6The Humility of Love  (John 13:1–17)

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (13:1–17)

Contemporary society is obsessed with love. From romantic movies to popular songs to cheap paperback novels, romance is a primary theme in both entertainment and in everyday conversations. It is also big business, as newspaper columnists, talk show hosts, and Internet websites offer pertinent advice to the lovelorn. But despite all the world’s talk about love, very few people actually understand the real thing.

The modern world’s version of love is unabashedly narcissistic, totally self-focused, and shamelessly manipulative. It sees others merely as a means of self-gratification. Not surprisingly, relationships between selfish people usually do not last. If a current partner fails to live up to expectations (or they find someone more exciting), they move on. People are takers, not givers; humility is considered a weakness; selfishness a virtue.

In sharp contrast to that self-centered kind of love, the Bible teaches that the essence of love is self-sacrifice. Instead of tearing others down, biblical love seeks to build them up (1 Cor. 8:1); instead of first pursuing its own good, it pursues the good and interests of other people (1 Cor. 10:24); instead of seeking to have its needs met, it seeks to meet the needs of another (Gal. 5:13; Heb. 6:10).

The Bible’s teaching about love reaches its pinnacle in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, the most magnificent description of love ever penned:

To love like that requires above all else humility, for only humble people can put the interests of others ahead of their own (Phil. 2:3–4). Thus Paul exhorted the Ephesians to act “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). Jesus taught that those who humbly love others will be exalted, not those who promote themselves (Luke 14:11; 18:14;); humility, not pride, is the mark of true greatness (Matt. 18:4; 20:26; 23:11) and brings God’s blessing (Ps. 25:9; Prov. 3:34 [NKJV];22:4;Isa.57:15;66:2; 1 Peter 5:5).

While 1 Corinthians 13 is the supreme description of love, the Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme example of love. The most significant way that He showed His love was, of course, by dying as a sacrifice for sinners when “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). As the Lord Himself said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Paul reminded the Ephesians, “Christ… loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma … Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:2, 25). “We know love by this,” John wrote, “that He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16).

Because He is by nature “gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29; cf. Zech. 9:9; 2 Cor. 10:1), Christ exhibited humble love throughout His entire earthly ministry. That love is notably exemplified in the incident described in this passage, the washing of the disciples’ feet. It is a fitting introduction to a new section of John’s gospel—one that features Christ’s sacrificial death.

In the prologue to his gospel, John had informed his readers that there would be two reactions to the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of His people (Israel) would not accept Him; though “He came to His own … those who were His own did not receive Him” (1:11). In the first twelve chapters, John recorded the tragic story of Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. But though the nation as a whole rejected Christ, some individuals did receive Him (1:12). It is to that “little flock” (Luke 12:32) that Jesus here turned in the final hours of His earthly ministry.

As chapter 13 opens, Jesus’ public ministry to Israel has ended. After issuing a final invitation to believe in Him, Jesus “went away and hid Himself from them” (12:36; cf. the exposition of this verse in the previous chapter of this volume). In chapters 13 through 17, Jesus turned from public ministry to those who rejected Him to private ministry to those who received Him. He gave a practical demonstration of His continuing love for the disciples (13:1–17), assured them of the hope of heaven (14:1–3), guaranteed them power for ministry (14:12) and provision for their needs (14:13–14), and promised them the Holy Spirit (14:16–17; 15:26; 16:7), divine truth in the Word of God (14:26; 16:13), peace (14:27), and joy (15:11; 16:22). The common theme that runs throughout these five chapters is Christ’s love for His own. As His earthly ministry drew to a close on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus sought to reassure them of that enduring love He had for them.

The account of the first expression of His love, the washing of the disciples’ feet, may be discussed under four headings. We see the sublime riches of Christ’s love, the satanic rejection of His love, the shocking revelation of His love, and the suitable response to His love.

THE SUBLIME RICHES OF CHRIST’S LOVE

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (13:1)

The Feast of the Passover was the annual Jewish festival commemorating God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt. The name derived from the angel of death’s passing over the houses of the Hebrews when he killed the firstborn of the Egyptians (Ex. 12:7, 12–13). This Passover would be the last divinely authorized one. From this point on there would be a new memorial—not one recalling the lambs’ blood on the doorposts but the blood of the Lamb of God (1:29, 36; Rev. 5:6; 6:9; 7:10, 17; 14:4, 10; 15:3; 19:9;22:1, 3) “poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt.26:28). The Last Supper celebrated by the Lord with His disciples gave Him opportunity to use the elements of the Passover meal to form a transition from the old covenant Passover to the new covenant Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:23–26).

An apparent discrepancy exists at this point between John’s chronology and that of the Synoptic Gospels. The latter clearly state that the Last Supper was a Passover meal (Matt. 26:17–19; Mark 14:12–16;Luke 22:7–15). John 18:28, however, records that the Jewish leaders “led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early [Friday morning; the day of the crucifixion]; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.” Further, according to John 19:14 Jesus’ trial and crucifixion took place on “the day of preparation for the Passover,” not the day after the eating of the Passover meal. Thus the Lord was crucified at the same time that the Passover lambs were being killed (cf. 19:36; Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12). The challenge, then, is to explain how Jesus and the disciples could have eaten the Passover meal on Thursday evening if the Jewish leaders had not yet eaten it on Friday morning.

The answer lies in understanding that the Jews had two different methods of reckoning days. Ancient Jewish sources suggest that Jews from the northern part of Israel (including Galilee, where Jesus and most of the Twelve were from) counted days from sunrise to sunrise. Most of the Pharisees apparently also used that method. On the other hand, the Jews in the southern region of Israel counted days from sunset to sunset. That would include the Sadducees (who of necessity lived in the vicinity of Jerusalem because of their connection with the temple). Though no doubt confusing at times, that dual method of reckoning days would have had practical benefits at Passover, allowing the feast to be celebrated on two consecutive days. That would have eased the crowded conditions in Jerusalem, especially in the temple, where all the lambs would not have had to be killed on the same day.

Thus, there is no contradiction between John and the Synoptics. Being Galileans, Jesus and the Twelve would have viewed Passover day as running from sunrise on Thursday to sunrise on Friday. They would have eaten their Passover meal on Thursday evening. The Jewish leaders (the Sadducees), however, would have viewed it as beginning at sunset on Thursday and ending at sunset on Friday. They would have eaten their Passover meal on Friday evening. (For a further discussion of this issue, see Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977], 74–90; Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, A Harmony of the Gospels [Chicago: Moody, 1979], 321–22).

John repeated Jesus’ declaration that His hour had come (12:23); no longer was it future as in 2:4; 7:30; and 8:20 (cf. 7:6, 8). The Lord knew that the time had come for Him to depart out of this world to the Father. He was in full control of everything that was happening, and was never a victim of circumstances, or of men’s evil schemes.

Though He yearned to return to His full glory in the Father’s presence (cf. 17:5), Jesus never wavered in His focus on loving His own (cf. 10:29) who were in the world. The Lord loved them to the end. Telos (end) means “perfection,” or “completeness,” and signifies that Jesus loves His own with the fullest measure of love. There is a general sense in which God loves the world (John 3:16) of lost sinners (Matt. 5:44–45;Titus 3:4), but He loves His own with a perfect, eternal, redeeming love—a love “which surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19). The words of the hymn writer capture the Lord’s marvelous love for believers:

In Romans 8:35–39 Paul exulted,

Even the imminent arrival of His own death could not separate His disciples from His love. That reality becomes even more wonderfully clear in His prayer in the seventeenth chapter.

THE SATANIC REJECTION OF CHRIST’S LOVE

During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, (13:2)

The attention abruptly shifts from the brilliant light of Christ’s love to the satanic darkness of Judas’s heart. Even before this final supper began, the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him. The contrast between Christ’s love and Judas’s hatred is stark; the latter provides the black backdrop against which the former appears all the more glorious.

By humbly washing Judas’s feet, which He would shortly do, Jesus met the greatest injury and insult imaginable with humble love. Consistent with His command to show love to one’s enemies (Matt. 5:44), He did just that. But tragically, Judas was unmoved by the Lord’s manifestation of love for him; the same act that drew the other disciples to Christ repelled him.

Judas’s greed and ambition had long since opened the door to the Devil’s influence (cf. 12:4–6). Although Satan inspired his betrayal of Jesus Christ, Judas was fully responsible for his heinous act. His own evil heart desired the same thing Satan did—Jesus’ death. Satan and Judas were in complete accord; they were coconspirators in the plot to kill Jesus Christ. Soon, Judas would be under Satan’s complete control (v. 27) and would carry out his plan to betray the Son of God (v. 30; cf. Matt. 26:24). (For more information on Judas, see chapter 7 of this volume.)

THE SHOCKING REVELATION OF CHRIST’S LOVE

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” (13:3–11)

John’s declaration that Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into His hands (cf. 3:35; 17:2; Matt. 11:27; 28:18), and that He had come forth from God (cf. 3:13; 5:37; 6:46, 57; 7:29; 8:18, 42; 12:49; 16:27–28; 17:8) and was going back to God (cf. 6:62; 7:33; 14:12, 28; 16:5, 10, 17, 28; 17:11, 13) reiterates and amplifies the apostle’s earlier statement that Jesus was about to return to the Father (v. 1). By stressing Jesus’ exaltation, John revealed the depth of His humility. Incredibly, incomprehensibly, the glorious Creator and Ruler of the universe was about to humbly wash the disciples’ dirty feet—a menial task reserved for the lowest of slaves (even Jewish slaves were not required to perform it, only Gentiles). “With such power and status at his disposal, we might have expected him to defeat the devil in an immediate and flashy confrontation, and to devastate Judas with an unstoppable blast of divine wrath. Instead, he washes his disciples’ feet, including the feet of the betrayer” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 462).

Having walked through the dirt streets of Jerusalem to the upper room, the disciples’ feet, protected only by sandals, would naturally have been dirty, and while they were reclining for a long meal, offensive. Since there was no servant there to do it, one of the Twelve should have volunteered to wash the feet of the others. But the Lord’s admonition, “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:11) had fallen on deaf ears. Instead of humbling themselves, the disciples were continuing their ongoing debate over which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24; cf. Mark 9:34), and angling for the prominent positions in the kingdom (Matt.20:20–24). That being the case, the last thing any of them did was to perform the task of the lowest slave (though they no doubt would have been happy to wash the Lord’s feet).

And so supper began with everyone’s feet still unwashed, as each of the Twelve waited for someone else to take action. Finally, in a stunning display of humility that was also a pointed rebuke of the disciples’ pride-ful ambition, the incarnate Son of God got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. The rebuked, embarrassed, and chastened disciples watched in awkward, painful silence as the Lord, clad as a slave, knelt before each of them in turn and washed their soiled feet.

Not surprisingly Simon Peter, never at a loss for words, was the first to protest. When Jesus came to him, Peter, displaying the embarrassment of them all, asked incredulously, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” The disciples were still fervently expecting the inauguration of the kingdom (cf. Acts 1:6), and Peter was appalled at this act of self-abasement on the part of the divine King. For a superior to wash the feet of an inferior was unheard of in either Jewish or Roman culture. But Peter’s outburst reflected his ignorance, as the Lord’s reply, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter,” indicates. Only later, after Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, would Peter (and the rest of the disciples) finally realize that in the incarnation “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Many years later Peter would write,

As he had done once before (Matt. 16:22), Peter rashly presumed to tell the Lord what to do, declaring emphatically (there is a double negative in the Greek text), “Never shall You wash my feet!” Though Peter’s modesty may appear praiseworthy, the Lord desires obedience above all else (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). Once again the Lord patiently answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Jesus’ reply served two purposes. First, it corrected Peter’s (and the rest of the Twelve’s) misunderstanding of His messianic mission. In His first advent, Jesus did not come as the conquering King but as the selfless sacrifice for the sins of His people (Isa. 53:4–6, 10–12; Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:26; 10:12); to humble “Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Peter needed to accept the reality of the Lord’shumiliation.

But the Lord’s words also mean that only those cleansed by Him have a relationship to Him. Washing is a common biblical metaphor for spiritual cleansing (cf. Num. 19:17–19; Ps. 51:2; Isa. 4:4; Ezek. 36:24–27; Zech. 13:1;Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5; Heb. 10:22), and only those who place their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and confess their sins are cleansed by Him (John 15:3; 1 John 1:7–9) and are united to Him in eternal life.

In keeping with his impulsive nature, Peter immediately jumped to the opposite extreme (cf. Matt. 14:28 with 14:30; 16:16 with 16:22;26:33, 35 with 26:69–75), exclaiming, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Though he may have missed the Lord’s point and thought He was referring to a physical washing, whatever Jesus was offering, Peter wanted all of it. Continuing His spiritual application of the principle of washing, Jesus said to Peter, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet.” In physical terms, those who have already bathed do not need to take another bath every time their feet get dirty. They need only to wash their feet because they are completely clean. Similarly the complete cleansing of the redeemed at salvation never needs to be repeated. God has graciously justified and imputed Christ’s righteousness to believers (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8–9), and His atoning death provides complete forgiveness of all their sins (Col. 2:13;Titus 2:14; 1 John 1:7, 9). But they still need the daily cleansing for sanctification from the defilement of the sin that remains in them (Phil. 2:12; 3:12–14).

Jesus then assured the disciples, “You are clean,” since they had experienced the cleansing of redemption. But that was not true of all of them—there was one notable exception. Since the Lord knew the one who was betraying Him (though the disciples did not at this point; cf. 13:21–22), for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” The one who was not clean was, of course, Judas Iscariot, the one who was betraying Him. The Lord’s words were also a last appeal and warning to Judas who was on the brink of executing his wicked scheme. But Judas would not be deterred.

Jesus was not taken by surprise by Judas’s treachery. Long before that night He had said regarding him, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). All aspects of Christ’s death—including Judas’s betrayal—were part of God’s predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). As noted earlier, however, that does not excuse Judas of personal responsibility for his wicked act (Matt. 26:24).

THE SUITABLE RESPONSE TO CHRIST’S LOVE

So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (13:12–17)

Having washed the disciples’ feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, Jesus taught them the lesson He wanted them to learn. The theological truths pictured in verses 7–11 (Jesus’ humiliation at His first coming and the once-for-all cleansing of justification versus the daily cleansing of sanctification), though of great importance, are not the main truths the Lord sought to communicate. The primary principle Jesus wanted the disciples to learn was the importance of humble, loving service. That becomes clear because He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” This was a crucial lesson for the disciples, constantly bickering over who was the greatest, to learn. If the Lord of Glory was willing to humble Himself and take on the role of the lowest of slaves, how could the disciples do any less? Jesus had once asked, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46); here He was in effect saying, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not follow My example?”

Some argue from this passage that foot washing is an ordinance for the church, along with baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion). But Jesus said, “I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you,” not, “what I did to you.” Further, “Wise theologians and expositors have always been reluctant to raise to the level of universal rite something that appears only once in Scripture” (Carson, John, 468). (The only other reference to foot washing, 1 Tim. 5:10, is not in the context of a church rite, but of good deeds performed by individuals.)

To elevate the outward act of foot washing to the status of an ordinance is to minimize the important lesson Jesus was teaching. The Lord gave an example of humility, not of foot washing; His concern was for the inner attitude, not the outward rite. The latter is meaningless apart from the former.

To refuse to follow Jesus’ example of humble service is to pride-fully elevate oneself above Him, since a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him (cf.similar sayings in 15:20; Matt. 10:24; Luke 6:40; 22:27). No servant dares to regard any task as beneath him if his master has performed it.

The Lord’s concluding thought, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them,” reflects the biblical truth that blessing flows from obedience. The opening words of the Psalms emphasize that truth:

Psalm 119:1 declares, “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord” (cf. Ps. 128:1). In Proverbs 16:20 Solomon declared, “He who gives attention to the word will find good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” “My mother and My brothers,” Jesus declared, “are these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). Later in Luke’s gospel, He affirmed, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:28).

This passage reveals one essential way that believers can obey God and receive His blessing: by following the example of His Son. “The one who says he abides in Him,” John wrote in his first epistle, “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Serving others in the humility of love is imitating Jesus Christ (cf. Phil. 2:5).