John 13:6-11

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."

Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

10 Jesus answered, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.



Dig Deeper

Many years before Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth president of the United States, he worked as a lawyer in the state of Illinois. Throughout his years as a lawyer Lincoln developed a reputation as one of the leading experts in the entire Midwest on railroad law. During that time, a case came up in New York that had national implications but involved a rail company in Illinois. The primary lawyers would be some high powered attorneys from New York but the firm for which they worked felt that it would be good to hire a local lawyer from Illinois who was familiar with the issues there. Abraham Lincoln was that lawyer but the attorneys in New York did not really appreciate having Lincoln work with them. The lead lawyer on the case was Edwin M. Stanton. Stanton was particularly harsh with Lincoln, calling him an uncouth country hick and telling him basically that he should sit down, be quiet, not get in the way, and watch real lawyers work. At the end of the case, the firm sent Lincoln a check for his fees, but Lincoln refused the pay, citing the fact that he did not wish to take money for a job that he did not do. Years later, Lincoln, much to the surprise of many, became President. Shortly into his presidency, Lincoln needed to pick a new Secretary of War. He asked who the best man for the job would be and someone replied that an attorney from New York, Edwin M. Stanton would be the best. One of Lincoln’s old aides who was familiar with the earlier meeting between the two men quickly said that Stanton wouldn’t be an option. Lincoln stopped him, though, and asked again if he would be the best man for the job. When the reply was again, "yes," Lincoln said that he would be hired.

I’ve always admired that story about Lincoln. It shows a great deal of his character, coupled with the fact that when he died four years later, no one in the country admired Lincoln more than Stanton. It’s difficult enough to imagine ourselves treating someone, who has mistreated us, with the ultimate respect and kindness of the type that Lincoln gave Stanton. Imagine, though, if Lincoln would have known before it happened that Stanton was not just going to disrespect but that he was going to betray Lincoln to his death. Imagine that rather than just forgiving a past humiliating hurt and hiring Stanton, if Lincoln would have hired him knowing that he would help John Wilkes Booth cause his death in the future (which, of course, did not happen). Can you imagine doing something like that yourself? Can you imagine anyone doing that? I can. In fact, we don’t have to imagine it because it happened.

John doesn’t give us many details about this supper itself but he does give us a few that the other Gospel writers do not that help us possibly understand some interesting things about this significant evening meal. What John seems to be indicating to us, though, is that Jesus apparently came to Peter last, meaning he had taken the lowest seat at the meal (The host would have sat at one end of the u-shaped table, with the first guest of honor to his left and the other guest of honor to his right. The seats would then have gone all the way around to the other side of the u-shape, with the last seat being the lowest spot). The room sat in stunned and solemn silence as Jesus slowly made his way around the room, washing, scrubbing, and gently drying first one foot, then the other of each and every disciple present. They must have all wondered why he was doing this. They had certainly seen him sharing table fellowship with outcasts and sinners. They had been there when he had steeped far outside of normal social convention and touched lepers and the diseased. He had talked with a Samaritan woman in public. In short, it wasn’t that unusual for Jesus to do extremely unusual things, but at least those things made some sense. Those things were part of his mission as the Messiah they had learned throughout the course of their time with him. Those things showed the world the life and ethic of the new creation. But this? What could possibly be served by Jesus doing something that a slave would do for the men that had dedicated their life to serving and becoming like him? What he could possibly be teaching them?

These things were likely all swirling around in the air, but the room evidently remained in an awkward silence until, as was so often the case, Peter spoke out. Not him, he was reclining at the lowest position at the table. Peter had taken on the position of being the least of all the disciples. Surely Jesus was not going to wash his feet. At first, it seems that this was a genuine display of humility on Peter’s part, yet he did not understand. Jesus does promise him, though, that he would understand later, presumably through the clarity of the Holy Spirit. For now, however, he would remain clouded a bit on what was happening. Yes, Peter’s reluctance to have Jesus wash him like a servant seems like humility but when we really look at it, it was an act of arrogant humility. If that sounds like an oxymoron or a contradiction, it is not. Peter was trying to display his humility and respect for his teacher, but in his haste, he arrogantly was dictating to Jesus what Jesus should and should not be doing. In the process he was missing the very heart of who Jesus was.

Peter was beginning to understand the implications that Jesus had come from God and was the Son of God but he thought that that meant that one such as Jesus should never stoop so low as to serve him. What Peter was missing was the truth that John has already revealed for his readers in verses 3 and 4, "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." Jesus wasn’t serving despite his exalted status and nature, he was serving precisely because of it. Jesus had declared loudly that "When they look at me, they see the one who sent me" (Jn. 12:45). This was never more true than here. If you want to see God, take a look at Jesus on his knees, wrapped in a towel, gently washing the feet of others. That’s who God is. But even more than that, Jesus was doing this to teach them about the need for him to lay down his life for them. He would do that to wash them as well, and that would be the ultimate act of his servant’s nature. That would show them who God was. If we want to know who God is, take a look at Jesus on the cross, dying in humanity’s place. That event was the true Passover. That’s what this event was all about it. It was a striking act of symbolism, showing them what the coming events were all about.

The humble nature of a servant that Jesus displays here is truly stunning and challenging, but we haven’t even considered the full picture yet. If you really want to be blown away by all of this, return briefly to verse 2 and remind yourself that Judas, having already decided to betray Jesus, was right there during this whole event. He knew what he was going to do and Jesus knew that he knew. Yet, no one else knew. Let’s be honest, if I knew that someone was going to betray me to my death and I was in a room with eleven other guys, even if I didn’t say anything, I’ll bet you that the other eleven guys would know something was wrong. But they didn’t. Jesus knelt down at Judas’ feet and washed them. It’s almost beyond words. Being a humble servant is one thing, but doing it for him? It leaves me speechless and truly in awe of our king. Who else would do that? Who else could do that?

Back to Peter, though. He doesn’t feel worthy to have Jesus do something for him that they would not even do for Jesus. He can’t imagine Jesus taking on the very nature of a servant. It’s beyond his realm of thinking, yet he has determined to follow this man wherever Jesus might take him. So when Jesus responds by saying that unless Peter allows Jesus to wash him, he has no part with him, Peter, in his typically extreme style, asks for a complete sponge bath. He will take an entire ritual washing if the alternative means having no place with his Lord. This becomes clear if we remember that Jesus is using this act of foot washing to teach them about his very nature, the nature of God, and what he is ultimately going to do for them when he goes to the Cross, the full extent of his love. He is going to wash them through the Cross, that’s what the foot washing is teaching them about. If they don’t take part in that, then they will never be in Christ and they will never have a part in his life. It is the only way.

What of this business of those having a bath needing only their feet washed because the whole body is clean? After walking around dusty roads back then, a guest would need his feet washed but not his entire body. He didn’t need a bath just a foot washing. Jesus’ point is that once he washes them in his death, they won’t need to return to that time and again. I believe that Jesus, through this statement, is referring to the significance of the meal itself of which they are about to partake. This meal would be the model and pattern for communion meal that Jesus wanted his followers to continue. Those who are connected with Christ are washed already but we need that continued daily foot washing to clean those parts of our lives that get dusty as we go through the day. Nowhere is that act more perfectly captured than in the meaning of the very meal of which they are taking part and which we continue to partake in at the Lord’s Supper.



Devotional Thought

When we look at a stunning act of service like this scene, our first thought might be that we could never do that. We could never humbly kneel before and serve someone whom we knew was about to betray us. That’s part of Jesus’ whole point about needing to be washed by him and continuing to have our "feet washed" by him. We can’t be like Jesus on our strength but if we stay in his life and allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit we will do more in him than we could ever imagine. Are you allowing yourself to be led by the Spirit or do you spend more time worrying about the things that you cannot do on your own strength?