John Part 28
Notes
Transcript
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it 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 had come from God and was going back to God,
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
Ok, so in this scene
what we have here is something very strange
It is very uncustomary for anyone to touch anyone’s feet
Especially if they are equal in social status
but even more so if the one washing is of higher social status
Jesus was not Peter’s equal
He was older
He was his Rabbi
And in verse 6,
Peter calls him Lord
So, there are at least 3 reasons why Jesus should never wash Peter’s feet
and yet… he stooped down low
and washed his feet anyways.
What we are seeing here
is a preview of the gospel
Notice in verse 1
It says… when he knew his hour had come to depart out of this world.
That is cluing us into the theme here
The footwashing by Jesus was not something he was supposed to do
He was not equal to Peter
and he certainly wasn’t lower than Peter
He had multiple reasons why he should not have washed his feet
and yet
He did it.
The same is true with his death on the cross
The death on the cross was to pay for our sins
Jesus was without sin
He was perfect
He was sinless
He did not deserve to die by any standard
And yet
He did it
He stooped down to earth
and died a death that we deserved
Peter says, you shall never wasy my feet
And Jesus says…
If I don’t wash you,
You have no share with me.
That response has nothing to do with the footwashing in my opinion
It has to do with the cross.
If Jesus doesn’t die for us
We cannot be in a relationship with him.
The footwashing symbolized the humility of Jesus
He made himself a little lower than the angels
and humbled himself to death
even the death of the cross
And Jesus says… if I do this
You can’t have any share with me.
So, Peter, still thinking it is about the washing in vs. 9
Says, well if that is the case
don’t just wash my feet
wash my hands and my head.
That’s when Jesus says…
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
The word “bathed” here means,
wash your body.
So, Jesus is saying, if your body is clean
you only need to wash your feet.
And then he says,
you are clean
And when he says “you”
the word “you” is plural in the Greek.
We don’t have a plural “you” anymore
The KJV attempts to preserve this
by using “ye” instead of “you”.
“ye” is a plural form of “you” in Old English
Just a bit of trivia for you.
So, in Alabama English
Jesus was saying, “y’all” are clean.
or, you all are clean.
not just Peter
but all of them standing there
well, almost all of them
for he follows up with…
but not everyone of you.
Of course, we know Jesus was talking about Judas
And that will become more evident as this night goes on
Now, keep in mind that John doesn’t just share stories to share them
They all have a reason for being shared
And this story is no different
Like we have seen with everything shared so far
there is certainly a deeper meaning here
Jesus said, in verse 7, you won’t understand this right now
but afterward you will understand.
After what?
Well, after the cross
because that is the subject here according to verse 1.
The hour has come for Jesus to depart
And so, he says, you won’t understand why I’m washing your feet now
but you will understand it after the cross.
That’s our clue as to what Jesus is teaching them.
Now, of course he is teaching the humility in general
but I think there is something more specific being taught here
And it is why he only washes their feet
and says that their body doesn’t need washing
When the body is washed,
Jesus says, you only need to wash the feet.
I’m going to give you a clue as to what I think this means
but reading the last verse of this seen
which is in verse 20.
20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
So, the bookends of the footwashing story are verse 1 and verse 20
And in verse 1 he says the hour come for me to leave this world
and in vs 20 he says, we need to receive the ones he sends.
and in the middle
in vs 10 he says…
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
The Bible teaches us that Christ is the head of the body
and that the church is the body of Christ
and we were all baptized into one body
meaning… the body is completely clean.
And it is through baptism that the body of Christ is made completely clean.
So, the washing of the body is tied to baptism in Jesus’ name.
And when the body is washed
the only thing Jesus says that need to keep on being washed
is the feet
why?
Because the feet are connected to the world
connected to the dirt
and can’t go anywhere without getting dirt on them.
What is the feet in the body of Christ?
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Paul is actually quoting Isaiah 52 here
and it is about Jesus bringing the Gospel to zion.
And in John 13, Jesus is saying…
now it is time for you to 12 to be sent out with the gospel.
and that is why he is washing their feet in my opinion.
Jesus was sent to them with the gospel
and the hour has come for him to leave this world
and now he is washing the feet of those
who would carry that message to the rest of the world
but before he sent them out
he had to humble himself on the cross
and this is depicted in him stooping down to wash their feet
and he also had to wash away their sins
and this is symbolized by the water washing them
So, in general, this story is a story of humbleness
but I think it is also a example of the passing of the baton
from one gospel preacher to his 12 disciples
who were about to become Apostles
which means “sent”.
So, he says, you are all clean
then he says, well not all of you
and vs 11
11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Of course we know this is about Judas.
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
now, after the footwashing
Jesus puts his outer garment back on
and it says, he resumed his place
After the cross
Jesus also resumed his place in heaven
He left his place and came to earth to die for us
and in this footwashing story
he left his supper and his place at the table
which would certainly have been the place of honor
in our culture that would be the head of the table typically
and Jesus left that place of honor
and stooped down to wash their feet
he was showing them the gospel in action here
Then he returned to his place at the table
the place of honor
and asked… do you understand what I have done.
he then proceeds to explain what he has done.
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
First, he reminds them that he is a position of honor
He is their teacher and he is their Lord
They are lower than him
Jesus is higher than them
and he says, they are right to put him in that position of honor
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
So, if Jesus willingly left his place of honor
to stoop down to where we are
and die for us on the cross
when he did not have to do it
We ought to also do the same thing for each other
since we are all equals
Only Jesus is higher than us
He is the only head of the body
And if the head stoops down to wash the feet
then surely we ought to do the same for each other.
Now, there are many today who take this passage strictly literal
Taking it to mean that disciples should always wash each other’s feet.
The UPC traditionally takes that interpretation as well
and I’m not against the practise
I’ve been a part of many footwashing services
and there were some that were very powerful
However, I do not think Jesus was instituting a repetitive practice here
I think he was trying to teach us to love and serve each other
the same way he loved and served us
and washing each other’s feet was just one example of how to do that.
In verse 15, Jesus calls it an example
and the word example there
is the same Greek word Paul uses many times in the book of Hebrews
as a “type” or shadow
If the only way we are serving each other is through footwashing
then we are not truly following this command from Jesus IMO
History tells us that the early church did not appear to practise footwashing on a regular basis
There was only one small group that started doing it in the 2nd Century before they baptized someone
but that practice was not widespread
It wasn’t really until 694 that the Spanish Catholic church started instituting annual foot washings
It eventually devolved into just a show where the Pope would pick 12 poor men
and wash their feet once a year.
and it had nothing to do with humility
The anabaptist claimed they were reviving a lost ordinance when they adopted footwashing in the mid 1500s
The amish and mennonites were descendants of the anabaptist
and they kept that tradition going
Many Pentecostal groups still practice footwashing as well
And it is probably because of the influence of the Methodist church
which used to practice footwashing the Thursday before Easter.
and a few Methodist denominations still do it today.
When I was growing up
we had footwashing service on New Year’s Eve watch night service
as we prayed in the new year
This seems to be a Southern Pentecostal Tradition
as I never really heard of Pentecostal churches on the West Coast doing it
or even having a watch night service at all.
So, the tradition varies from district to district
and even from church to church
The more important thing to take away from this passage
is the principle that Jesus is teaching
That’s why he asked them
Do you understand what I have done?
The understanding comes when we see that Jesus
stooped down from heaven to die for us
and because he humbled himself out of love for us
when we were lower than him
we should surely do the same thing for our fellow humans
who are not lower than us.
but equal to us.
Footwashing was the example provided
but the principal applies in so many other ways.
15 For I have given you an {example}, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
That word “example” is the Greek word hypodeigma
it is found in Heb 9.23
23 Thus it was necessary for the {copies} of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
So, in this verse that word “copies” is also hypodeigma
and here it means that the OT types were just earthly copies
or a heavenly thing
And Jesus says that footwashing is also a hypodeigma
or an earthly copy of something else.
And the something else in John 13 is the deeper principal that we have discussed so far
and that why Jesus says in verse 16…
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If Jesus stooped down from heaven and died on the cross for us
and we are his servants
then we can’t be better than the master
Therefore, we need to stoop down as well
and through humility and love
we need to reach other people with the gospel message
And that is why he says, nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him
and this is teeing up the last verse of this story,
vs 20
where I already read that Jesus is getting ready to pass the baton to the 12
and send them out to be his messengers
if Jesus did the sending
he is greater than the one being sent
and if he being greater
humbled himself on the cross to wash away our sins
we being lesser
should be willing to do the same
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
“these things” is plural
Again, pointing to something more than just the singular act of washing feet
18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’
This is again a reference to Judas
who would betray him
and he quotes Ps 41.9 here to prove that he knew Judas
would betray him.
19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.
This is not just about Judas
but all of it
the cross as well
because the remember the stooping down to wash their feet
was foreshadowing the humbling of the cross
and once they see all that take place
they will realize that Jesus told them it would all happen
before it happened
and then they would believe that he is the I AM
Again, the word “he” is added here in most translations
but in the Greek text
it only says
that you may believe that “I AM”
and we know that “I AM” is God’s covenant name
given to Moses in Exodus 3.
And finally verse 20 again…
20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
