Chapter BY Chapter

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

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John 13:1-17

 

“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.”

 

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What was the last chapter about?

 

In chapter 12 we have:

1. The woman that anointed Jesus with perfume.Jesus used this experience to show that salvation is a relationship lived by faith.

2. Jesus is welcomed to Jerusalem as King.

3. Many people believed because of the resurrection of Lazarus, but the Pharisees could only think of material gain.

4. Jesus predicts his death and resurrection.

5. His crucifixion is central to his whole purpose.

6. The Pharisees are blinded because this is God’s plan.

7. Some believed in him privately, but would not do so publicly because they valued the praise of men more than God.

8. Believing in Jesus equals believing in God.

9. People will be judged by Jesus’ words.

10. The crucifixion of Jesus Crist draws all the believers to him in a response of love.

 

This passages starts with, “it was just before the Passover Festival.”  This means that it was a day before the Passover. 

 

It is interesting to note the sequence of events and the timing of all these events in the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

 

Daniel prophesies in Daniel 9:24-26 -

 

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy One.

 

“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench (wall), but in times of trouble.   After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.”

 

The word for trench here is also the word for wall.  It is more accurately translated as wall in this passage.  This also coincides with archeology and the order of Artaxerxes I.

 

This is a MATHEMATICAL prophecy

 

The Old Testament used 360 day years and expects us to add the appropriate leap days on the 'leap months' on the 50th year. So, the easiest way to unravel this prophecy is to first convert this prophecy into days:

- Add 7 + 62 weeks = 69 weeks of years

- Multiply 69 (weeks) x 7 (years) = 483 years

- Multiply 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days

 

The reason that Daniel does not use the 50th year that includes the additional make-up extra month is because the prophecy would not add up.  He uses the seven sevens, or seven weeks of years, the first 49 years in the Jewish calendar to come to the correct number of days for this prophesy.

 

Nehemiah explained that Jerusalem was still in ruins, the wall and the gates were still not repaired. When the king asked what he would like to do, Nehemiah answered, "If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that you would send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it."

 

Artaxerxes consented, and sent with him letters for the governors of the region, authorizing the rebuilding project. This commission was issued in the spring of 444 B.C., in Artaxerxes' 20th year of reign.

 

There were other orders to rebuild the Temple, but, there were only two commandments to restore Jerusalem and its wall. One was March 14, 445 B.C., and one in the spring of 444 BC, as confirmed by modern archaeology, King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem and specifically included its wall (Nehemiah 2:2-9 records and details all the events surrounding the rebuilding of this wall.).

 

Notice that the prophecy says that from the time the order goes forth, that is proceeds, not necessarily when it was first issued.  The 444 B.C. command was a repeat of the 445 B.C. command.  So, it did not go forth until 444 B.C. – it was not successful until 444 B.C., when Nehemiah was sent to make sure it could become a reality.

 

We know for certain that Jesus was crucified on April 3, 33 A.D.

 

Counting from March 3, 444 B.C., and this would be a spring date in the middle east (spring comes earlier in the Middle East), (when the command to rebuild the city Jerusalem and its wall was given AND WENT FORTH - PROCEEDED) and you would end on the exact year and even the very day that Jesus rode 'triumphantly' into Jerusalem, being praised as King and Messiah by thousands upon thousands of the Jewish people who had gathered from all over for the Passover Holidays. Honored, yet lowly, riding on a donkey - exactly as another prophet, the prophet Zechariah, said He would.

 

Now John has the next day as the Passover day.  He calls this meal, the “evening meal.”  There are some ideas about a possible conflict between John and the other gospels.  The other gospels say on this day that the disciples are commanded to find a certain man and tell him that the Teacher says he will eat the Passover at his house.  Then the other gospels say they prepared the Passover.  Now the other gospels also say that they ate the “evening meal.”  If they ate the Passover meal, it certainly would have said that.  There is no reason they could not have started to prepare for the Passover on the day before the Passover. 

 

There is also another way this can be reconciled.  The Jews had two different ways to recon the day of Passover in that time and they were one day apart.  So, it would also be possible to have two Passovers.

 

So here we have the Messiah, the Mighty God, he is in a house with his 12 disciples and let’s see what happens.  Going back to the prophesy in Daniel 9, the Anointed One will be revealed and then he will be put to death.  This is why Jesus knew that this was his hour to leave this world and go to the Father.  This is why Jesus knew that he had come from God and was returning to God.  It was God’s plan all along.

 

Yet, he loved his own to the very end of his earthly life. 

 

This passage is an example of how he loved his own.

 

Now the evening meal was already in progress, and Jesus gets up to wash the disciples’ feet.  According to protocol of the day, this should have been done by the master of the house, one of his servants or one of the disciples.  Here they were already into the meal and no one had washed their feet yet.  So Jesus gets up, takes his outer clothes off, wraps himself in a towel and washes everyone’s feet. 

 

Peter gets it that one of the disciples should have washed their feet.  Peter refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, because he should be washing Jesus’ feet. 

 

Jesus tells Peter that he doesn’t understand now, but later he will understand.  Then Jesus gives Peter an ultimatum, “Unless I wash you, then you have not part with me?”

 

Peter responds by asking that Jesus wash his hands and his head as well.

 

Do you think that Peter understood Jesus spiritually at this point, or was he just responding to the ultimatum?

 

Jesus interpreted his actions after he was done by saying:

 

“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.”

 

So, what is Jesus’ message here?  Why does he say that no servant is greater than his master?

 

One of my college classmates entered his family business, which was making and installing custom organs for churches.  Many churches found their organs to be very cost efficient considering the types of organs they sold.  They were the types with the real pipes.  I attended some of the churches that had one of their organs and the sounds would just vibrate the whole building and wrap you up in the hymn that was being sung.  One day, my friend told me that the business was folding.  I was sad to hear this and asked why was the business folding?  He said that if they had charged the going rate for their organs, they would be rich and retiring.  That is not what they did, he said, “We sold them for as cheap as we could because we were serving our fellow Christians.”  I asked him, “Wouldn’t it be nice to still have the business?”  He said, “What was nice is that we were serving or brothers and sisters in Christ.”

 

Recently I learned of the owner of a large and successful car dealership who has learned to serve downward. When asked on a radio interview what his number one priority was in running his business, he said it was to serve his employees. What a surprising answer! We would not have been surprised at an answer such as, "To serve my customers." Everyone would say that. After all, that is the way to maximize profits and, besides, it sounds very noble—or pious if one happens to be a Christian. But this man runs his business to serve his employees. He believes his first priority is to provide for his employees a decent and fair place in which to work and earn their livelihood. He has learned to serve downward.

 

When I was in college, one of my classmates did a little experiment.  He went to 10 different churches on Sunday mornings.  He neglected to shave and shower for 3 days beforehand, and wore overhauls.  Nine churches sat him in the back row.  One church sat him in the front row and gave him extra attention.  Which church was applying this lesson from Jesus?

 

Throughout my church experience, there were times that I heard others say that they were the ones that had to be the Bible Lesson Teacher, or they had to be the pulpit preacher.  Many said that they would be great in the eyes of God if they were the pastor of a church.  Many times, I would just listen as I was relegated to the duties of Sunday School Bus driver.  Well, one day I had such a blessing as I picked up a little 7 year old boy who stopped in front of me at the driver’s seat and said, “My name is John Doane, and I’m going to marry your daughter, the one with black hair.”  Now, at the time my wife had blonde hair, and I had red hair.  So I thought, “No way are we going to have a baby with black hair.”  Well, I got divorced, and remarried.  My second wife had a daughter with black hair.  One day she brought someone home with her and she said, “I want you to meet my new boyfriend, John Doane.”  At their wedding, John Doane spent a good deal of time thanking me for raising Michelle in the Christian way, for spending a lot of time with her through our family time, outings, and church going.  He thanked me just before the wedding ceremony, right after the wedding, and three times during the reception.” 

 

When I was in Seminary, I went and talked to my friend Al one day.  Al had a pyramid of oatmeal cartons in his apartment.  I asked him why he had such a pyramid and he said, “That is what I have been eating.”  I asked him how he gets his vitamin D.  He said, “That is why you see me reading my books outside with my shirt sleeves and pant legs rolled up.”  After this we had Al over every day for a grilled cheese sandwich.  There was a time or two we had him over for pancakes and eggs.  We did this till he had a better job and could afford better food.

 

Here is a story from a lady named Joni:

 

“I’ve got a special story I want to share with you; it’s about my friend Carolyn.

 

Carolyn has been attending the church where Ken and I worship for as long as I can remember. Carolyn is in her late 60’s and lives alone, and although she has 4 grown children who all live either out of state or at a far distance, Carolyn pretty much leads a solitary life. She works a solitary job, she’s a seamstress, and has been working out of her home for many years. Apart from her clients, she lives a pretty singular life, yet keeps a very positive outlook on things. If you were to ask her about her ministry—you know, how she uses the gifts God has given her—she would not point to her job as a seamstress. Carolyn’s ministry is quite different …

 

She packs my suitcase and hanging bag when I travel. Now I know, I know it doesn’t sound much like a ministry, but believe me, it is. Remember, my hands don’t work and the girls who get me up and ready for a trip have enough to do without rummaging through my closet, folding things, and packing my medical stuff. They leave that to Carolyn. And if you were to ask her how God has especially gifted her for this ministry, Carolyn would tell you she is a stickler on organizing things. When she comes up to pack me before I go on a trip, she brings up two or three different kinds of check lists for clothes, urologic equipment, toiletry items, support hose, wheelchair battery, medications, everything I need to put me to bed and get me up and ready to go. I never question Carolyn and I never double-check her. On the morning I leave for a trip, Ken and I just stay out of her way while we get ready. And when the van honks its horn outside and someone yells out, “It’s airport time!” I know that Carolyn will have my luggage ready to go curbside.

 

And before every trip right there at curbside, my traveling buddies and I will join hands with Carolyn and we will pray. And somewhere in my prayer, I always ask the Lord to credit Carolyn’s eternal account with all the blessings that will come on the trip if people receive Christ. I ask God to accrue it all to the enrichment of her eternal estate because I know that she is a treasured and much valued part of the ministry team. I just couldn’t go on the road were it not for dear Carolyn. How I thank the Lord that she is willing to serve Him by helping me, a quadriplegic, pack my suitcase and hanging bag.”

 

So, what did Jesus mean by saying that the servant is not greater than the master?  Jesus is the master.  No one served others more than Jesus, and that is what makes him the master.  If you want to be great, all you have to do is serve others.