12 When He had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
As we saw last week, the sacrificial act of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, as radical as it was, was merely a very practical and memorable sign which pointed to Jesus’ death on the cross, which was now less than 24 hours away.
When He asked the question in verse 12, “Do you understand what I have done to you?” A solid theological answer would be something like this: “Yes Lord, you have shown that salvation requires us to be cleansed by your atoning blood, just as you have cleansed our dirty feet with water.” That’s a good answer, remembering Jesus’ words to Peter in verse 8: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Biblical theology is important, because we need to know not only what we believe, but why we believe it, and in order to understand and defend our faith, we need to ground our faith in not only the person and work of Jesus Christ, but also in the Bible which explains our faith. The Bible teacher Steven Lawson wrote on Twitter this week, “Christianity without doctrine is like maths without numbers and music without notes.”
However, Jesus’ words to His disciples in verse 15 is not only theological, but a deeply practical answer too. “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
The washing of His disciples’ feet was intended by Jesus to be an example of servanthood to not only His disciples, but for all Christians of all ages, and as we well know, and as we will be reminded this morning, true Christian servanthood flies directly in the face of the selfish nature of the human heart. Even for those who are saved and have had their lives transformed by the grace of God, putting others and their needs before our own is hard.
It’s one thing to have faith and having some understanding of Christian doctrine - those things are important - but putting our faith into action is a challenge.
So the purpose behind Jesus washing the feet of His disciples was two-fold. It pointed to the cross, which was our focus last week, and it was a model for sacrificial love and service that we are to continue in His name, which is what we’ll be taking a look at today.
Servanthood is all about the attitude of the heart. If we don’t have a heart for serving, we will only serve because we feel its something we have to do, rather than something we do out of gratitude towards God for saving us.
Jesus acknowledged that His disciples called Him “Teacher,” and so He goes on to do exactly that. He teaches them the attitude of servanthood.
In verse 1, John writes, “Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.” A Christlike attitude is sensitive to the hour in which we live. In other words, Christians should be aware of the spiritual needs of the people we minister to. In times of doubt, we should minister faith. In times of division, we are to pursue peace and unity. When those we are with are hurting for whatever reason, that is our opportunity to bring Godly comfort.
The context of John 13 was the impending death of Jesus on the cross. Of course, Jesus knew that in a matter of hours He would be betrayed, arrested, tried and put to death on the cross. He was also fully aware of the necessity of the cross, as the only means of our salvation. Going back to verse 8 again, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me,” it is here where we are reminded that all of Jesus’ teachings and miracles were Gospel-centred, and we should follow His example. Christian work and service should be undergirded and based on the Gospel that saves.
We don’t know when Jesus will return to judge the earth, but we do know that we are living in an age where eternal destinies will be decided. So then, we should guard against living for the things of the world rather than for the things of eternal value. John tells us in verse 3 that Jesus knew He had come from God and was about to return to the Father, so as Christians we should be living with one eye fixed on eternity, knowing that this life is a brief pilgrimage on our way to our real home. Our attitude to life in this world should reflect the same urgency that Jesus had for the Gospel.
We are to love and serve others and each other, but we should never forget that the people we serve are also image-bearers of God, and their greatest need is salvation. As C. S. Lewis once wrote, “You have never met a mere mortal.”
Verse 1 also says that Jesus, “having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end.” He did not love the disciples on the basis of their worthiness, because they, like us, were unworthy of His love. What does that teach us? We are to have an attitude of love even for the unworthy and the unlovely.
Again, Jesus is our example. He was heavily criticised by the Pharisees for socialising with the despised outcasts and undesirables of society. His reply to this criticism was “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matthew 9:12)
Jesus was about to go to the cross, but His deepest concern was for His disciples - not only demonstrated in His washing of their feet, but by His extended time of teaching and ministry which we see all the way through to the end of John 16. His focus was on those He loved and served, primarily because He had already committed His own concerns into the hands of God, and we should seek to do the same.
Now of course, we will never perfectly follow the example of Jesus, but that does not excuse us from trying. His words in verses 14 and 15 were not a suggestion, but a command. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
Paul writes in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” As he says in the following verse, this it what it means to have the mind of Christ.
Verse 1 again, tells us that Jesus loved His own who were in the world. This is something else of Jesus’ character that we should strive for. While we are called to love the whole world in Jesus’ name, we have a special calling to love one another in the family of God. Galatians 6:10 says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”.
Jesus’ attitude towards His Church - His own - was unique in the world. The Church is a unique organisation. There is nothing in the secular world which comes close to it. Think of the differences between a community and a club, for example. In a club, you associate with like-minded people, while a community is a place where some you don’t really want to associate with also live, and in this sense, the Church is a community, not a club. So our love for each other is based on Christ’s sacrificial love for us, not on how we feel about one another. There’s that old saying that you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. Well, we are family, and we are stuck with each other, whether we like it or not…
The Church is a community of grace which loves and serves with a common purpose - to bring glory to Jesus Christ who is the head of the Church. This truth should have a profound influence on our attitude toward the Church. As Christians, we are called to love the Church of Jesus Christ and the people in it. If we love the Shepherd, we are to love His flock. The Church is Christ’s own body and bride, so in the words of Ephesians 4:2-3, we should be, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
If we are not giving of ourselves to each other in sacrificial love within the Body of Christ, we are directly contributing to the inefficiency we so often see in the various ministries of the Church. Now of course, dangerous doctrines which are brought into the Church by wolves in sheep’s clothing must be swiftly dealt with. The Bible is clear on that, also when it comes to disciplining or even removing those who are deliberately divisive and are wilfully threatening the unity of the Church, but too often we allow our personal preferences and tastes to determine how involved or how uninvolved we will be in the life, work and witness of the Church. We are family, and we belong together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jesus’ self-sacrificial love is both the example and the motivation we have for serving and loving each other. He said in verse 15, “Just as I have done to you.” It is what He has done for us and to us which should stir our hearts to look beyond ourselves. Notice that Jesus not only loves us, but He demonstrated that love in practical ways. The ultimate act of His love was, of course, on the cross as He gave His life for those who put their faith in Him. Our love for others both inside and outside of the Church should also be demonstrated in practical ways, and when we are sensitive to the needs of others, we soon learn that there are countless ways of obeying Jesus’ command to do as He has done for us.
Notice that in verse 15, Jesus doesn’t call His disciples to do what He has done for them, but as He has done for them. This means that walking around with a bowl of water and a towel, washing and drying the feet of others doesn’t mean we have ticked that box. Jesus calls us to adopt and embrace a lifestyle of humble, sacrificial, and personal ministry. Again, this contradicts our selfish and sinful natures, but as the Holy Spirit empowers us, Christians are to live in a way that gladly stoops to perform even menial tasks that represent the love of Jesus to the world.
In verse 15 we see just one instance of more than 100 where believers are commanded to love or serve one another. One commentator calls it the “one-anothering” instructions to the Church. This is not an exhaustive list, but throughout the New Testament, we see this pattern. We are called to love one another (this command occurs at least 16 times), be devoted to one another, honour one another above ourselves, live in harmony with one another, build up one another, be likeminded towards one another, accept one another, admonish one another, greet one another, care for one another, serve one another, bear one another’s burdens, forgive one another, be patient with one another, speak the truth in love to one another, be kind and compassionate to one another, speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, submit to one another, look to the interests of one another, bear with one another, teach one another, comfort one another, encourage one another, exhort one another, stir up one another to love and good works, show hospitality to one another, employ the gifts that God has given us for the benefit of one another, clothe ourselves with humility towards one another, pray for one another… I could go on, but I hope we get the point.
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
This is what we should see in the Church. Instead of a proud, critical spirit, pointing out each others’ failings or weaknesses, we should be doing the opposite, not only because Jesus is our model, but because we are commanded to do so.
Speaking of this radical teaching of Jesus in John 13, the Canadian author Bruce Milne wrote in one of his books, “In a world desperately searching for the secret of community this passage speaks most powerfully. It is those who have been humbled at the cross and come to Christ as helpless sinners seeking His cleansing, who are the raw material of the community of humble servants. The cross is both the way of salvation and the key to community.”
We may wonder how well the disciples learned the lesson of Jesus’ example. The answer is found in the book of Acts. There we read that under their leadership, the early Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)
Verse 47 in chapter 2 is a key verse in the book of Acts. As the Church loves and serves, the proclamation of the Gospel and salvation of the lost takes centre stage. There are many practical needs out there, but the spiritual needs of each other are to be a special priority for the Church. Jesus’ washing of dirty feet was clearly connected to His atoning death on the cross. It was because of the shedding of His own blood that Jesus could say to the disciples, “You are clean” in verse 10. As we saw last week, He was referring not just to their feet here, but to their souls. And the cleansing of souls remains the greatest need of people today. This is why it is a mistake for a Church to respond to Jesus’ foot-washing by neglecting its Gospel mission in order to respond to social and material needs.
This is not to say we shouldn’t be moved by social ills like poverty, suffering, or injustice, but the ministries of the Church in dealing with these needs must flow out from, rather than replace the ministry of the Gospel for the salvation of souls.
Jesus says in verse 17, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” The world teaches the exact opposite, because surely it is by looking after number one that we find fulfilment and happiness, but as usual, the Christian life is very different.
So how are we blessed if we do these things, as Jesus says in verse 17? There are at least four things that Jesus wants us to know if we want to live blessed lives, which we find in this remarkable chapter in the Gospel of John, and we will look at them briefly.
1. First, we must know that Jesus is Lord. The whole premise of Jesus’ teaching is that His position as Teacher and Lord means we are to follow His example. Many Christians may call Jesus “Lord,” they don’t follow His example or obey His commands, which means they confuse their priorities with those of Jesus. When we try to do things for ourselves first, we cannot effectively love and serve others as we should.
2. Secondly, we must remember that Jesus made Himself a servant for us, and this should motivate us to do the same for others. He is the Lord of glory, yet, in obedience to the Father’s will, He humbled himself to die for us on the cross. This was the lesson of the foot-washing, and Jesus continues to serve us even now as He intercedes for us in Heaven.
3. The third point to bear in mind is what Jesus teaches in verse 16. “A a servant is not greater than his master.” Now of course, this sounds obvious, but Jesus’ point here is that in obeying His command to follow His example, we should not consider ourselves to be above the servant roles that were not beneath Jesus.
4. And finally, because we have been saved and served by Jesus, we are privileged to be sent to serve others in humility and love because of whom it is we represent.
The Bible teacher Joseph Ryan wrote, “There will be a quality of ‘sentness’ about our lives. Being a missionary doesn’t always mean that we go on mission trips. It may mean we are sent to the hospital to care for a friend who is lonely. We are sent next door with a pot of soup when someone is sick. We are sent to care for one another as the Lord has cared for us, as the Lord gave up His rights. We have been commissioned, initiated into the fraternity of the water basin, the order of the towel.”
Jesus said in verse 17 that if we know these things we will be blessed, but he also said we will be blessed if we do them. Not only must we know, but we must also do, knowing that we are called to be a blessing, just as we have been blessed.
Mere head knowledge is not enough, but must be backed up by commitment in our lives. Now, this doesn’t not mean that our works are the basis of our acceptance by God. Rather, they are the evidence of the true faith by which we are justified, because trust and obedience are inseparable. We are declared righteous by faith in Christ alone, but those who have been justified demonstrate their faith by loving Christ and seeking to keep His commandments.
Jesus begins verse 16 by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” He is truth, and He came to teach us the truth. What is the truth? The truth is that the only way truly to be blessed and achieve real happiness in this life is to be served by Christ Himself in His death for our sins, and then to follow His example of humble servanthood for His glory.
Homegroup Study Notes
Read John 13:12-17
The New Testament is full of commands and instructions to Christians to love and serve one another.
Which examples can you think of?
Why do you think we find it a challenge to put others before ourselves?
Read Philippians 2:3-5
Jesus is, of course, the ultimate example of servanthood, and in these verses, we are called to have the same attitude as Jesus.
Knowing that we will continue to struggle with our own selfish ambitions, how do we “wash one another’s feet?”
Read Acts 2:42-47
We know from the Gospel accounts that the disciples often argued amongst themselves, seeking to outdo one another, but after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus we see a radical change in their attitudes.
What caused this change, and what can we learn from them as the Church today?