The sight of the Son of God on his knees washing his disciple’s feet depicted in John chapter 13, is one of the most shocking discoveries any reader of this Gospel will experience. It seems to arrive so suddenly that after you encounter it, you find yourself asking, “Where did that come from.” So, you circle back to try and grasp what you just read and find that verse 3 provides context for the Lord’s actions in verse 4, but those actions – rising from supper, removing his outer garments, and wrapping himself in a towel – don’t at first seem to be related to that context. So, when you arrive at verse 5, you’re completely unprepared for its dramatic depiction of such unimaginable and disorienting humility.
And it’s not only a staggering moment for those of us who observe this event on the pages of Scripture from the distance of millennia, it was far more so for the disciples who lived it firsthand, especially Peter. It takes another 12 verses of the Lord’s responses to Peter’s startled reactions before he and the rest of the Twelve begin to regain their footing and for the significance of what just happened to start to come into focus.
We need a similar debriefing by the Holy Spirit if we’re going to be able to take in its impact, and I plan to pursue that with you. But right now, I’d like to focus on verse 3 and the three things it tells us Jesus knew that made possible the kind of holy servanthood he displayed. If we’re ever going to serve others with the same heart he has – which was clearly his point – we need to know what he knew.
First, it says he knew, “that the Father had given all things into his hands.” He had nothing to lose. We’re often hesitant to serve others for fear of what it will cost us emotionally or in terms of time and money spent. But when we understand, as Jesus did, that we already possess the full measure of God’s favor and provision, we can give of ourselves to others with confidence that doing so can’t diminish us. God has fully resourced us with all we could ever need.
Second, we’re told he knew, “that he had come from God.” He had nothing to prove. His serving was a settled response to a divine assignment. He didn’t need to wash feet as a way of validating that. When we serve as a means of affirming our calling instead of from a place of confidence in it, our service is self-serving and becomes polluted. But when our missional activity flows from a solid assurance that we’ve been sent by God to tangibly express his love in this world, it changes why we serve and what people experience from us when we do.
Finally, the text tells us he knew that he, “was going to God.” He had nothing to earn. His eternity was already secure. When we seek to gain God’s favor through acts of service, it betrays an insecurity regarding our relationship with him and becomes all about us instead of all about those we’re supposed to minister to in his name. Our faith in Christ is what has settled our eternal destiny, not our works. We will be with him forever, and nothing we may attempt to do for him can add anything to what he’s already done to secure the fulfillment of that promise.
The image of the Messiah stooping over a water basin to clean road dirt from his followers’ sandaled feet is breathtaking. It stands in stark contrast to the world’s sin-distorted concepts of authority. But God is inviting you and me to make his model more commonplace as we follow our Lord’s example. He calls to us from Philippians 2 verses 5 and 7 where it says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who...made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.”
Let’s take up his challenge by welcoming him to teach us the things servants know.