportunity to explain that there was betrayal among them… “One who has bathed doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” John then clarifies… “For He knew who would betray Him. This is why He said, ‘You are not all clean’” (13:10-11). Thus, just as an individual may not be entirely clean, so the small band of Jesus’ disciples was “not all clean” (v. 11).

This is important because it points to the reciprocal nature of an individual’s relationship to Jesus. It seems clear from the text that Judas was not excluded from the washing. Judas was shown the same love and received the same sacrificial act of service as the other disciples. For that matter, Judas had shared in virtually all of the events of Jesus’ public ministry. He had listened to the same teaching, heard the same sermons, witnessed the same miracles, and eaten the same meals as the other disciples. Judas had been chosen just as the others and now he had felt the same hands bathe his feet. But Jesus’ love must be received. His voice must be welcomed.

It’s difficult to understand Judas’ betrayal or how a member of the twelve might have known Jesus as he did and still betray Him. It’s clear from this story, however, that, in spite of Jesus’ lavish and unbiased love, the small group was “not all clean” (v. 11).

He Wrapped Himself in Flesh

This story speaks to us at another level as well. This same John would later write to defend the doctrine of the incarnation; the reality that Jesus was God and had taken upon Himself the flesh of humanity. In 1 John 1:1-2 he wrote…

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have observed
and have touched with our hands,
concerning the Word of life–
that life was revealed,
and we have seen it
and we testify and declare to you
the eternal life that was with the Father
and was revealed to us…”

These words echo John’s prelude to his Gospel in John 1:14…

The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

For John, Jesus was God in the “flesh.” The God of “glory” had somehow humbled Himself and clothed Himself in humanity. Now listen again to John’s words in chapter 13 verse 4 and consider the way in which the story of how Jesus washes the disciples’ feet is also a beautiful picture of the very incarnation itself…

So He got up from supper [His place of glory],
laid aside His robe [His divine position],
took a towel [human flesh]
and tied it around Himself [wrapped Himself in flesh].

When considered from this perspective, the account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet becomes one of the great Christological statements of the New Testament and sounds amazingly similar to Paul’s famous exhortation in Philippians 2:5-8…

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used to His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death–
even to death on a cross.

When you extend this story to include Jesus’ comments in 13:19-20, we can see that Jesus is looking beyond the crucifixion to the resurrection and even His appearances. This beautiful story, then, becomes a summary prelude to the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. By washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus enacts, in miniature, the drama of what is about to happen. Here is the birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension all rolled into one amazing demonstration of love and service.

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