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)
In verses 12-17, Jesus tells His disciples that the lowly act of washing their feet was not beneath His dignity, and He was their Teacher and Lord. William Temple once said, “When a man stands on his dignity, he usually succeeds in squashing it flat!” The pride and boasting of His disciples had now been turned to shame. Jesus concludes by saying in verse 15: “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I do.” Notice that Jesus does not say, “Do what I do.” He’s not commanding that foot-washing become an ordinance in the church, like baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He says, “do as I do” by applying the principles of humility I’ve shown you to your own lives.
What are those principles of humility? Let’s go over them again.
- Humble service can be a demonstration of true love (verses 1-2)
2. Humility is unannounced. Jesus didn’t announce what He was going to do. He just did it (verses 4-5). He didn’t brag about it afterward either.
3. Humility does not play favorites. Jesus washed Judas’ feet (verses 5 and 12). In 1878, when William Booth’s Salvation Army was beginning to make its mark, men and women from all over the world began to enlist. Samuel Brengle left a fine pastorate to join Booth’s Army. But at first, General Booth accepted his services reluctantly and grudgingly. Booth said to Brengle, “You’ve been your own boss to long.” In order to instill humility in Brengle, Booth set him to work cleaning the boots of other trainees. Discouraged, Brengle said to himself, “Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?” And then, as in a vision, he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, unlettered fishermen. “Lord,” he whispered, “you washed their feet; I will black their boots.” He later was promoted to the rank of Commissioner, the second highest rank in the Salvation Army.
4. Humility is being willing to receive without embarrassment (verses 6-9). That was a lesson I learned many years ago and I’m going to briefly share it with you. While I was a student at Multnomah School of the Bible, I applied for a position as a campus minister with Campus Ambassadors, the campus ministry of the Conservative Baptist Church. I was told that I would have to raise all my support before I could be assigned to a campus. The thought of raising support was difficult for me to accept. Ever since I was nine years old, I was earning money taking care of the lawns of my two next door neighbors. I also had a paper route. When I shared my struggle with the man who led me to the Lord and discipled me, he responded by saying, “Tom, it has brought you a lot of joy to give to my support, hasn’t it? Now God has called you to a full-time ministry for Him. Don’t deprive others of the joy they would receive by giving to you and to the ministry God has given to you.” Those words of encouragement gave me a new perspective.
5. Humility includes serving one another, not just the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 4:5, the apostle Paul said, “For what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants, for Jesus’ sake.”
6. Lastly, and most importantly, humility doesn’t refer to something we do, but to someone we are. It is not to be reserved just to certain times and places, but it’s to be an attitude of heart and a way of life. The only statement Jesus makes about His own character is found in Matthew 11:28-29. He described Himself as being “gentle and humble of heart.”
During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, “Sir, I am a corporal!” The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, “Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again.” The speaker was none other than George Washington.
Are we humble people? Are we willing to perform humble tasks for others? Are we willing and ready to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ out of love for Him and for others? Augustine of Hippo, who was one of the early church fathers, was once asked the question: “What is the secret to holiness of life?” His answer was “humility, humility, humility.”
I’m going to close with another illustration. A man by the name of Sanhu Sundar Singh became a Christian in his native country of India. He later became an evangelist for Christ in India, and throughout Europe and Asia. Corrie Ten Boom met Sundar in Europe where he had competed a tour around the world, preaching the Gospel message to large crowds. People asked him, “Doesn’t it do harm, your getting so much honor?” Sundar’s answer was: “No. The donkey went into Jerusalem, and they put garments on the ground before him. He was not proud. He knew it was not done to honor him, but for Jesus, who was sitting on his back. When people honor me, I know it is not for me, but for the Lord, who does the job.” May we allow the Lord Jesus Christ to do the job He wants to do in and through us, and may we be quick to humbly give Him all the glory.
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