Starting a series on John chapters 13 through to 17, which is called the upper room discourse or the farewell discourse, the final words of Jesus before He went to the cross, the final teachings He gave His disciples. And this is in view of the cross. He is fully aware, as we'll see just now, fully aware of what's going to happen, and He is preparing His disciples for that event. Let me start this morning by asking this question to all of us. What would you do if you knew that you had less than twenty four hours to live?
Would you have looked for a way to escape this fate? Would you have gone crazy and partied all night on a huge bender? Would you have been doing any last minute confessions of sins or preparation? What we find this morning as we start our look at John 13, we find Jesus in His final hours. We see how Jesus is responding to knowing that He is going to the cross.
And what do we find Him doing? We find Him comforting His disciples. We find Him not so much concerned about Himself, but those very near and dear to Him. And as the apostle John begins his account of these final moments, he begins by emphasising twice that Jesus knows that He is going. Twice in the passage we're about to read, we see that Jesus knows exactly the context of His situation and who He is and what is about to unfold.
So read with me this morning from John 13:1-17. John 13:1. It was just before the Passover feast. And Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.
The evening meal was being served and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, 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 a 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 realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand. No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. And 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, a person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet.
His 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 everyone 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 should wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. And I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who has sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
So far our reading. Jesus knows that His time has come, verse 1 says. Jesus knows that He is about to return to the father. He is about to go to the cross. In verse 3, Jesus knows that the father, God the father, had given Him all things, that all things were placed in His power and in His hands, and that He had come from God and He was going back to God.
Why does John make these two statements about what Jesus knew? It's so that we understand that what is about to happen next in the washing of the disciples' feet is in complete understanding of knowing exactly what was going to happen the following day. Jesus washing His disciples' feet is Jesus knowing exactly that He is the Son of God, the majestic king on high, through whom and for whom the Bible says the universe exists. Jesus, in other words, knows who He was and knows what He was going to do shortly. And despite this, verse 1 says, Jesus is about to show them the full extent of His love.
Jesus is about to show them His love to the fullest. And what follows is the most intimate display of humility and selfless love that we can imagine. Against this backdrop, as John indicates, Jesus knows who He is. Jesus knows what He's about to do. We see the disciples in the same context.
And these two, Jesus and the disciples, are being played off against each other in this scene. You see, Jesus had organised for His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal together. He had told them to go and prepare a room for them, to go and hire a place. He made sure that they get the Passover meal ready, and everything is set up beautifully when they get there. You can see it as they come in that the meal is on the table.
Someone has prepared it for them. The room is theirs for the night. They're staying in Jerusalem. They're not from Jerusalem. It's a hotel room.
Probably not as nice as our hotels here on the Gold Coast. It's a hired room. And as they enter, they probably pass by some water basins for the washing of feet. And they probably see a long linen cloth for the drying of those feet, and they walk past the pitcher of water used for the washing of those feet. In those days, there was no sealed roads that we have now, and so everyone got very dusty and dirty when they walked through the streets.
Their feet got dirty. And so it was customary in those days that if you were anyone of note, anyone of some sort of wealth, you had servants to come and wash your guests' feet. And they would come and literally wash it and dry it for you as a sign of great respect for these guests. Slaves were meant to do these menial jobs. But the disciples enter the room, and you can imagine they smell the Passover meal.
They smell the lamb. They smell the fresh bread. They can see the jars of wine standing there, and their eyes are probably fixed on that. They're hungry. They go straight to the table.
They think to themselves, well, these feet are dirty maybe, but I don't need to wash it. I've had a bath just recently. Again, before the Passover, they probably would have done that before coming to a guest's table. They would have probably washed themselves. So I don't need to wash my feet.
I'm hungry and I wanna eat. One of the things, however, we can be certain of is they would not have dared considering washing the feet of someone else next to them. So my feet are fine, but they would not have washed the feet of a fellow disciple. In Luke's gospel, we get a clearer understanding of this mindset because in the Passover feast, in Luke's account, we actually find the disciples around the table starting to argue with one another about the coming kingdom that Jesus was starting to talk about and who would be the greatest. Around the Lord's table, these guys are trying to vie for positions of authority, of one upping one another, of getting themselves ready in the pecking order.
The question among them is who is the greatest? However, in the upper room, this rented room for the Passover feast, everything has been made ready for them. There stood the pitcher. There stood the water basin. There lay the linen towel, and yet no one stirred.
Each disciple ignored the idea that they were to wash their own feet, and heaven forbid, the feet of someone that actually should be further down in the pecking order. It's in the midst of such men, with such big attitudes but hearts so small that the dreadful words of the second verse are pronounced. The devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. And all of this is waiting. All of this is happening while Jesus is waiting.
The disciples come in and Jesus waits. They come and sit around the table and Jesus waits. The disciples start arguing amongst themselves about who is the greatest, and Jesus waits. Still no one offered to perform the duty of the servant, not even for the master, not even to wash His feet. The water pitcher, the water basin, the apron towel stood there in silence, and no one moved.
And Jesus waited. But then in a staggering display of the foreshadowing of the humiliation of the cross, Jesus having waited until the dinner was ready to be served, gets up in calmness and with all the fullness of His majesty, knowing about His nature, knowing about what was laying ahead the next day, He rises from the table and John says, He starts taking off His clothes. We have it in the NIV that says His outer garments, but John is probably saying that He took off everything except His loincloth. Jesus is down to His underwear. And He wraps this long linen towel around His waist as was the custom, a long bit of linen so that He could wrap and dry the disciples' feet.
And one by one, He starts washing their feet. Yes. Even Judas Iscariot. Now one day, there was a flight that was delayed, the story goes, and actually delayed or cancelled because of very bad weather. Now one solitary single agent was trying to rebook for all the travellers whose schedules had been messed up.
One passenger, however, became so impatient and pushed his way right to the front of the counter, and he slammed down his ticket and said, you need to get me on the next plane and you need to make it first class. The agent politely replied, I'm sorry, sir. I'll help you as soon as I can, but I have to take care of these people first. The man became angry and he shouted, do you have any idea who I am? Without hesitation, the agent picked up the microphone and said to the hundreds of people in the terminal, may I have your attention, please?
We have a passenger here at the gate who does not know who he is. If anyone could help him find his identity, could they please come to the gate? The man slinked back. The crowd of people burst into applause. Now regardless of who that man was, whether he was rich or wealthy or famous or a bit of both, he certainly, on that day, did not win any respect of the people at the terminal that day.
Because it's hard to respect someone who considers themselves the most important person in the room and puts their needs above everyone else's. But if we're honest with ourselves, brutally honest, our greatest problem is that we do kinda think like this man. It is almost as if we think far too highly of ourselves and not like we sometimes say, I think too little of myself. My self esteem is too low. In this act of humility of Jesus washing His disciples' feet, we see something of the foreshadowing of the absolute humiliation of Jesus going to the cross, was going to hang there naked.
We see the disciples refusing humility despite their loneliness. They are the disciples, and He is the master. They have not offered to wash His feet. Despite the fact that they should wash the feet of their master at least in their pride, they refused to do this work because it is the work of a servant, of a slave. And yet Jesus, despite knowing that God the father had handed all majesty over to Him, had placed all things under His power, He stoops down, and He becomes a slave.
That is the picture of the cross. And the disciples don't know it yet, but it's an explanation of what's going to happen the following day. So what I wanna point out and remind us as a reflection as we journey to the cross in the four weeks, if there was ever a picture, if there was ever a moment to remind us of why we should think twice about our self-centredness, about our pride, about what we deserve, if we are ever tempted to not serve our wives, because when have I been served by her? If we're ever tempted to quit the church because it doesn't meet my needs and I deserve more. If we are ever tempted to think I don't need to help out here, I don't need to give a hand with this, I have done so much for so and so.
I have visited that person or this person. If we are ever to think along those lines, just visualise your saviour washing muddy, dusty feet in His underwear. Underwear, and your priorities will be disrupted. Your priorities and the way that you think about yourself and what you deserve in the face of the majestic king of heaven and earth, washing feet. Your priorities will be overhauled, friend.
But Jesus has a point to make with this. One by one, Jesus begins washing His disciples' feet. It is awkward. It is silent, as silent as it is here right now. The only thing you can hear is the splashing of water being poured over feet.
No one is comfortable about what is happening here. No one is expecting this to be happening to them. Everyone is thinking that they should have done this instead. Why didn't I think of doing this? But there is one disciple who breaks his silence, and guess who that is?
It is Peter. Impetuous and impulsive Peter. A man who always did his thinking out loud. When Jesus comes to him, he asked, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Peter is absolutely shocked.
Jesus says to him that nothing of what is happening now is going to be understood by them, however. Nothing of what Jesus is doing now will make sense to any of them, but He says, unless I wash you, Peter, you have no part with me. What does that mean? What does that mean? Jesus is simply washing my feet.
So if I don't allow Him to wash my feet, and then I can't be part of Him. I can't be with Him. What does that mean? But in classic Peter's style, he responds, well, then go all the way. Wash my head and my hands and everything.
Peter doesn't understand. He has absolutely no idea. When Jesus said He needed to wash them, He wasn't talking about water. The meaning is simple at the other side of the cross, but the meaning is so very deep. Peter, unless by means of My entire work of humiliation, which starts now, of which this feet washing is only a part, unless I cleanse you from your sin, you do not share with Me in the fruit of My redemption.
Peter wants everything washed, but Jesus says, someone who's had a bath, someone who's prepared himself for the feast, they only need to wash their feet when they come in. And that's what he thinks. That's what he assumes. Peter thinks, well, that makes sense. But Jesus is pointing to something far deeper again, and it only becomes apparent later again.
Jesus is not talking about the physical, but the spiritual. Once Jesus' work on the cross had been finished, those who had placed their trust in Him, those who had put their hope in Him and their faithfulness in Jesus, they would be washed completely clean by His sacrifice. The Bible talks about being washed by His blood, and as I wrote that this week, I just remembered and thought about, if we're a non Christian and we have to hear being washed by Jesus' blood as being a great thing, that is so foreign. It is as foreign to these first disciples to be washed clean by Jesus' blood. But the truth is every believer is washed clean by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Washed clean of their sin. Washed clean of everything that would hinder their relationship to God in heaven. Everything that stands between them is taken away, is hosed down like the mould on our pavements that we water blast off. That clean. But Jesus says, however, that your feet will get dirty.
You are washed clean, friend. If you believe in Jesus Christ as your saviour, but your feet will get dirty, what does that mean? Well, it means that there is stuff that will cling to us. There is stuff that will stick around. There's stuff that will still be a part of our life.
There will still be temptation. And so the reminder is that we should go to our Lord often for Him to remind us that we are clean. We should come and sing the gospel here on a Sunday every single week because we need to be reminded that once and for all, we have bathed in sufficient grace. We have been cleansed and water blasted clean by His grace, and so we are clean forever, although our feet may get dirty. But there may be some of us who then say, well, Jesus, You cannot and You should not wash me.
You will not wash my feet, we say with Peter. It is too much for Jesus who was innocent of any wrongdoing to wash and cleanse me. How can He do this for me? Why should Jesus die on the cross for me? How can God the father punish His own Son for my sake?
It's not fair. I cannot accept that, and I've heard people say this to me. I cannot accept that. There must be another way. And so to some of us who may be wrestling with us, Jesus says, if I don't wash you, you cannot have any part with Me.
I must. I must. The truth is it was still pride that made Peter reject Jesus. It was pride that made Peter not wash the other people's feet because they might be further down on the pecking order, and he was trying to make his way up, but pride is severely dented when the one that they should be serving, the one that they are under, just barely maybe under like Jesus, when a master comes and washes their feet. A proud man hates the idea of being served by a superior.
A proud person completely is messed up because their hierarchy and that the way that they think life should be organised is completely overhauled. And so, friend, pride may be keeping you out of the kingdom. And the invitation is to come and accept and let Jesus Christ wash you. To accept it humbly and then to simply say thank you. And so we see Jesus starting to show in a very particular way, a very peculiar way, how the cross and the effectiveness of the cross is going to work out, but it doesn't simply end with a washing and a being clean.
Jesus gives an example of servanthood. It doesn't simply end this story with the disciples being clean and their feet being washed and they having a great meal together and that sort of it, the result of Jesus' humility is that in turn, His disciples would be serving. Jesus says, do you understand what I've done for you? You call Me teacher. You call Me lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.
Now that I, your lord and your teacher, have washed your feet. Now you should also wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. The result of Jesus' humiliation comes back to serving others for the glory of Jesus Christ. Jesus is glorified when we serve one another faithfully.
And for us who have been so touched and so moved, for us who have come to understand what it cost Jesus Christ to die on the cross for me, we cannot remain unmoved by that. It will move us. It will draw something out of us and say, it is not enough to simply receive this. It is my desire now to serve my king. It is my desire to serve my saviour.
Ironically, however, this humility that Jesus is talking about is at odds with the most popular ideas of what constitutes spirituality. Some people have said that the nearer you get to God, the further you must be from mankind. You must remove yourself more and more and get closer to God, but God is actually saying here through Jesus Christ, the opposite is true. Actual proximity to God comes through serving someone else. So in terms of sacrificing to serve others, there was never anything that Jesus was unwilling to do.
And the question then for us, as people who call ourselves Jesus followers, is why if Jesus was willing to serve, why would His disciples and followers do anything different? I tell you the truth, Jesus said, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. And now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. In the story of the foot washing of the disciples, we have no greater insight into the heart of our God. Apart perhaps from the crucifixion for what His love looks like and the extent to which He will go to show it.
Friends, as we journey to the cross, I wanna remind you and tell you that you have been cleansed. Your forgiveness is as a washing away of dirt and grime that sticks and clings to us. The work of Jesus shouldn't surprise us that it will draw out of us a great humility, that we cannot be proud Christians. We cannot be prideful because everything we've received has been undeserved. It has been the greater serving the lesser rather than the lesser serving the greater.
But hear these words of Jesus, that if we give love and if we receive love, if we offer ourselves to others, we will be blessed. We will be blessed. Do you look for a blessed life? Do you look for a fulfilled, joyful life? This is the model to follow.
So may His blessing fall upon this church and on each of our lives as we offer our lives as sacrifices to Him. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for our saviour, Lord Jesus, who so powerfully showed us these words and by these actions that He loves us, that by these actions He was portraying the full extent of His love. Lord, who are we that we should receive such service? Who are we that the king of majesty who holds the universe in the palm of His hand for whom and through whom all things were created?
Who are we to have Him wash our feet, to cleanse us, to make us part of His people. Father, it is hard to explain and express what this humility should drive us towards. But as we reflect on this time of Easter, Lord, help us to grow in this humility. Help us to think far less about what we need, what we want, what we deserve. Lord, and let us ask You more often, what do You want of us?
Let us ask one another, how may we serve you best. May we speak to our own hearts that are so prone to pride and say to ourselves, I choose to serve. And Lord, may we then, through that, receive so much blessing, so much joy, so much fulfilment. May we see glory being given You through it. May we see Your name and Your fame and the honour that is due to You be given to You through these actions.
Father, help us to restore this equilibrium in our lives. Help us to become lesser so that You may become greater. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.