John Chapter 13

The things the Lord Jesus Christ did and said which are recorded for us in John 13-17 give us a depth of insight into His grace, humility, compassion, longsuffering, love, omniscience, and deity, which is unique and unsurpassed. In chs.13-16 we read the final teaching the Lord gave to His disciples, and in ch.17 we can read the Lord's High Priestly prayer. We see the Lord preparing "his own" for the time when His physical presence would no longer be with them and they would be left to testify for Him in a sinful, hostile world.

His hour was come

The Lord, in His omniscience, "knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father" (v.1). Several times we read that His hour was "not yet come" (Jn 2.4; 7.30; 8.20), but now, when His crucifixion and intense suffering were so near, His thoughts were not of Himself but of His disciples who would be left in the world. He knew that they would feel sad and vulnerable after He had gone back to His Father, and "having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (v.1). He loved His disciples when He was with them, He loved them to the uttermost, and would love them eternally, for He never changes (Heb 13.8). He loves us with that same eternal, sacrificial, divine love and, despite the fact that we, like His disciples, still sin and fail Him, His wonderful love continues (Is 49.15,16; 54.10). As we meditate on the unchanging, eternal love of the Lord, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2.20), we should be amazed at the paucity of our love for Him. We should be constrained and controlled by the love of the Lord (2 Cor 5.14). "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4.19), and that love should control us as we seek to serve Him in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6.19).

Satan had put the thought into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord. The Lord knew that His Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and would soon return to Him (vv.2,3). The Lord knew all things and knew that there was tension among the disciples because they wanted pre-eminent positions in the Kingdom of God (Mk 9.34; 10.35-45; Lk 9.46). They were gathered together, away from public gaze, in an Upper Room, and in that Upper Room the Lord did a most remarkable thing that demonstrated His true humility (Phil 2.5-8). He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, girded Himself with a towel, poured water into a bowl, washed the disciples' feet and wiped them with the towel. There was no servant present to do this menial task, but the pre-eminent and glorious Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten, eternal, beloved son of God, held the disciples' feet, including those of Judas Iscariot who was to betray Him, in His hands and washed them (vv.4,5). The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, who is "altogether lovely" (Song 5.16), who created and upholds all things (Col 1.16,17), who had used His hands to help and bless people, who possessed all power and would soon return in glory to heaven, took "the form of a servant" (Phil 2.7). What can one say to these things?

The Lord's gracious washing of their feet must have had, for the time being at least, a sobering, humbling effect on the hitherto proud, contentious, self-centred, and ambitious disciples.

There was a reaction when the Lord came to Peter, that self-confident, impulsive, dogmatic, loveable man of extremes, who loved his Lord. Peter said, "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" (v.6). Peter could not understand the profound lessons the Lord was teaching in His act of humility and condescension. Peter felt unworthy. The Lord told him that, in time, he would understand the meaning behind His act, but still Peter protested (vv.7,8). Like Peter, we do not always understand why certain things happen, but we know that the sovereign God, who is love (1 Jn 4.8), is working all things together for our eternal good and His glory (Rom 8.28). The Lord said to Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" (v.8), meaning that if Peter was not washed he would not enjoy fellowship and communion with the Lord. The Lord was not referring to a literal washing of the feet, but to the fact that all believers, those who have been saved eternally, by grace, through their God-given faith in the Lord (Eph 2.8), still commit sins and suffer defilement in this world. A believer cannot lose his salvation (Jn 10.28,29; 3.36) and his "peace with God" (Rom 5.1), but unless there is a frequent self- examination and confession of sins (1 Jn 1.9), then fellowship with God will be interrupted, service for Him will be adversely affected, and enjoyment of the "peace of God" (Phil 4.7), will be lost. The word translated "washed" in v.10 means to wash all over or bathe, while the word translated "wash" means to wash part of the body. Peter's reaction was to ask to be washed all over, but the Lord's answer to Peter's request teaches us that once we have been saved we have been washed all over, once and for all, and for ever (1 Cor 6.11; Tit 3.5; Rev 1.5). Thereafter, we need only frequent cleansing from the defiling effects of sin contracted daily (vv.9,10).

The Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and Master, had washed the feet of His disciples and He taught them the spiritual significance of the feet washing. He began by saying, "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am" (v.13). One day, all created beings will acknowledge that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2.11). He is our Lord and our Saviour, and we must submit to His perfect will in this present life. Calling Him "Lord" is not sufficient. Peter called Him "Lord" and then contradicted Him (vv.6,8; Acts 10.13,14). The Lord taught them to wash one another's feet. This is not a literal feet washing. He was teaching them to help one another through doing deeds of love and kindness with humility. They could help one another to avoid the defiling effects of sin by studying the written word together (Eph 5.26), and exhorting and edifying one another in spiritual matters. The result of knowing and doing these things would be spiritual peace, uninterrupted service for God, the blessings of unity (Ps 133.1-3), and harmony and happiness in relationships among the disciples (vv.12-17). Happiness in the life of an individual believer, and in assemblies of believers, is a result of knowing and obeying the revealed will of God. 

To be continued.