Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from John

John 13 "Do You Know"

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. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this." Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean." 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? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 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. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:1-17)

The Passover meal was the high point of the Jewish religious year when the people celebrated how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them through the wilderness to the promised land. It also marks the time when Jesus brought His ministry to its conclusion by dying on the cross to rescue all of mankind from the slavery of sin. Jesus knew that His time had come and yet we see that He was very eager to spend this last Passover meal with His disciples. Jesus told His disciples, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." (Luke 22:15) Here in John it says that "He loved them to the end." The other gospels focus on the meal and how Jesus broke the bread and said, "This is my body which is given for you." And the cup which He took saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood ,which is shed for you." But by the time John wrote his gospel the other versions were well known and so he decided to focus on the teachings of Jesus during the last meal. During this last supper together Jesus would teach His disciples about the love that He would demonstrate on the cross the following day.
At the end of the supper, Jesus did something that took everyone by surprise. He took off His garments and wrapped a towel around His waist and poured water into a basin. Then with the basin in hand, He went to the first of the disciples and started to wash his feet. Normally this job was only done by the lowest of servants and the disciples would have been shocked that their master and teacher was doing this for them. In fact they were so shocked that no one said a word! They probably just sat there with their mouths hanging open. Love begins with humility. Jesus loved His disciples to the end. He could of expected special treatment that night. After all it was His last night with them before making the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. And yet Jesus thought nothing of laying aside any dignity that He had and doing the lowliest of jobs.
True humility only comes from a great deal of confidence. It is very hard to be humble unless you are really very poor or very rich, very weak or very powerful. The poorest of the poor know that they are poor and have no hope of ever being anything else. The very rich know that they are rich and have no fear of losing it. The same goes for the very weak and very strong. But for the rest of us in the middle we are constantly on a sliding scale. Even if we have just a little we are proud of the fact that we have more than someone else and afraid that we might lose it. Sociologists tell us that most racial violence is not really between the poor and the rich, the "have’s" and "have not's", instead most violence is between the poor and the next poorest group. The competition is fierce and we are afraid to lose an inch that might put us below someone else. The same thing happens in our offices and families and in church. We are afraid to be thought less of by those around us so we guard our dignity and position. Jesus was able to humble Himself because He knew exactly who He was. Verse 3 tells us that Jesus was able to wash His disciples' feet, to humble Himself, because He knew three things.

First, He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands. We often think that our success depends on what the people around us think about us. Jesus knew that His success came from the Father. Even though all might desert Him, He would still win the victory. We have inherited this same confidence through Jesus. Paul teaches in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." If God is for us, who can be against us? That doesn’t mean that everyone will realize this and suddenly stop opposing you! It simply means that even if they do oppose you it doesn’t really matter because you have a much more powerful ally in God. Last month Pastor Hirano and I attended a pastor’s convention in Osaka at a large church there. Pastor Hirano was the main speaker and was introduced in glowing terms. I was simply giving some special music with Min our Korean intern and was introduced as an English teacher at the church. Afterwards the man who did the introductions came and apologized to me but it was no big deal. What diference does it make that these men don’t know the truth? Does it mean that I am somehow less of a pastor? Not at all. I know what God is doing through me.
The second thing that Jesus knew was that He had come from God. The reason why most people are so unconfident about themselves is because they do not know where they come from. The only idea that they have about their origin is that they were conceived by their parents, wanted or unwanted, loved or unloved and through nothing more than chance ended up today living where they are now. But Jesus knew exactly where He came from and the purpose that He came to this world for. In fact He had it planned out from the very beginning that at the right time He would empty Himself of all that it meant to be God and become a man of no reputation so that He could die for our sins. We too know through Jesus exactly where we came from and why we are here. We know that God knew us long before we knew Him and designed us into His plan for this world. We were born in this place and to these parents and at this time precisely because that is what God planned. The reason why He made us is so that we might become like Jesus Christ and so He planned to call us, justify us and eventually allow us to share in the glory of Jesus his Son. (Romans 12:30) I know that I am here for a purpose and this gives me confidence even though I might not look like much right now. Even though I am far from shining with the glory of Jesus now, that is the purpose that I was created for and that is what God is working in me.
The third thing that Jesus knew was that He was also going to God. Nothing could separate Him from God, His Father. Not even death on the cross could hold Him down. We also share this conviction with Jesus. Nothing can separate us from the love of God! Christ Himself is at the right hand of God making intercession for us. There is absolutely nothing that will be able to keep us from fulfilling what God has planned for us. It makes not one bit of difference how much the world might persecute or harass us because "neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) This is confidence. And with this amount of confidence it should be easy for us to lay down the small honors and comforts of this world and be humble.
When Jesus got to Peter, the headstrong disciple was humble enough not to want to have his feet washed by his Lord, but also proud enough of his own way of thinking to dispute with Jesus. "Lord, are You washing my feet?" Jesus answered Peter with a reference to the knowledge that we have been talking about before. He said, "What I am doing you do not understand now." Peter could not understand the confidence that was to be his after the cross. Peter could not know that he was included in God’s great plan and that God had a purpose for his life that was far beyond the normal things of this world. But Jesus promised Peter, "but you will know after this." The word for "know" here is different from that which has been used so far. It is "gnosko" and means "knowledge from personal experience." Proud Peter would know after the cross and the resurrection how to be humble. He would learn from experience how to suffer for Christ and how to serve the brethren.

At that time though Peter really did not understand and declared, "You shall never wash my feet!" But Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean." In Christ, we are washed white as snow. In the eyes of the Father, whenever He looks at us He sees us through the blood of Jesus as washed and clean. At the Passover meal each of the disciples would have bathed before coming to the feast. Their bodies were not dirty, however as they walked to the room where the feast was held their sandaled feet would have picked up the dust of the road. There was no need to wash their whole bodies, only the feet. In the same way, we are clean in the eyes of God, but as we travel through this world we still need to have our feet washed. It means that though we are forgiven we are not perfect. We make mistakes and commit sin and this is why we must keep coming to Jesus and asking for Him to forgive and cleanse us again. Some people think that if they sin against God they have lost their salvation and have to be saved again, they respond to every invitation and every altar call. But Jesus knows that we make mistakes. He knows that we are sinners. That is why He humbles Himself to wash our dirty feet so we are once again fit to enter into the presence of God.
After finishing His work, the Lord asked His disciples, "Do you know what I have done to you?" Again the word is "gnosko" and yes, they knew from experience that the One that they called Teacher and Lord had humbled Himself to do a job that none of them wanted to do. As each of them had come into the room that night they must of noticed that there was no servant to wash their feet when they came in. It was probably uncomfortable at first to sit down at the table with dirty feet, but since everyone else was doing it they soon forgot about it. None of them even imagined that they should offer to wash the feet of the others. But now Jesus had done it for them, and if He had done it, then they too should do it. He is our example and none of us can say that we are greater than our Master. None of us can ever say that a job is below us or beneath our dignity because this lowest of chores was not beneath the dignity of the King of Kings. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them!

What Do You Say?
I have a question...	I want to receive Jesus Christ!	I want to confess sin...
I need prayer...	I want to come to church...	I want to be a prayer partner