In his
classic work, ‘The Cross of Christ’, John Stott writes that if we want a
definition of love we should not look in a dictionary, but at Calvary. Our chapter tells us that he had loved his
disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end
(showed them the full extent of his love).
Of course this love is not simply demonstrated by his washing of their
feet, but what this washing symbolised—the crucifixion that would soon take
place.
The cross sets the example for
service (1-20)
Imagine the
atmosphere. The disciples had gone up
the outside stairs and into to the upper room.
They expected to be greeted by a non-Jewish slave who would wash their
feet. That was the custom. It was a hot climate where people wore open
sandals, and walked long distances on dirty roads. But there was no one there to do that lowest
of all tasks. They thought that they
were being polite by not drawing attention to this omission. But it didn’t occur to any of them that they
might perform the task. Equals did not
wash each other’s feet!
Jesus offers
the traditional prayer of thanksgiving, and then does something shocking. He gets up, wraps a towel around his waist,
takes a basin of water and heads to the nearest disciple. This is the man they thought of as their
master. No one had ever thought of the
term ‘servant leadership’ before Jesus showed it in action. As far as they were concerned, he was the
least suited person to perform this task.
Conversation stopped. It was all
a little embarrassing. But surely they
already knew that following Jesus is never comfortable.
One of the
things you notice about Jesus, as recorded in John’s Gospel, is his divine
ability to know what people are thinking.
What amazing love to wash the feet of Judas—who he knew would later
betray him! Jesus teaches us to love our
enemies, and he does not command us to do things that he was unwilling to put
into practice.
We know that
Peter is the one who blurts out what is on his mind. ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘what I am doing you do
not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.’ This chapter began by telling us that the
hour had come for Jesus’ departure from this world to his Father. It will be after they have witnessed Jesus
returning to the Father by way of the cross, resurrection and ascension that
they will understand what Jesus is doing here.
This is an acted parable that shows us that as Jesus dies for our guilt
and is raised for our justification we are washed from our sin. Of course that promise is for those who truly
love Jesus. Judas would later leave that
room with clean feet and a hard heart.
‘The others
might let you humiliate yourself like this, but you will never wash my
feet.’ Jesus replies with a gentle
rebuke, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’ So Peter says, ‘Lord, not my feet only but
also my hands and my head!’ Jesus explains,
“the one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is
completely clean.’ The picture may be of
a man who has bathed before going to a feast.
When he arrives he doesn’t need another bath, but one the dirt washed
off his feet from the journey. ‘And you
are clean.’ The picture may be that of a
person who has bathed before going to a party.
On the journey they pick up dirt on their feet. When they arrive they are clean. They only need their feet washed.
We need to
be clear what Jesus is teaching here.
Through his death on the cross we are cleansed from all of our sin. There is now no condemnation for those who in
Christ Jesus. Even though we fail him
daily our status as God’s beloved children never alters. We never need to be bathed again, except for
our feet. Daily we are to go to God confessing
how we have let him down and delighting in the fact that the blood of Jesus
goes on cleansing us from all sin. Our
status is secure but that does not mean that we are complacent about the numbing
effects of disobedience.
Having
washed their feet, Jesus wipes his hands, and puts on his outer garment. But the awkwardness of the evening has only
just begun. ‘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 ought to
wash one another’s feet. For I have
given you an example, that you should also do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not
above 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.’
Read this
command in light of the cross to which foot-washing points. This foot-washing pointed ahead to the
crucifixion. It doesn’t matter if you
never wash anyone’s feet, but being willing to serve one another central to
what it means to follow Jesus. The
apostle Paul would later write to the Christians in Philippi and tell them that
Jesus’ humility in going from heaven to the cross is the reason why we should
consider others as being more significant than ourselves.
The cross is central to Jesus’
mission (21-30)
Jesus
becomes troubled in spirit. ‘One of you
will betray me.’ The disciples look
around the table at each other. The
tension must have been unbearable. I am
sure that they all stopped eating.
Peter has
already earned a rebuke for speaking out of turn, so he motions to John, who
reclining close to Jesus, to get him to ask who the betrayer is. ‘Lord, who is it?’ ‘It is the one whom I will give this morsel
of bread when I have dipped it.’ He then
takes a piece of bread, dips it and gives it to Judas. Judas who had never been given a reason to
hate Jesus; Judas who had been respected enough to be appointed treasurer;
Judas who had long since despised the Lord, stealing from the purse; Judas who
had already put in place his plans to hand Jesus over. I suppose Jesus wasn’t the sort of Messiah he
had been hoping for. He wanted someone
who would free the nation from the hated Romans, not someone who told people to
go the extra mile when a Roman soldier forced you to carry his equipment. Maybe the whole foot-washing thing had served
to confirm that Jesus was not his sort of leader. Judas takes the morsel, and Satan takes hold
of him.
Remember
that Jesus voluntarily goes to the cross.
This was the hour for which he came.
The cross is the centre-piece of his mission. Jesus was not simply some great moral example
or wise teacher. He is God the Son
coming down from heaven to die to make rebels dearly loved children of
God. He even commands Judas to go and do
what he is about to do. Judas leaves
immediately. ‘And it was night.’
The cross must inspire us to love (31-38)
No sooner
had Judas left than Jesus began to teach the remaining disciples about his
departure. He speaks of being
glorified—while the world would mock him, the Father would be honoured, and his
people will celebrate this death forever.
He speaks of
the centrality of love. He will soon
tell them that greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends. The cross is the proof of Christ’s love for
you and the inspiration to love each other.
Love is the key to our witness.
‘By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.’ John would later write, ‘we
love because he first loved us. If
anyone says, “I love God”, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does
not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not
seen. And this is the commandment we
have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 John 4:19-21). If we refuse to love; if there are people we
won’t take to; if we are holding a grudge, then we may say that we are born
again, but our life is declaring something different.
If the cross
is the model of Jesus’ love then surly we should be willing to lay down one’s
life for one another. But don’t tell
people you are willing die for them if you are not willing to serve them in a
thousand smaller ways!
The
disciples were alarmed at Jesus talk of departure and poor Peter can contain
himself no longer. ‘Lord, where are you
going?’ Jesus replies, ‘Where I am going
you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Jesus goes alone to the cross, but history
tells us that Peter would later die a martyr’s death. Then Jesus again displays his foreknowledge
and predicts Peter’s denial. Thankfully
Peter’s failure will end with a beautiful picture of restoration.
Conclusion
Bible
commentator Don Carson points out that one of the most impressive things about
Jesus on this night before the crucifixion is that while he is troubled in
spirit and should be ministered to by the disciples he actually ministers to
them because they can only think about what a loss it will be for them if Jesus
departs. On the night when all they can
do is be absorbed with their own worries be now begins a major teaching which
begins, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.’
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