To start this morning, let's turn to John 13:1-4. In the Greek, this is a single, complex sentence. Let's read it as a whole, and then work through it more slowly:
(1) Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world toward the Father, loving his own in the world, to the end/uttermost he loved them,
(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into the/his heart
that Judas would betray/hand over him (=Jesus),
(3) [Jesus], knowing
that all things the Father had given into the hands,
and that from God he had come from,
and toward God he is going,
(4) he rises up from the supper,
and he laid down his outer clothing,
and taking a towel, he tied it around himself.
Verse 1:
(1) Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world toward the Father, loving his own in the world, to the end/uttermost he loved them,
Throughout the Gospel of John, people have "known" things. Nicodemus "knew" that Jesus was a teacher sent by God (John 3:1). The Samaritan woman "knew" that when the Messiah appears, he will reveal all things to them (John 4:25). The Samaritan people, at the end of the story, "know" that Jesus is the Savior of the world (John 4:42). The Judeans "knew" where Jesus is from-- they knew who his father and mother are (John 6:42). In John 9, the Pharisees knew that the man born blind was a sinner, his parents were sinners, and Jesus was a sinner. The man born blind, on the other hand, "knew" that God doesn't listen to sinners, and he ended up "believing in" Jesus.
Lots of people, think they know lots of different things. When they get it right, their knowledge is a good thing. But when they get it wrong, their "knowledge" ends up becoming a stumbling block to a true understanding of Jesus (John 7:27-28). And the ideal human, in the gospel of John, is the person who is open-minded to new truths. Someone like Nathaniel, or the Samaritan woman, who overcomes false knowledge, and inadequate knowledge, and comes to Jesus.
Throughout the Gospel of John, what we've seen is that Jesus' knowledge is on an entirely different level than people's knowledge. Jesus knows when people's faith is untrustworthy (John 2:21-23). He knows when his disciples are grumbling (John 6:61). He knows who doesn't actually give their allegiance to him, and who will betray him (John 6:64). Mostly importantly, he knows his Father (John 7:29). He knows that he is from above. He knows that his Father sent him (John 7:29).
So Jesus has gone through his life, eyes wide open. He sees life, and truth, for what they are. He knows where he is going. He knows his fate. All of this truth is light, and he shares that light with the world.
Here, in John 13:1, Jesus knows that his hour has come. And he knows that he is departing from this world, toward the Father, where he has existed for all of time (John 1:1= "pros"= "toward" the Father, not "with" the Father; same preposition).
Because Jesus knows all of this, he is determined to... what? When you know your time on earth is short, and you know you have this flock you are responsible for, what do you do? How can you leave them in a good place? What is the last thing you do for them?
AJ tells us what Jesus did. "To the end-- to the uttermost-- Jesus loved them.
Everything else we are going to read, until we hit the end of this gospel, is going to demonstrate Jesus' love for his disciples. So long as Jesus lived among them, he loved them. And he loved them, as much as it's possible to love them.
So as we keep reading, keep this verse in the back of your head. Everything Jesus will say and do, from here on out, comes out of his love for his disciples. And this is not a new thing. Everything Jesus has said and done, throughout the gospel, he has done out of love for people-- and, more specifically, love for his people.
Verse 2, still the same sentence:
(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into the/his heart
that Judas would betray/hand over him (=Jesus),
When we read verse 2 (in the Greek), we find ourselves asking, "Whose heart?" English Bibles here assume that the devil here puts the thought into Judas's head/heart, that he will betray Jesus. But at best, it's ambiguous. Either the devil puts it into his own heart, that Judas will betray Jesus. OR, the devil puts it into Judas' heart, that Judas will do this.
When you read commentators, that's what they tell you. But, I don't think it's really that difficult. Possessive pronouns ("the"="his") refer backward, not forward, as a rule. I think it's far more likely here that the devil has put it into his own heart, that Judas is his man.
Let's turn to John 13:26-27, which supports this:
26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
It's in verse 27, that Satan enters into Judas.
I think what's going on in verse 2, is that "the" heart is "Satan's" heart (see NLT footnote, and many commentators). AJ tells us that the devil had already decided at this point, that Judas was the weak link in Jesus' circle. Judas was vulnerable to the devil, and available to the devil.
And why was Judas so vulnerable to Satan? The answer is found in John 12:6. Judas was a thief. He made a habit of stealing from the offerings people gave Jesus, and spending them on himself. And when you walk in sin like that, you leave a huge hole in your spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10ff). And you leave a "space" for Satan (Ephesians 4:27; KJV). Scary stuff.
So Satan has his plan all worked out.
Verses 3-4:
(3) [Jesus], knowing
that all things the Father had given into the/his hands,
and that from God he had come from,
and toward God he is going,
(4) he rises up from the supper,
and laid down his outer clothing,
and taking a towel, tied it around himself.
In verse 4, we read that Jesus "laid down" his outer clothing. This is not the normal verb you'd use to take off clothes. We read this verb, and it makes us pause. And remember that earlier in the gospel, Jesus repeatedly talked about "laying down" something. John 10:14-18:
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
When Jesus lays down his cloak here, I think we are supposed to remember John 10 (H/T Raymond Brown, followed by many). What Jesus is doing is some type of symbolic act, demonstrating what it looks like that he lays down his life for his sheep.
Verse 5:
(5) Next, he pours water into the washbasin,
and he began to wash his disciples' feet
and to wipe them dry with the towel with which he was tied around.
(6) Then, he comes toward Simon Peter.
He says to him,
"Lord/Master, you, my feet, you are going to wash?" ["my feet" is focused in Greek]
Peter sees Jesus washing his disciples' feet, and drying them with a towel, and he knows that none of this makes sense. Washing someone's feet is just about the most menial task you could do for someone else. It's a job that Jews didn't even make their own Jewish servants/slaves do-- they'd only force on Gentile servants, possibly (H/T Charles Talbert). And so Peter here, understanding that Jesus is Lord-- "Master"-- asks Jesus, are you really going to do this? Everything about this is backwards. It's wrong.
Jesus responds in verse 7:
(7) He answered-- Jesus--
and he said to him,
"What I am doing, you don't understand now.
Now, you will know after these things."
What Jesus is doing here, is not simply washing his disciples' feet. There is some deeper significance to all of this. But Peter won't understand until the other side of "these things." What are these things? They are the things Jesus knows, but his disciples don't. Jesus knows he is leaving them, first, for the cross, and then, back toward his Father. And it won't be until all of this is done, after all of these things, that Peter will understand. None of this tells us what the higher level of meaning of this is. But we understand, that there is a higher meaning. We just have to reach for it.
Verse 8:
(8) He says to him-- Peter--
"You will absolutely not wash my feet, ever."
Peter refuses. He knows that Jesus is his Master. Masters don't wash their slaves' feet. He won't let Jesus do this. And when Peter does this, what is he doing? He is refusing to let Jesus love him. What Jesus is trying to do here, is love his disciples (13:1). And Peter rejects Jesus' love, and rejects Jesus.
Jesus responds:
He answered-- Jesus-- to him,
"Unless I wash you, you don't have a share/part with me."
If you don't let Jesus wash you, he will have no part with you. You have to be clean, to have fellowship with Jesus.
Are we still talking about feet here? Does Jesus not eat with people, fellowship with them, unless they've first had the dirt scrubbed off their toes? We find ourselves, still reaching for that higher level of meaning.
Verse 9:
(9) He says to him-- Simon Peter--
"Lord/Master, not my feet only,
but also the hands and the head."
Our gut here, is that Peter doesn't understand what Jesus is doing. Jesus is working from a higher level of truth ("from above"); Peter is trying to work from a lower, earthly level. But even though he misunderstands Jesus, he is open to the truth. He's not hard-hearted in all of this. He's more like the Samaritan woman, or the man born blind, than he is like Nicodemus. He knows that Jesus, is Lord.
Jesus, in verse 10, tries to help Peter:
(10) He says to him-- Jesus--
"The one having bathed doesn't have need,
except only the feet, to wash,
but he is completely clean,
and you (plural), clean you are,
but not all.
(11) For he knew the one betraying/handing over him.
For this reason he said that
"Not all, clean, you (plural) are.
There are two types of washing going on here (H/T Charles Talbert, who was really helpful here). There is "bathing." And then there is a foot "washing."
Bathing is something that's only needed once, as every five year old boy intuitively understands. Bathing makes you clean. Washing, though, is something that needs to happen more often. As you go through life, you pick up dirt. And Jesus insists that you let him wash your feet, so that you are completely clean.
And it's if you've been bathed, and then let Jesus wash your feet, that Jesus will fellowship with you.
What is Jesus talking about here? What is the higher level of truth we are supposed to reach for?
I think-- and there are plenty of people who agree, and disagree, with what I'm about to say-- that Jesus is talking about sin, and baptism, and forgiveness, and spiritual cleansing.
When you are baptized, this is a one-time washing, that makes you clean. But as you go through life, you get dirty. You sin. And this isn't good. This is something Jesus wants to fix. And so Jesus offers to make you clean, again.
It's not that you've lost everything, and need to start over. You don't need to get rebaptized every week. You haven't thrown everything away, and lost everything. What you need, in that moment, is Jesus to wash your feet. You need to be cleaned, and forgiven. Jesus is perfectly willing to do this. And he insists on doing this. If you want to have fellowship with Jesus, you have to let him do this.
Now, sometimes you'll hear Christians talk about how Jesus' death paid for all of your past, present, and future sins at once. The idea is that if you sin today, or tomorrow, Jesus' death has already covered the cost of that.
And you are never really dirty. In its most obscene form, it could be argued that even in the act of terrible sin-- adultery, stealing, idol worship-- that you stand before God, clean, and holy, and forgiven. At every moment, you are clean.
Maybe there are Bible verses somewhere that talk that way. I don't know them. What I think, is that when you sin, you break fellowship with Jesus. And in that moment, you are dirty. You're not clean. You're dirty. You need Jesus to wash your feet. And so what you do, is you come to Jesus, seeking forgiveness, and he cleanses you. I think what we are seeing here, in Jesus washing Peter's feet, is a picture of 1 John 1:6-10:
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
When you sin, acknowledge your sin. Confess it. And Jesus' blood (his "laying down of his life/cloak") will cleanse you, and purify you.
Continuing on, John 13:12-20:
(12) Then, when he washed their feet,
and he took his cloak,
and he reclined again,
he said to them,
"Do you (plural) know what I have done for you?
You call me 'the teacher' and 'the Lord/Master',
and rightly you speak.
For I am.
(14) [And so] then, if I wash your feet-- the Lord and the Teacher-- also you must, of one another, wash the
feet. ["of one another" is focused].
(15) For an example/model I have given you, ["example" is focused]
in order that just as I did to you, also you shall do.
(16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave isn't greater than his lord/master,
nor an envoy greater than the one sending him.
(17) If these things you know, blessed, you are, if you do them. ["blessed" is focused]
(18) Not about all of you I am speaking--I know whom I have chosen/selected--
but in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
'The one eating my bread, lifted up against me his heel.'
(19) From now on, I am speaking to you before it happens,
in order that you may believe, when it happens, that I am.
(20) Truly, truly, I say to you, the one receiving anyone I send, me, he receives.
Now, the one, me, receiving, receives The One Sending me.
I just want to grab part of this. Let's reread verses 14-15:
(14) [And so] then, if I wash your feet-- the Lord and the Teacher-- also you must, of one another, wash the feet.
(15) For an example/model I have given you,
in order that just as I did to you, also you shall do.
Jesus, in laying down his life, and serving his disciples, is giving them an example to follow. When you look at Jesus, you are seeing someone who is legitimately Lord, and Master, and God. Jesus is "I am." And yet Jesus, in humility, serves.
If we work from a lower, earthly, human level, this doesn't make sense. We are more comfortable with Peter's attitude. I'd rather be served, than serve. I'd rather that you wash your own feet, or that they just stay dirty, than I wash them for you. I don't want to humble myself, and take on the form of a servant (Phil. 2), and do this for you.
And Jesus knows that's how I feel. And that's how you feel. And so he deliberately gives us an example to follow here. If you are going to make big noises about how you love this body, and how Jesus is your Lord and Master, then you have to be humble. And you have no choice in this. A slave isn't better than his master. An envoy isn't better than the one sending him. You aren't better than Jesus. Copy his example.
Jesus knows that we are still maybe struggling with this. And so he offers us a promise in verse 17:
(17) If these things you know, blessed, you are, if you do them.
There are two steps you have to take. First, you have accept that Jesus' words are true. You have to truly "know" them. What you are supposed to do, is serve each other. You are supposed to copy Jesus' example.
Second, you have to actually do it. When I find myself lifting myself up over other people in this church, I have to catch myself. This flock, this family, is not built around me. I'm not here to be served. I'm not the important one. My Master is the important one.
If I know this, and then actually do this, and live this way, I'm blessed.
How am I blessed? In part, I think, I'm blessed because all of this is liberating. If I humble myself, I'm freed from the need to protect my dignity, and honor, and rights. Those things don't matter. People can think what they want about me, and it is what it is. I think that's part of the blessing. But there is also a fellowship that comes, when we share in Jesus' suffering and humiliation (Philippians 3:10). A partnership with Jesus. And I think there is a deepening of our relationship with Jesus. I'm not sure what all is involved in the blessing Jesus offers here. But when Jesus blesses his people, he does so sacrificially, richly. Whatever all is involved in it, I'm sure it's amazing.
But in all of this, I have to remember that there is a catch. I have to do both parts-- I have to "know" the truth about humility, and serving, and I have to "do" it. And all of us understand that this is a tricky thing. We tend to think that if we "know" the truth about something, we are actually doing it. We act like knowing, is doing. But if I'm not actually humbling myself, and serving you, I'm not actually humble. And, I don't get the blessing.
So when you think about how Jesus laid down his life for his disciples-- for you-- both in life, and in death, your response shouldn't be just gratitude. You aren't just thankful that Jesus cleansed you, and gave you new birth. You aren't just thankful that Jesus still cleanses you from your sins, when you confess them. You also understand that Jesus set an example for you, of what it looks like to lay down your life. To lose your life, for his sake.
Know this, and do this, and you will be blessed. And you will be a blessing to this church.
Translation:
(1) Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world toward the Father, loving his own in the world, to the end/uttermost he loved them,
(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into the/his heart
that Judas would betray/hand over him (=Jesus),
[Jesus], knowing
that all things the Father had given into the hands,
and that from God he had come from,
and toward God he is going,
he rises up from the supper,
and laid down his outer clothing,
and taking a towel, tied it around himself.
(5) Next, he pours water into the washbasin,
and he began to wash his disciples' feet
and to wipe them dry with the towel with which he was tied around.
(6) Then, he comes toward Simon Peter.
He says to him,
"Lord/Master, you, my feet, you are going to wash?"
(7) He answered-- Jesus--
and he said to him,
"What I am doing, you don't understand now.
Now, you will know after these things."
(8) He says to him-- Peter--
"You will absolutely not wash my feet, ever."
He answered-- Jesus-- to him,
"Unless I wash you, you don't have a share/part with me."
(9) He says to him-- Simon Peter--
"Lord/Master, not my feet only,
but also the hands and the head."
(10) He says to him-- Jesus--
"The one having bathed doesn't have need,
except only the feet to wash,
but he is completely clean,
and you (plural), clean you are,
but not all.
(11) For he knew the one betraying/handing over him.
For this reason he said that
"Not all, clean, you (plural) are.
(12) Then, when he washed their feet,
and he took his cloak,
and he reclined again,
he said to them,
"Do you (plural) know what I have done for you?
You call me 'the teacher' and 'the Lord/Master',
and rightly you speak.
For I am.
(14) [And so] then, if I wash your feet-- the Lord and the Teacher-- also you must, of one another, wash the
feet.
(15) For an example/model I have given you,
in order that just as I did to you, also you shall do.
(16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave isn't greater than his lord/master,
nor an envoy greater than the one sending him.
(17) If these things you know, blessed, you are, if you do them.
(18) Not about all of you I am speaking--I know whom I have chosen/selected--
but in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
'The one eating my bread, lifted up against me his heel.'
(19) From now on, I am speaking to you before it happens,
in order that you may believe, when it happens, that I am.
(20) Truly, truly, I say to you, the one receiving anyone I send, me, he receives.
Now, the one, me, receiving, receives The One Sending me.
