John 13:1-20

Part I

Intro

Welcome

It’s so good to be back

Gwen and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary

We went to Italy for a week!

(Credit card points)

We spent the majority of our time in Venice.

Beautiful city full of rich history and a lot of picturesque scenes.

Photos really don’t do it justice.

As beautiful as Venice is, it’s as equally confusing.

Venice looks like one island, but in reality it’s actually 118 small islands that are separated by canals and connected by bridges and full of narrow alleyways, limited cell service, and more Italian than English.

They have a fairly robust public transportation service comprised of boats that go various stations along the larger canals.

Preparing for this trip, I studied a lot.

I watched countless YouTube videos, and I read everything I could find on the Vaperretto system.

Yet when we landed, the first thing we did was buy the wrong boat ticket to get from the airport to Central Venice.

Then I suggested that we get in the wrong line, delaying our arrival to Central Venice by about 45 minutes.

You see, I had a lot of information. I read about it, I watched videos, I “knew” how the system worked.

But it wasn’t until we were actually there and EXPERIENCING Venice’s public transit system did we being to understand how it really worked.

I think the disciples felt like this a lot.

They had Jesus in front of them.

Better than YouTube and travel blogs.

Yet, we see this with Peter a lot, just when he thinks he understands

Jesus makes it clear that he doesn’t yet

Tonight we’re going to see an example of Jesus pulling the threads together.

This is Jesus’ last night with the disciples.

They’re in the Upper Room, they’ve broken bread, and Jesus begins washing the disciples’ feet.

As we’ll see, Jesus was foreshadowing something for the disciples.

They couldn’t fully quite comprehend what it was that they were seeing, Jesus knows that, so he encourages them:

“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Tonight I want to help you to confidently understand what Jesus was doing that night in the Upper Room.

I want to give you three situations, from the context of biblical history, where washing the feet was necessary.

Then I want to examine how Christ fulfills all three of these as he washes the feet of the disciples.

And by the end of the night, hopefully YOU will understand.

Open your Bibles to John 13.

Scripture Reading

John 13:1–20 (NIV)

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

Three reasons to wash your feet in ancient Israel:

You enter a home or you’re about to eat/sleep

You are no longer in a period deep mourning

You need purification

3 Reasons to Wash

You enter a home or you’re about to eat/sleep

Most of you probably have never been to the middle east

Here are some photos to help you understand what they were working with

DIRT

There’s lots of dirt.

And they walked around in ancient Crocs, so their feet were dirty.

There was a very practical purpose for washing as you entered a home, before you ate, or before you climbed into bed.

This is similar to us today as we wash our hands before eating.

For me, I simply cannot lay in bed if I sweat that day, which in Virginia, during the summer, happens every day!

It’s impossible to not sweat, and if you’ve figured out the secret to not sweating, feel free to share your wisdom.

I just have to rinse off.

Or if you walk around in sandals all day, hopefully you wash your crusty feet off before you get dirt all over your clean white bed sheets.

So there’s a practical nature for cleaning off.

That’s the first reason you wash your feet.

And for further context, we’ll get into this more later:

At the time, it was customary that the owner of a house provide a water basin for anybody who entered into their home.

Guests would wash their feet before entering the house

It’s the ancient equivalent of my filipino mom telling you to take off your shoes before crossing the threshold into her home.

For homes of even higher nobility or stature, there were servants who were tasked with the duty of washing the feet of guests as they entered into the home.

Or washing the feet of guests as a meal commenced.

You are no longer in a period of deep mourning

2 Samuel 19 --- Mephibosheth was mourning David, he did not tend to his feet.

2 Samuel 19:24 NIV

Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

David sinned by sleeping with Bathsheba, a married woman, and then murdering her husband, an honorable man.

Nathan, a prophet, prophesied that upon David would befall calamity from within his own house.

His son Absalom was the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Absalom attempts to usurp David, and David flees.

Eventually Absalom dies, and David returns to Jerusalem.

Mephibosheth is Saul’s grandson. Saul was the first king of Israel (basically all of 1 Samuel is about him).

After Saul’s death, instead of eliminating all of Saul’s bloodline to protect his throne, David adopted Mephibosheth into his family, giving him a place to eat at the King’s table.

Although the Bible doesn’t state it outright, we can presume that Mephibosheth tended to his feet after him and David had their moment and Mephibosheth was no longer in his period of mourning over David.

You need purification

Verses 8-10

John 13:8–10 NIV

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

Jesus is alluding here to the process of purification

the process of being made holy

A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: John Exegetical and Critical

in the fellowship and the Word of Christ, the principle of their general purification or regeneration; but they must, by the shaming example of their Lord and Master, be cleansed from ambition and other sins which had clung to their feet, their endeavorings, in their pilgrimage as disciples.

When Jesus sent out the 70 to evangelize, he told them to shake the dirt off their feet of any town that did not welcome them.

This is a similar doing.

The dirt is both a physical and spiritual representation of filth, of sin, of that which separates us from God, perfection, clean and without blemish.

However, the dirt didn’t contaminate them as a whole.

They simply needed to recognize the dirt was filthy, and knock it off their sandals.

This alludes to levels of purification.

Jesus says “Only your feet must be washed if your body has already been bathed.”

Justification happens once. Sanctification happens daily. That’s the idea here.

Quick theology lesson.

We (Christians) throw around terms like justification, sanctification, and glorification a lot, and we rarely define them.

So I want to define them for you now.

I got this chart from “Triangle Community Church”

No idea who they are, what they believe, etc.

So I’m not endorsing them.

They just had this graphic on their website that clearly spells out what I’m trying to teach.

Justification is the moment we are truly converted into Christianity.

In this moment, God no longer counts our sins against us (past, present, or future)

You are now clothed with the righteousness of Christ

Sometimes you’ll hear this term be called Positional Sanctification.

Sanctification (progressional sanctification) is the process of becoming more like Jesus

Becoming in practice what you already are in position. (Unknown Quote)

Becoming transformed into the likeness of Christ

Glorification is the moment where, as a believer, you pass from this current life into eternity with God.

To help you remember further:

Justification

Freedom from the penalty of sin

Sanctification

Freedom from the power of sin

Glorification

Freedom from the presence of sin

Jesus has chosen his disciples

Luke 22:31–32 NIV

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

PART II

Recap

Three reasons to wash your feet in ancient Israel:

You enter a home or you’re about to eat/sleep

You are no longer in a period deep mourning

You need purification

David the Type

2 Samuel 12

David actually exemplifies all three of those examples I gave for reasons to wash.

This is after David murders Uriah and has a child by Bathsheba.

Nathan has already prophesied against David, including that the child born to him and Bathsheba would die.

So the child fell deathly sick, and David mourned for 7 days.

On the 7th day, the child died, and David --- as it says:

2 Samuel 12:20 (NIV)

Then David … got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

In in this instance, David washes to recover from a period of deep mourning, to purify himself for worship, and to cleanse himself before eating.

I just think that’s so cool.

Discipline of study, Typology:

The study and interpretation of types and symbols in the Bible

(Oxford Language Dictionary) A Type: a person or thing symbolizing or exemplifying the ideal or defining characteristics of something.

King David is a Type for Christ.

Doesn’t mean that he’s perfect like Christ, or a perfect example of Christ, it means that he’s an incomplete picture of the Perfect Christ that allows audiences to better understand Christ.

In the same way that David exemplified all three of the washing examples in the passage I just shared

Jesus exemplified all three in John 13, but he does it in a much better and more complete way.

Jesus the Fulfillment

You enter a home or you’re about to eat/sleep

Again, dirt was everywhere.

Do I need to show the pictures again?

This was common practice.

A host was supposed to provide a washing basin for his guests

It was often considered an insult if one wasn’t offered.

Luke 7:44 NIV

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

So from this, we can understand that the foot washing should have already taken place.

But it didn’t.

And in the absence of a servant who was responsible for washing guests feet,

the responsibility fell to either the next lowest person, or in this case, the person with the most humility.

Somebody else was supposed to do the foot washing, but nobody did.

So Jesus girded himself with a rag, and began washing feet.

And he teaches a lesson on both humility and service.

Verses 13-16

John 13:13–16 NIV

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Jesus the Teacher

Jesus the Lord

Jesus the Servant:

Luke 22:25–27 NIV

Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Mark 10:45 NIV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is LIVING this out right in front of them.

They are not just hearing about Jesus, or reading about him. They are experiencing Him.

And they’ll continue to experience this truth about Him even more deeply in the 4 days that would follow.

You are no longer in a period deep mourning

John, the author of this gospel, really emphasizes the finality of this moment.

TIME IS RUNNING UP.

Jesus knows that his time is upon him (says it in verse 1)

John 16:32–33 NIV

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus is preemptively washing them from their mourning.

They are to rejoice in the work that Jesus is doing.

That’s the great irony, the great paradox of the gospel.

The saddest moment in all of human history

The moment where the only person who truly never deserved any sort of punishment was punished for our iniquities

That saddest, most unjust moment in human history is also the most joyous and triumphant in human history.

When David was mourning his son, he stopped mourning the moment he learned of his son’s death.

When asked why he’s not fasting and weeping now that the child was dead, David said,

2 Samuel 12:22–23 (NIV)

He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Can David bring his son back? No.

Can God bring his son back? Absolutely.

And that’s what he did. Christ died and was buried, and on the third day, he rose again!

So I say again, I think there’s an element of Jesus washing away their mourning before their mourning can even happen.

You need purification

Jesus is not just showing that they need to be cleaned

That is the process of Sanctification, daily growing in Christ

He’s showing that they’ve already been cleansed!

Example from Ephesians 5:26 where Paul is talking about how a husband should treat his wife.

Ephesians 5:25–27 NIV

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Christ cleansed his bride (the church) by the washing with water through the word

to present his bride to himself as a radiant church

Without stain

without wrinkle

without any blemish

But HOLY AND BLAMELESS

In response to Peter, Jesus says that his whole body does not need to be cleansed anymore because of the work that Jesus knew he would complete.

Peter did not know the work.

The disciples did not know the work.

But Jesus did.

And in explaining this to them, he gave them a picture of what it looks like to cleanse one another of our daily iniquities.

Though our bodies do not need a full bath because we’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus

We still do accumulate dust and sin on our feet.

Although it does not change our standing as children of God,

Our standing as children of God being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, drives us to confess our sins to one another and repent.

And through confession and repentance, we can wash that away.

Not only so, but Jesus encourages the disciples to wash each others’ feet

Indicating that there is a mutual exchange of rebuking, correcting, and training each other up in righteousness.

Lovingly, of course

This is what we mean by “for the edification of others”

In the same way that Paul uses a husband’s love for his wife to describe Jesus’ love for his church

So must we love one another.

DISCUSSION BREAK

We all say, “Not just my feet, but my hands and head as well.” to Jesus sometimes. How does understanding that you’ve already been “bathed” impact your day-to-day?

Jesus demonstrates a lot of humility as he washes the disciples’ feet. In what ways can you take responsibility for things that others should do to bless the people around you?

“Calling others out on sin” is a necessary but intimidating task. Discuss ways to do this tactfully for the edification of each other.

What else, if anything, stood out to you?

DISCUSSION BREAK END

Verse 1: “…Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”

Later in chapter 13, Jesus gives the new command to his disciples…

John 13:34–35 NIV

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

With that same love that Jesus had for them.

The full extent of Jesus’ love is death.

Jesus is teaching them humility.

Who is he that will die for a friend who will not first wash his friend’s feet?

This passage isn’t just about the literal washing of feet.

It’s about all we’ve discussed.

Joy.

Hope.

Purification.

Sanctification.

It’s about humility.

It’s about love.

It’s about lowering yourself to the building up of others.

It’s about denying yourself for the sake of others.

It’s about serving those who don’t deserved to be served for the sake of glorifying God.

That’s what Jesus did. And that’s the example he calls us to follow.

To love.

It’s all about love.

Pray

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