The next 5 chapters describe Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples and we could say are written directly for us as Christ followers, and as such, they are a challenge to each one of us. So be ready for passages that make you cringe a little.
John 13: 1 – 17 (NLT)
“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”
What prompted Jesus to wash his disciple’s feet? If you look at the first verses of this chapter, you see that Jesus is driven by his knowledge of his coming death, resurrection and return to heaven. He knows that everything is about to change for his disciples starting that night. Verse 2 says, “He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end”.
What if you knew you were dying, and you had a little time with your children? What would you do or say? I know I’d tell them I loved them many, many times. I’d likely tell them how proud I was of them, how important and wonderful they were. I might share advice on how to live well. Maybe, we’d go and do something we all enjoyed, but I can also see us just sitting and enjoying a meal together – one of those things we all treasure even now – eating and talking.
But what did Jesus do? They were about to celebrate the Passover supper, when Jesus got up and began to wash their feet. He knows that they consider him to be their teacher and Lord (v. 13), and he also knows that he does have “authority over everything and that he had come from God”. (v. 3) So, there was no question in anyone’s mind that Jesus was the ‘boss’ here. Washing dirty feet was NEVER the boss’ job; that was a job for the most menial of servants.
I can understand why the most junior servants did that job. Most people wore sandals, and they walked on dusty or muddy roads. Sanitation was an issue since toilets and washrooms weren’t the way they are today. And animals ran around freely. We experienced that when we lived in Kenya for a while; you were careful where you walked in the fields. There were rough shelters with a hole dug inside them that you squatted over; adults did their best, but you couldn’t always count on the kids finding the nearest designated place. So washing someone else’s feet was definitely not something anyone liked to do.
One of Jesus’ last words to his disciples had to do with being a servant, being willing to stoop to the lowest and most menial job. “I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (v. 14, 15) As parents, we do that for our kids. We change diapers, clean up food messes and spills, bathe our kids, look after them when they are sick, hug them when they cry, wipe their noses, and on and on. There is that very special love between a parent and child.
But the disciples didn’t have a parent/child relationship. They were friends and co-workers – men who were devoted to the same cause. Yet Jesus told them to serve and care for each other the way he cared for them. That is where the challenge to me comes in. I’ll do almost anything for my kids, but the rest of you should take care of yourselves. This kind of service – something that might make me react with “yuck!” – doesn’t come naturally to me at all. Yet Jesus thinks that is so important that he talks about this on the night he knows he’ll be arrested and taken away.
My husband grew up in the Mennonite community around the Kitchener-Waterloo area. They actually practice foot-washing in some of the Mennonite churches, and they did in the church he attended. They do it because Jesus instructed the disciples to wash one another’s feet. They take it literally, but also take the instruction to serve one another seriously. My experience with the Mennonite community where his extended family still lives has shown me people who care deeply for one another. If someone needs help, they are right there. When someone in his immediate family needs help, they are there. When Wayne was sick over a number of years, I could count on his family to be right there (all 13 of his siblings). It could be overwhelming when they all arrive, but it’s not, because they find their own place to stay and they brought tons of food for me and my kids. I’ve been very blessed as I’ve seen that incredible example of service.
We need to remind ourselves of the importance of being there for one another. Our human nature tends to put ourselves first, and helping someone else comes only if it’s convenient for me. Stop and think for a moment. Can you name anyone at your church who you could call, and they would be there to help as soon as possible? Would anyone call you? But Jesus thinks helping each other is so important that he reminded us to serve one another on the last day before his death.
Our song for today is Do Something by Matthew West.