Sermon: Jesus washes the disciples’ feet

ALL LOVES EXCELLING

John 13:1-30 Sermon #27

 

INTRODUCTION

Loving someone can cost you your life.  Last Sunday Angela Brown from Kilwinning lost her life trying to save her children from a house fire.  She managed to rescue her three year old daughter, but she was overcome by smoke after she returned to the house to try to get her two youngest sons.  According to the news the boys are in hospital in a critical but stable condition.  And I also note that a 13 year old has been arrested in connection with the fire.  We’ll find out in due course what was going on.  For the time-being all we know is that a mother’s love for her children cost her her life. 

 

At the beginning of John 13 we read about Jesus:

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 

 

Within 24 hours the Lord Jesus Christ would be hanging on a cross, giving his life for those he loved. 

 

CONTEXT

Last week I was saying that John differs from the other three Gospel writers in that he chooses a different focus when it comes to the events leading up to our Lord’s arrest and crucifixion.  Like the other three, John does tell us about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey; but unlike them he says hardly anything about the days between what we call Palm Sunday and Good Friday. 

 

It was during this time that the Lord told some of his best known parables—the Parables of the Tenants, of the Wedding Banquet, of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids, and of the Talents. 

 

Some of his most important teaching was done during this time, such as what he said about the Sheep and the Goats; rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s; the signs of the end of the age.  John tells us none of these.

 

John’s most glaring omission is the institution of the Lord’s Supper.  Here in chapter 13 he talks about Jesus and the disciples eating an evening meal together, but he says nothing about “This is my body…this is my blood.” 

 

Theologians and Bible commentators discuss these omissions in their scholarly tomes.  The simplest explanation is that John, the last of the Evangelists to put pen to paper, decided that there was no need to repeat what had already been written.  Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he would tell us what the others had not told us. 

 

And so from chapter 13-17 John allows us to be flies on the wall in that upper room for the whole night, watching and listening, as the Lord prepares his disciples for what is about to transpire. He tells them that he will be going away; but that he will not abandon them, he will send them his Holy Spirit.  He warns them to expect persecution, for if the world hates him it will hate them too.  He encourages them by telling them that their sorrow will turn to joy.  And finally in chapter 17 he prays to the God the Father for them and for those who will believe in him through their message. 

 

We need to spend some time considering our Lord’s teaching in these chapters.  It’s no exaggeration to say that understanding what he says here is key to understanding the Christian life. 

 

TEXT

Let’s look at the text. 

 

It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

 

Note the timing.  It was just before the Passover Feast.  The Passover, that great celebration of God’s mighty deliverance of his people from slavery, is the back-drop to God’s great provision of a Saviour. 

 

Jesus knew that the time had come.  Those Greeks we were thinking about last week set off the alarm clock in Jesus’ head.  (12:23):

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

 

And how would he be glorified?  Not by being lifted high upon men’s shoulders; but by being lifted up upon a cross. 

 

The time had come for Jesus to leave this world and go to his Father.  But before he could return to heaven he had to suffer the shame of the cross.  After all, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  (12:27)

 

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.  What Jesus was about to do was for “his own”, his own people; those who are distinguished from the rest of lost and perishing humanity.

 

A literal translation of the Greek would be: he loved them to the end.  It’s one of those phrases John uses that can have two meanings, both of which are true.  It can mean, as our NIV translation has it, that he was about to show them the full extent of his love; an infinity of love; love to the N’th degree; love all loves excelling. 

 

It can also mean, as the footnote suggests, love to the last, love to the very end of his life.

 

From verse 2 it seems that the Passover meal is in full flow.  The disciples must have been feeling euphoric.  Only Judas appears quiet and withdrawn. 

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.

 

It’s not that the devil had taken possession of Judas, forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do.  We’ve already seen how he was a thief.  He bitterly resented Mary’s extravagant offering of expensive perfume which she poured over Jesus’ feet.  He had no love for Jesus.  As Bruce Milne puts it:

Having closed his heart to the light, Judas found himself the servant of darkness.

 

 

Friends, Judas provides us with a very solemn warning.  It is possible to be close to Jesus and yet not belong to Jesus.  It is possible to mix in the best circles, and still not be influenced by them.  It is possible to sit under the best ministry, to be taught the most profound spiritual truths, to be shown the way of the kingdom of God in the clearest terms, and yet remain an unbeliever.  It is even possible to be engaged in Christian work, preaching in the pulpit, being a youth leader, visiting the housebound, and still be spiritually dead. 

 

It is possible to look like a Christian, to talk like a Christian, to do the kind of things real Christians do, and yet not be a real Christian. 

 

It’s quite apparent that the other disciples are totally oblivious to Judas’ true nature.  When Jesus reveals that one of them is going to betray him, none of them point the finger at Judas.  In v.24 Peter asks John, who was reclining closer to Jesus, to ask Jesus whom he meant.  Indeed, Matthew tells us that after Jesus had said this all the disciples went into a spiral of self-doubt: Surely not I, Lord, they all said. 

 

Judas had already decided the course of action he was going to take.  He had opened his heart to the devil and the devil marched right in.  Remember, the devil can only tempt, he can only suggest.  He cannot force us to do what we do not want to do.  The final decision rests with us. 

 

In v.30 John tells us: As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out.  And it was night.

Night in Judas heart. 

 

In the meantime, Jesus does something quite radical, quite shocking.  v. 3 says: Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, so he called upon a legion of angels to rescue him from the awful fate that awaited him; he exposed Judas so that the man fell at his feet, a snivelling wretch, begging for mercy.

 

No.  Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist.  After that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.

 

I said earlier that John tells us things that the other Gospel writers omit.  However, nothing he says contradicts their accounts; indeed, the atmosphere in John’s Gospel is very much in keeping with the other three. 

 

Let me show you what I mean.  Turn back to Luke 22:24, Luke’s account of the Last Supper.  Jesus and the disciples have just eaten the bread and drunk the wine which he tells them points to the sacrifice of his body and blood.  It’s one of the most solemn moments in history. 

 

Yet true to form, the disciples are blind to the significance of what is happening.  Luke tells us: Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be considered the greatest.  Talk about bad timing.  These guys have had a sensitivity by-pass. 

 

Even so, Jesus treats them with the utmost patience.  The greatest is the one who serves.  And he says to them (v.27): 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.

 

Is it at this point that Jesus gets up and does what none of them had bothered to do? 

 

You may know already that washing feet was looked upon with such disgust that it was reserved for the lowest of the household slaves.  It was right down there with cleaning the toilets.  Jews would only let Gentile slaves do it, not their Jewish slaves.  If there were no slaves to do it, not even a wife was expected to wash her husband’s feet; he’d have to do it himself.

 

It’s not difficult to understand why.  Even nowadays, when we take a shower every day, and use talcum and cream and ointments, when we wear socks or stockings and shoes, still the idea of washing someone else’s feet isn’t exactly appealing. 

 

In those days they wore open sandals.  The streets were filthy.  And baths were only for special occasions.  Washing someone’s feet could be quite disgusting.

 

It seems that there were no slaves to wash their feet in that upper room.  I wonder if the older disciples expected the younger ones to offer.  But nobody moved. 

 

That is, until Jesus got up.  Without saying a word, he took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel round his waist.  Now he looked like a slave.  He got a basin of water, and started to wash the feet of his disciples, the feet of those who called him Teacher and Lord.  Here, as the Apostle Paul tells us is the one who was in very nature God, making himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant (Phil.2:6-7). 

 

You know how sometimes when you are in company and someone does something that is quite inappropriate, and there’s an embarrassed silence.  Everyone is too polite to say anything.  Yet they all want the ground to open up and swallow them.  That’s how the disciples must have felt. 

 

They accept what the Lord is doing in embarrassed silence.  All, that is, except Peter.  He can’t keep his mouth shut, and as usual, says too much.

 

When he’s finished, the Lord puts his clothes back on, and takes his place back at the table. 

 

Do you understand what I have done for you? he says (v.12).  You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

 

Nothing could be clearer than that.  If he, the one they all look to as their Teacher and Lord, was willing to lower himself to the extent of washing their feet, they too ought to be willing to do the same.  From now on, there would be no task, no position too lowly, too menial for a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

 

He was showing them in the most dramatic way possible that love for one another has its fullest expression in serving one another.  To talk about loving someone is easy.  To give gifts in nice.  But if we want to show the full extent of our love we will do so by serving the other person, by taking the humbler part.

 

HUMILITY

Humility and service go hand in hand.  A willingness to serve reveals a humble heart.  Conversely, an unwillingness to serve, reveals a proud heart, no matter what we might say or think about ourselves.  Calvin puts it quite starkly: There is no love where there is not a willing slavery in assisting a neighbour.  Humility and service go hand in hand; they are both constituent parts of love. 

 

That’s why the man who loved the most served the most. 

That’s why the man who loved the most was also the most humble.

 

Our Lord saw his ministry not in terms of being served by others but in serving others.  And he called his followers to see their ministry in the same light.  (Mt.11:29):

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

 

The world tells us that we will find rest for our souls—satisfaction—in being in charge.  The aim is always to be in pole position, to be the top dog.  Yet those who have managed to clamber to the top of tree have often found that it’s not as satisfying as they had imagined.  In Shakespeare’s words: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.  The deepest satisfaction is to be found in gentleness and in humility.

 

Let me draw to your attention just three things we can learn from our Lord’s humility in washing the disciples’ feet.

 

1. Humility does not mean doing nothing.  Some people, genuinely desiring to be humble, imagine that this means they must always remain in the background, they must never offer to use their gifts, they must always let others take the responsibility.

 

It’s not that they are too proud to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.  It’s not that they think it’s beneath them to offer a helping hand.  It’s more the case that they think they are not good enough, that others will do the job better. 

 

Such thinking may be humble, but it’s a paralysed humility.  And in the end it’s a useless humility.  The Lord’s humility meant that he did something; he took the part of the servant.

 

2. Secondly, humility means taking the initiative.  None of the disciples were willing to make the first move.  Jesus saw that there was a need, and without saying anything he got on with the job.

 

Again, there is an idea that humility waits to be asked.  We’re frightened of pushing ourselves forward.  But if we see a need, it is not loving to leave it unresolved.  If we see someone in need it is not loving to wait till they ask for help. 

 

We will answer to God for our motives, not to other people.  There is a bravery in the humility that takes the risk, and acts in love.

 

3.  Thirdly, humility means that there is nothing we consider beneath us.  The Christian has no dignity to stand on.  The only reputation we should be worried about losing is the reputation for humble, loving, servanthood.  In other words, our reputation for being Christ-like. 

 

Our Teacher set us an example, to do as he did.  Not literally, to be washing one another’s feet.  But as a model of humility, of service. 

 

The Lord Jesus showed his disciples the full extent of his love by washing their feet.

 

GREATER LOVE

But the story is not quite finished.  We have to acknowledge that there is something rather unsatisfactory in saying that Jesus showed the full extent of his love by washing the disciples’ feet, and leaving it at that.  For all the love it displayed, for all the humility, it seems strange to say that washing feet is the fullest, widest, deepest expression of love. 

 

And we’re right to feel that.  The washing of the feet is not the full story; it’s only part of the story.

 

Remember when this incident takes place.  John tells us that it was just before the Passover Feast.  It was the day before the great festival of the Passover when the Jews remember their glorious deliverance from slavery in Egypt. 

 

The central part of the festival was the Passover meal when the families ate the roasted lamb; the lamb whose blood had been smeared on the lintels of the doorposts so that when God in judgement passed by he would see there had already been a death in the household: the first born son would be spared. 

 

It is the day before the only begotten Son of God will lay down his life as the spotless lamb, a lamb without defect or blemish, sinless and righteous.  It is the day before his blood will flow to wash the sins of his own, the sins of those he loves, so that the righteous wrath of God may pass over all his people, since his Son had already died in their place. 

 

On the Thursday our Lord Jesus poured water on the disciples’ feet and washed the dirt and grime away. 

On the Friday our poured out his blood on the cross of Calvary. 

 

The writer to the Hebrews says (9:14):

How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse us from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.

 

What can wash away my stain?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. 

 

What about that scene with Peter?  What’s going on there?  Peter thinks he is being humble: Lord, are you going to wash my feet?  (v.6)  It isn’t fitting. 

 

But this has to do with far more than merely washing feet.  So Jesus says (v.8):

Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.

 

Peter still thinks he is being humble and holy when he says (v.9):

Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.

Jesus’ replies (v.10):

A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.  And you are clean, though not every one of you. 

 

Jesus’ point is that if we are to have a part with him; if he is to consider us as one of his own; then he must wash us, he must cleanse us from our sin.  That’s what happens when someone becomes a real Christian.  That is a once in a life-time cleansing; a deep clean, if you like. 

 

However, we cannot be perfect, not in the this life.  We pick up the dirt of this world as we travel along.  We still sin.  This too must be brought to the foot of the cross to be forgiven.  That’s why we deliberately take time to confess our sins during the church service.  John, in his first letter (2:1) assures us:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

 

CONCLUSION

Let me ask you: are you clean, are you spiritually clean?

Has the dirt and grime of your sin been washed away from your soul?

Has your conscience been cleansed? 

Are you aware of what it is to be at the receiving end of the full extent of Christ’s love?

 

See Jesus, bending down, washing his disciples’ feet. 

Now in faith, see him washing your very soul with his precious blood.

See him wiping your guilt and shame clean away.

 

And as we draw to conclusion, can I also say to those of you who do know what it is to be at the receiving end of such love, who know the joy of sins forgiven: Are you following the example our Lord set us?

 

To quote John’s first letter again (3:16):

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 

 

Jesus said (13:34):

A new commandment I give, Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.