TO THE END
John 13:1, 12-17 NKJV
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, 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 should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
What struck me as I was reading this chapter was the phrase, “He loved them to the end.”
Jesus was facing the most difficult situation that He had ever encountered. The Scripture tells us that God had put all things into His hands. He knew that He would be facing the cross in just a few hours. You would think that anyone with a mission of this magnitude staring Him in the face would be looking for some time away from people. Some alone time. Some time to gear up and steel Himself for the massive undertaking of the cross.
But instead of sending the disciples away, He loved them to the end and washed their feet. Everyone’s feet, which included Judas. He knew Judas was about to betray Him. The Scriptures had spoken of this betrayal, and now Jesus knew who it was. But He loved them to the end, including Judas.
Remember that the job of washing feet was a low-level job typically reserved for the least servant in the house. But Jesus washed their feet and then shared with the disciples why He had done this for them. Jesus reminded His disciples that they referred to Him as Teacher and Lord, which was appropriate. Evidently, washing their feet, an extremely humbling act, did not change His status as their Teacher and Lord. But the foot washing gave Jesus a platform for establishing a new example for His disciples to follow.
If the Lord and Teacher could wash their feet, then they should wash one another’s feet. This is a prime example of leading by example. If Jesus could do this for them, then they could do this for one another. Actually, they had an even better reason for washing the feet of others. Jesus outranked them. They were the servants, not the Master, so if washing feet was not beneath the Master, it was certainly not beneath the servant. It was challenging for the disciples to have Jesus wash their feet. Peter even refused until Jesus corrected him. But now that the leader had done it, they were pretty much painted into a corner. Now, they had no excuse. The disciples knew they were not above Jesus. They knew they were not greater than Jesus—no excuses and no way out.
Jesus did add a kicker at the end. If they knew what to do, they would be blessed if they did it. The word blessed is also translated as happy. If the disciples knew they were to love and serve one another, then they would be happy if they did it. After all, Jesus did.
APPLICATION
There are a couple of ways we can look at this passage. One is the literal washing of one another’s feet. I have done this on occasion, and it can be powerful and very humbling.
The other way is to look at the willingness to love and serve those in the Body of Christ and not try to lord it over anyone. Walking in love always has a give to it. I wonder how many problems could be solved between believers by adopting a more humble position.
Jesus washed feet for a reason bigger than creating a church tradition. He was establishing a church position—the position of a servant.
PRAYER
Lord, may I learn to love and serve others as You did. All the way to the end.