John 24 Washing feet John 13.1-15
WASHING FEET—THE INCARNATION
#24
This reading from John 13:1-15 will serve as the basis for this lesson and the next three lessons.
Bible Reading
“1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:1-15).
Sacrificial Love
Nobody likes a demotion. No player likes to lose their starting status. People don't generally like to go backward, make less money, get less than they deserve, or work hard for nothing. However, sometimes people do.
They may be underappreciated. They may work hard but be incompetent or be under-performing. Or maybe they chose to do less, make less, or "be" less at some job because their priorities are changing. Some willingly take demotions, less pay, fewer responsibilities, and work fewer hours so they can do more of what they care about – spend time with their family, travel, read, or simply enjoy life and leisure more.
Taking a "demotion" is something virtually nobody wants unless they want something else more. It has to be for something important. Jesus willingly took less than He deserved. In a way that none of us will ever be able to understand or grasp, He took less than He deserved. He didn't do it for nothing.
There was something important to Him, motivating Him to take less than He deserved ... love. Love motivated Jesus. A level and depth of love the world has never seen before. After washing the disciple's feet, Jesus says,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
This "new commandment" is to love just as Jesus loved. An active, sacrificial, service-oriented love, a love that can change the world.
Incarnation vs Exaltation
Christology is a theological term which describes a field of study focused on the origin, nature, and personhood of Jesus. Christology addresses topics like the Hypostatic Union (the nature of the union of Jesus' humanity and divinity), Aryanism, Adoptionism, etc.
In New Testament scholarship, various books are described as having a High Christology if Jesus is pictured as divine and equal to God (like the Gospel of John) or as having a Low Christology if Jesus is pictured as merely human (often said of the Gospels of Mark and Luke),
Richard Hays's book Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness presents an excellent case that all four Gospels picture Jesus as divine and the embodiment of the God of Israel.
Adoptionism is a form of Exaltation Christology that advocates Jesus was born simply as a man but was adopted to become divine (usually at His baptism or resurrection). He was exalted to divinity. This is the idea of promotion. Jesus was faithful to God and was promoted because of it.
The Gospel of John does not teach an Exaltation Christology. John teaches quite the opposite, an Incarnation Christology, which is the idea Jesus was already divine. "The Word was with God and was God" (John 1:1), but came to earth to become human. He became incarnate, human; "the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us" (John 1:14). This would be a demotion, a willing, self-sacrificial demotion.
Jesus' life was about willful demotion for the sake of love. The incarnation itself is a complete act of self-giving love. The cross is the most vivid, heart-wrenching, and powerful picture of self-giving love that has ever been seen.
In between those two events were 33 years of life, a life spent in selflessness, kindness, service, and sacrifice. Paul, while possibly quoting an early Christian hymn, writes about the incarnation, life, and death of Jesus in this way:
Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).
Demoted to Slavery
As Jesus was preparing to depart from His disciples, as He was preparing for his impending execution on the Roman cross, He gave them a unique and beautiful display of willful demotion. He got down on his hands and knees, took a rag, took upon Himself the job of a slave, and with their feet in His hands, began to wash. Jesus washed their feet.
The Word who was with God and was God washed their feet. God washed man's feet. Dirty man. Sinful man. Man who would soon abandon Him. Man who would soon deny Him. Man who would soon betray Him. God-loving took the dirty foot of Judas, a traitor and thief, a son of perdition, and scrubbed it clean.
Jesus is God. Jesus is Lord and Teacher and Master. Yet He was not above becoming the slave who washed men's feet. Just like the signs of Jesus are meant to teach important and valuable lessons, so is this.
When He finished washing their feet, He asked, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 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" (John 13:12-15).
That concluding challenge from Jesus sounds a lot like what He says later in this chapter: "You love one another; just as I have loved you" (John 13:34). Love, serve, and wash one another, because Jesus loves, serves, and washes us.
Jesus, as Lord and Teacher, was not above any task. Nothing was too demeaning. Nothing was too lowly or dirty for Him. So, what jobs are beneath you? What are you unwilling to do because "that's not my responsibility?” Are you willing to take a demotion?
If we ever feel too proud, too educated, too wealthy, too important, too clean, too smart, or too busy to get on your hands and knees and wash a dirty foot, clean a dirty floor, or work on some lowly unglorifying task, perhaps we need to remember the love, service, and humility of Jesus. Remember the incarnation and the cross. Remember the dirty feet in between.
WASHING FEET—LET GO AND LET GOD
How to See God
As we noted, the Gospel of John teaches an Incarnation Christology, meaning Jesus existed as God prior to becoming human flesh. The Logos was with God and was God and created all things with God. So, anything you see Jesus doing, you see God doing. He is not merely teaching you about God, He is showing you God.
One of the problems we sometimes run into is that we have concepts of who God is, and we try to fit Jesus into those concepts. I think a better approach is to forget everything you thought you knew about God. Then, look at Jesus. Learn God from Jesus and fit everything else into that.
"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him" (John 1:18).
This passage says we haven't seen God, so if you want to get to know Him, look at Jesus. He has explained or literally exegeted Him.
This is why when Philip tells Jesus, "Show us the Father, and it is enough." Jesus responds by saying, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me ... Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me." (John 14:8-11). Or, consider the unfathomable claim, "I and the Father are One" (John 10:30).
If your view of God is inconsistent with the life and teachings of Jesus, then change your view of God. If you read passages that depict God differently than Jesus, then change the way you read those passages.
A remarkable aspect of early Christian belief is how Jesus entirely changed the way the church viewed God and the way they read the Old Testament.
Paul says Christians can now read with "unveiled faces" (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Luke says Jesus opened His disciples' minds to "understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44-45, 27).
After Jesus cleansed the temple and quoted Psalm 69:9, “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” John says it wasn't until after the resurrection that "His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken" (John 2:22).
So when you see Jesus doing something, you're learning about God. You're watching God. When Jesus washes feet, you're learning God washes feet.
Why Wash Feet?
In 1st century Palestine, foot-washing had a practical and beneficial purpose. In fact, it still does in many parts of the world. It's both an ancient and modern blessing.
All the way back in Genesis 18, Abraham had three visitors (one of whom was the Lord) and made sure they got rest, food, and foot-washings (Gen 18:4-5).
Walking on old dusty roads in worn-down sandals, unable to hop in a car, sit in a cushioned seat, or wear cotton socks and Sonoma shoes, there was little more pleasurable or comforting than to arrive at your destination, have a young servant come over, remove your sandals, take a bowl of clean water and a towel, and rub your feet clean.
Why wash feet? It was a kindness of genuine practical value. What about today? It can still be a kindness. However, it is also a powerful symbol. A symbol that reinforces the mindset of servitude we are to have towards one another.
When the Pope washes feet at a juvenile detention center outside of Rome, it illustrates something important.
In the same way a sermon (hopefully) encourages you to take a message and apply it, foot-washing can be a call to go out and find ways to serve.
Two important reasons stand out as to why Jesus did this. The whole passage begins by saying, "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" (John 13:1).
Jesus washed His disciples' feet, quite simply, because He loved them. We know He loved "the beloved disciple." But He also loved Thomas, and Andrew, and Philip. He loved Peter and, in this same chapter, predicts he will deny Him (John 13:38). He loved Judas, who, as we will observe in more depth in the next lesson, would get up immediately following the foot-washing and betray Him. Jesus loved them, every unworthy one of them, and served them.
The second reason is stated right after the foot-washing when Jesus is explaining Himself.
"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" (John 13:14-15).
The disciples are going to have some important roles in the church. People will know them. They will have authority and respect. They need to remember what it is all about.
Ministry is not ever about becoming famous, getting praise, or feeling important. It is about foot-washing. It is about kindness and service and following the example of Jesus.
Let God Wash Your Feet
Putting all of this together, remember Jesus is how we see God. Jesus' love led Him to humbly take on the role of a servant, usually a low-ranking female servant, and benevolently wash the feet of His disciples. That's the kind of God who loves us.
That's the kind of God we serve. As we imitate Jesus and follow His example, we're showing that God to the world.
When Jesus started to wash Peter's feet, Peter protested, "Never shall You wash my feet!" (John 13:8). Peter had a social hierarchical structure in mind. The Lord shall never be a servant to me! This may have been humility on Peter's part, but it was misguided.
So often, we want to reject an offer of kindness. We feel uncomfortable. Unworthy. That's the wrong response. Accept people's kindness and then give it to others. Instead of rejecting or negating kindness, multiply it! Accept the love of God given to you, and give it to others! Let God wash your feet, then go wash somebody else's.