John 13: If the Lord Has Washed Your Feet

Introduction

Takashi Kondo, pastor of Hamadera Bible Church in Japan, continues his walk through the Gospel of John with chapter 13, verses 12 to 20. The previous week, the church saw how Jesus, before the Passover feast, knowing that his time had come, "having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

Jesus knew everything that awaited him: betrayal, arrest, an unjust trial, the cross, and the curse and wrath of God borne in the place of sinners. Yet he never stopped loving his disciples, in spite of their weakness, their sin, their lack of steadfastness and their foolishness. He wrapped a towel around himself and knelt to wash their feet, the work of a slave.

What response should we expect from disciples who have received such love? And how do you walk, you who have known this love? Jesus did not simply wash his disciples' feet, he taught them. The pastor draws three keywords from this passage: responsibility, blessing and ambassador.

Outline of the Message

1. A Love That Nothing Deserves

The love of Jesus for his own is the greatest of loves: it does not change with the circumstances or with the person in front of him.
The pastor quotes John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim's Progress: it is common for equals to love one another and for superiors to be loved, but it is astonishing that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Son of God, loves human beings in this way.
The Bible describes those whom Christ loves as insignificant, unworthy, rebellious, sinful, ungodly, defiled and foolish. "How can we not be amazed? How can we not be moved?"
The love of Christ does not require finding beauty in the one he loves. It depends on nothing in the other person. The Lord turns his heart toward us and loves us of his own will.

2. First Keyword: Responsibility

After washing their feet, Jesus asks: "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:12-14).
Be careful not to misunderstand: the word translated "ought" is not a suggestion. It expresses a strong necessity, an obligation. "Since I have washed your feet, it is only natural that you wash one another's feet. It is your duty."
Jesus reminds them of his position. From the very beginning, Andrew and John called him "Rabbi," that is, Teacher (John 1:38), a formal term for a religious teacher. But they also called him "Lord," a word that expresses his divinity. After the feeding of the crowd and the walking on the water, Peter declares: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (John 6:68-69).
The reasoning is simple: if the Lord, who deserved to be served, came down from heaven to serve, it is only natural that his disciples lower themselves to serve.

3. An Example to Follow, Not to Admire

"For I have given you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you" (John 13:15). The word "example" refers to a right model that we are meant to imitate.
When you buy a piece of furniture to assemble at IKEA or Nitori, the box contains instructions. They show the result, the parts, where to attach them and in what order. If you decide to ignore them and do it your own way, the parts do not fit together and the furniture wobbles. Knowing the instructions by heart is useless if you do not follow them.
Jesus did not wash feet to impress his disciples and make them say: "What a great thing Jesus has done!" He was giving them, and he is giving us, an example to follow.
This humble love expects nothing in return. Jesus did not say: "Now it is your turn to wash my feet." He served of his own free will, without the disciples having loved him first. Toward your spouse, your parents, your children, your brothers and sisters or your colleagues, has your love gradually become a love that expects something back?
This love also gives up its position. It would have been normal for the disciples to wash their Teacher's feet. The Creator of all things had the right to be served. Yet he gladly set that right aside and took the place of a slave.

4. Washing One Another's Feet

Sometimes we refuse to serve, thinking: "It is not my job to do that." We remember our position before the Lord, but what about with others? When someone does not appreciate us, irritates us or hurts us, we place ourselves as masters rather than servants.
Jesus did not say: "Wash my feet." The disciples would gladly have done it. He said: "Wash one another's feet." For disciples who constantly argued about who was the greatest, this meant lowering themselves before their equals.
It is easy to serve someone we esteem above ourselves. Serving an equal, or someone we deep down place below ourselves, wounds our pride. "No, I look down on no one," we think. But we see the sin of others more than our own.
Paul writes: "doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:3-5). It is hard, especially toward the ungrateful. The secret is to remember your own sin, like Paul who called himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), and to keep your eyes on the Lord's example.

5. Second Keyword: Blessing

"Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is one who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:16-17).
We all want to be happy. But influenced by a self-centered world, we think: if only my husband helped me more, if only my wife, my parents, my children or my colleagues understood me better, I would be happier. And we fear that serving others will become a burden that steals our joy. The Word of God does not teach this.
Jesus does not say: "If you know these things, you are blessed." He says: "if you do them." You can come to church every week, accumulate knowledge and be content with that. Knowing and doing are two different things.
The pastor quotes J. C. Ryle: practice is the very essence of the life of faith. If you know how you ought to live, but that knowledge changes nothing in your life, your situation before God becomes more serious. "To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).
Knowledge is necessary, since nothing begins without it. But it does not lead to blessing by itself. The happiness Jesus speaks of is a contentment in God that does not depend on circumstances.
Perhaps you are never satisfied because you know many things without doing them. The world thinks that joy comes from what others do for us. Those whom Jesus saved by becoming a servant find their joy in serving. And Jesus does not say "you may be blessed," he says "blessed are you." This promise holds for us today.

6. Third Keyword: Ambassador

"I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’ From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he" (John 13:18-19; Psalm 41:9).
Today we know that he is speaking of Judas Iscariot. But for the disciples, it was not easy to accept that a companion would betray them. In Matthew 26, they are deeply grieved and each one asks: "It isn’t me, is it, Lord?"
Without warning, the betrayal would have thrown them into confusion and panic, and could have shattered their faith. Jesus, full of compassion, prepares them. When it happens, they will say to themselves: "This is what the Lord had announced," and their faith will be strengthened.
"I am he" translates the expression "ego eimi," "I AM," the name God revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:14). Only God can announce the future: "I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please" (Isaiah 46:10). Jesus declares that he is that God.
Then he encourages them: "Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me" (John 13:20). The disciples are sent ones, charged with bearing witness to the one who sends them. The disciples, Jesus and the Father are bound together.
Washing feet is quiet work that goes unnoticed. But if the disciples do it faithfully, it becomes a testimony to the Lord who sends them. Even with hearts wounded by betrayal, they must remember the greatness of the one who sends them and the privilege of being his envoys.

7. We Are Ambassadors for Christ

"We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20). If you have believed in Jesus and are saved, you live in this world as an envoy who represents the Lord.
Your mission is to bear witness to the Lord who chose you and who wanted to serve you more than anyone. The more discreet your service, the less praise and recognition you will receive. But, thanks be to God, it is never in vain.
"The Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). By serving faithfully, you make his image visible.
The pastor concludes with a prayer: that God keep our eyes fixed on the Lord's example, we who so often seek to climb rather than to descend, that he teach us about our own sin and that he use each of us to show, by example, how much the Lord can work through us among those who do not yet know him.

Key Takeaways

If the Lord and Teacher has washed your feet, serving others is not an option: it is your responsibility.
The love of Jesus expects nothing in return and gives up its position. It is lived above all toward your equals and those you place below you.
Blessing does not come from what you know, but from what you do.
Jesus announced the betrayal in advance to strengthen his disciples' faith: he is "I AM," the God who knows the future.
You are an ambassador for Christ: your quiet service bears witness to the one who sends you.

Personal Application

Toward whom has your love become a love that expects something in return: your spouse, your parents, your children, your colleagues?
Whom do you find hard to serve because, deep down, you place yourself above that person?
Which truth of the Word do you know well without putting it into practice?
How does remembering your own sin change the way you see others?
What quiet act of service can you offer this week, without expecting recognition, as an ambassador for Christ?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Jesus mean by "you also ought to wash one another's feet"?

For Takashi Kondo, this is not a mere suggestion. The word translated "ought" expresses a necessity, an obligation. Since the Lord and Teacher washed his disciples' feet, it is only natural that they serve one another with humility, expecting nothing in return and giving up their own position.

Why does Jesus say "blessed are you if you do them"?

Jesus does not promise happiness to those who know, but to those who put it into practice. The pastor reminds us that knowledge is necessary, but that accumulating knowledge does not lead to blessing. Joy and contentment in the Lord are found by serving others with love.

Why does Jesus announce Judas's betrayal in advance?

Jesus prepares his disciples so that their faith will not be shaken. By announcing the event before it happens, he lets them believe that he is "I AM," the name of God revealed to Moses. Only God can announce what has not yet happened (Isaiah 46:9-10).