Reflections on
John 13
John 13:1-20 - Jesus Washingthe Disciples' Feet
This passage has three sections: verses 1-3form an introduction, verses 4-11 narratethe foot washing, and verses 12-20 presentinterpretation of the foot washing
Jesus knew that his hour had come
; it was time
to depart from this world,
but
heloved
the disciples. As a result there wasserious work to do with the disciples on hisfinal night. Jesus washes the disciples' feet in theconfidence of his relationship to the Father.He knew the
Father had given everything
to him; he knew
he had come from God
;he knew he was returning to God. With thatknowledge Jesus was able to lay aside thesymbols of earthly power and serve thedisciples' need. Judas had no such confidence with theFather. He had no identity arising from atrusting relationship with a heavenly Father. As a result he had to grasp and claw to getanything he wanted. He lived in constantcompetition. He had to get other peoplebefore they got him. A Judas cannot serve;he can only grasp for a power that cannotbe obtained by grasping (see Philippians 2:6-8). It is only when we come to understand who we are in relation to God that we cantruly serve. When we are confident of ourstanding in Him then we have no need toplay earthly power games and we are free toperform the most menial tasks in service toothers. The foot washing arose from a very specificcultural context. In Palestine in Jesus' time,almost all travel was done by walking; there was almost no pavement, and the footwear was sandals. Dirty feet were the inevitableresult. To wash one's feet was not a highpriority for common people in the ordinary course of events. But for special occasions, what we would call formal dining eventsespecially, foot washing brought hygiene,comfort, a touch of class, and a great senseof refreshment. A good host provided thisgracious service for guests on arrival. It wasdone by one of the lowest ranking servantsbecause it was not considered a pleasanttask! Jewish documents indicate thatoccasionally a student would wash hisrabbi's feet. The fact that the meal was already begunand no foot washing had happened indicatesthat the disciple(s) responsible for setting upthe meal had failed to get someone toperform this menial task. John does notcomment on why the disciples' feet had notbeen washed. He simply tells us that Jesusbegan the process. There is nocondemnation stated for the one who failedin his responsibility. But in that culture Jesus was the last person in the room that shouldhave been washing people's feet. Thedisciples' human understanding of statusand rights was being turned upside down. Inthe Kingdom of God roles are reversed andhuman understandings of status and rightsare abolished.Peter's failure to understand is evident in hisrefusal to submit to what Jesus was doing. Jesus' reply in verse 7 indicates that trueunderstanding could only come later.Literally, the Greek says understanding willonly come "after these things." Theimplication is that all the events of Jesus'death, resurrection, and giving of the Spirit would have to occur before Peter couldunderstand.Peter did not want to face the changes in hislife that following a servant Messiah wouldmean. Jesus clearly understood that Peter'sreal problem was Peter not Jesus, as hisreply in verse 8 indicates.
If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.
Acceptance of Jesus is all or none. Wecannot pick and choose the aspects of Christ and thus of Christlikeness that aremost appealing to us and reject the rest.Peter's demand for a whole bath instead of just a foot washing shows that he is stilltrying to control Jesus rather thansubmitting. Jesus wanted to wash Peter'sfeet and Peter was resisting. The issue hereis obedience; submission to Christ is what was at stake. Until we submit to the will of Christ, until we obey, we have no part withhim. The second point in verse 10 is that
cleansing is Jesus' goal for us
andit is related to obedience.
REFLECTIONS
:
God knows us completely, as Jesus
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