John 13

Humor me, instead of starting with vs 1, start at vs 21 and read through the end of Ch 13. Afterward, then read vs 1 through vs 20.

What strikes out at you or what do you conclude?

Many people when they read Ch 13, they think about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. They conclude that Jesus took on the selfless act of drudgery. This drudgery, which Oswald Chambers defines as “one of the finest touchstones of character there is”, was reserved for non-Jewish slaves who were responsible for washing the dirty, nasty feet of those who entered a home due to wearing sandals out and about. Here the most incarnate God was doing the most desperate form of drudgery. To take it one step further, Jesus then instructs His disciples to do as He had done and wash one another’s feet. Said another way: “serve”.

Others conclude that the washing of the disciples’ feet symbolically was the forgiveness of sins that through His death washed sin away completely for those who believe. Taken further, Jesus declares that those who are cleansed through His death, also symbolically need daily cleansing of their sins through “frequent washing”.
Others hear Jesus give a new commandment to His disciples that they love one another just as Jesus had loved them and by that love others will know whose disciples they belong to.

If any of your conclusions were from above then you are absolutely correct! Earlier, I asked us to start with Judas in vs 21-39 and end with vs Jesus in vs 1-20 so that we could hone in on the betrayal announcement and then hone in on the love that ensued.

I wanted us focus in on the disciple that betrayed Jesus in Ch 13 - Judas Iscariot. Judas fulfilled prophecy by raising his heel against Jesus which eventually leads to his own death through suicide. We all know the story, but let’s look closer into Jesus’s washing of His disciples’s feet. Jesus knew as he entered the upper room that Judas was to betray Him that evening. He rose from supper and washed the disciples’ feet. He didn’t wash just 11 of the disciples and excluded Judas. He washed all 12 including Judas, His enemy at that time.

Wow! Our most incarnate God just took upon the lowly servanthood of washing the feet of the person who was about to betray Him. Jesus epitomizes His new commandment that He had just given in the upper room. Jesus was practicing what He preached. He was loving on and even serving His own enemies. Jesus did this for He was God. For us, we can’t do this without the help of God. Hating our enemies comes naturally through this world, but through the Grace of our God and through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, we too can love our enemies just as Jesus did. To dig deeper into what Jesus commands us as it pertains to our enemies, read Luke 6:27-36 and/or Matthew 5:43-48.

Jesus, on this day, may we all follow your example on serving others and loving our enemies. Amen!