It was now the night before Jesus’ crucifixion and He was in the upper room celebrating the Passover meal with His disciples. I can imagine that we have all seen a copy or a photo of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting entitled “The Last Supper.” It is a beautiful painting but it doesn’t picture what really took place that night. Jesus and His disciples didn’t sit in chairs, but on couches. They lay on their left sides, with their right hands available for eating. Luke 22 tells us that John was on one side of Jesus while Judas was on the other side. Jesus still has much to say to His disciples before His death. He is about to teach them an important lesson by His words and, more importantly, by His example.
I. THE SETTING (verses 1-2)
The chapter begins with a description of Jesus’ attitude toward His disciples. It’s one of love. “Jesus loved His own . . . to the end.” The word “love” now becomes the key word or the rest of John’s Gospel. He “loved them to the end.” Jesus not only loved His disciples to the end of His life, but He also loved them to an infinite degree, and he is about to demonstrate it. We find in verse two that Judas was also included in that love. Judas had plotted against the Lord long before this, and his greed for money became an opportunity for the devil to influence and use him.
II. THE WASHING OF THE FEET (verses 3-11)
In verse 3, the apostle John prepares us for the significance of the act that will follow. The Lord Jesus knows who He is and the authority that He has as the Son of God, and yet He is willing to perform the humble act of service that we read here. In verses 4 and 5, Jesus gets up from the meal and prepares Himself for what He is about to do. He removes His outer garments and is left wearing nothing but the loincloth of a slave. Jesus then gets down on His knees to wash HIs disciples’ feet. Can you imagine the expressions of shock on their faces when He began to do so? This is one of those cases where actions speak louder than words.
Why would the Lord Jesus be washing His disciples’ feet? Two reasons are given in the gospels. First, their feet were dirty. That was the obvious reason! It was a common courtesy in that day for a slave to be provided to wash the feet of guests before they entered a home. Since there was no slave present in this case, one of the disciples should have volunteered before the meal. The meal was already in progress, so Jesus got up and performed the service Himself. Now foot washing was a messy task in those days. The people either wore sandals or went barefoot and the dust and mud would be caked up on their feet by the end of the day. It was a humble task, and it’s interesting that the Greek word for “humility” actually means “to stoop low.” That’s exactly what Jesus was doing as He washed their feet. The Lord Jesus was a living illustration of humility. Washing someone else’s feet was a task that was assigned to the lowliest of servants. Secondly, their hearts were proud. Any one of the disciples would have been glad to wash Jesus’ feet or do any other service for Him. But to wash the feet of the other disciples would have been to admit inferiority. You see, they had just been arguing among themselves over which one of them was the greatest. That’s what it says in Luke 22:24. After that dispute, Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” A conversation among the disciples over who would betray Jesus led to this dispute over who was the greatest. It’s in this setting that Jesus illustrates what it means to serve by washing their feet.
III. THE RESPONSE (verses 6-11)
You can imagine that all His disciples were embarrassed and ashamed, but Peter was the one, as usual, to speak out what they all felt. “Lord, are you washing my feet” or, more accurately, “You aren’t washing my feet, are you?” In verse 7, Jesus tells Peter that there is a spiritual meaning to what He is doing, and he will understand it later, after Jesus dies and is raised from the dead. Well, Peter is still ashamed, so he changes his question to a statement when he says, in verse 8, “You shall never wash my feet!” Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest translated Peter’s words in this way: “You shall by no means wash my feet, no, never!” That’s an intensely negative statement by Peter, isn’t it? Jesus answers, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “no part in me”, but “no part with me.” What He is saying is “Peter, your pride is getting in the way of our relationship. You must allow me to serve you or you will never understand what true fellowship with me is all about.” Jesus used the word “part” in Luke 10:42 when He said to Martha: “Mary has chosen the good part.” He’s referring to the fact that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet enjoying His fellowship, while Martha was running around, worrying about things that were less important.
Peter does an about-face in verse 9 when he says, “If washing is a requirement for fellowship with you, then wash me completely – give me a bath.” Peter said that out of love for the Lord and a desire to please Him. Now Jesus brings out the spiritual meaning more clearly in verse 10 when He says, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet.” A believer in Jesus Christ has become a child of God and the penalty for his sins has been completely removed, cancelled by the atoning death of Christ, The “bath” or the cleansing from the penalty of sin, occurs only once, at the time of one’s salvation; but the cleansing from the pollution of sin which comes from contact with the world and yielding to its lusts, is to take place continually. Let me illustrate this principle in a way that really hits home to me. Mommy and daddy are sitting in the living room talking when little Johnnie comes running in with muddy shoes and jumps into daddy’s lap to give him a hug and a kiss. Being a loving parent, daddy would probably enjoy the hug and kiss, and then carry Johnnie outside, clean off his shoes, and carry him back inside saying something like this: “I love you, Johnnie, but your dirty shoes can mess up my clothes and the furniture. From now on, let’s try to make sure your shoes are clean before you come inside, and then you can sit in my lap and hug me and talk to me all you want, O.K?” God is just such a loving Father, and confession of our sins to Him restores that fellowship. Jesus adds, in verses 10 to 11, that “not all of you are clean.” Judas has not taken a spiritual bath. He has no genuine commitment to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
IV. THE EXPLANATION FOR HIS ACTIONS (verses 12-17) TO BE CONTINUED.
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