John 13:1-17

Date: March 21, 2010
Week 3: Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet (John 13:1-17)
Bible Study: Jesus wants us to follow his example of serving others.

Background: Foot Washing in the Ancient World
• people walked from place to place on dusty, dry roads
• their feet would become extremely dirty
• when guests came for dinner, it was customary to have their feet washed, and this was typically done by a servant
• it was a lowly task in the social hierarchy of the ancient world
John 13:1-17 Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
1 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.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
• Layeth aside his garments — That part of them which would have hindered him.
5 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.
• Into the basin — A large vessel was usually placed for this very purpose
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
• We do not now know perfectly any of His works . . . it is enough that we can love and obey now, and that we shall know “everything” later.
8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
• Peter did not understand what was happening
• Peter did not understand what Jesus, the Messiah, was all about
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
• wash us in His blood and purify us by His Spirit
• if not, we con not share in the blessings of His Kingdom
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 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.”
• having already been cleaned by asking Him into our hearts and lives, we need only to walk holy and undefiled. (wash our feet)
11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
12 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?
13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
• he teaches us
o in every possible way to assist each other in attaining that purity
o to wash each other's feet, by performing all sorts of good offices to each other, even those of the lowest kind, when opportunity serves, and the necessity of any calls for them
15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16 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.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

• It is significant, then, that Jesus, the Master, chose to wash the feet of his disciples.
• He introduced a new way of looking at each other, and introduced humility and service into the understanding of His ways.
• To be great in the kingdom meant to serve.
• This ran counter to the culture of ancient Palestine and still runs counter to the way we live today.

• Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ.
• Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think that nothing is below us so that we may promote God's glory.
• We must put aside everything that would hinder us in behaving like a Christian.

• Jesus does many things of which even his own disciples did not know the meaning of . . . but they shall know afterward.
• We see in the end what was the kindness from events which seemed meaningless.

• All those, and those only, who are spiritually washed by Christ, have a part in Christ. All whom Christ owns and saves, he justifies and sanctifies.
• Peter more than submits; he begs to be washed by Christ.
• Those who truly desire to be sanctified, desire to be sanctified throughout, to have the whole man, with all its parts and powers, made pure. The true believer is thus washed when he receives Christ for his salvation.

• From yesterday's pardon, we should be strengthened against today's temptation.
• We must both accept help from our brothers and give help to our brothers.

Should we balance helping our own family with helping others ??
How can we balance that ??
What prevents us from serving others (including our family) ??

Mark 9:35b: 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

What does it mean to be last ??
What’s wrong with being first ??
What do our children gain by the message of today’s Lesson ?? (John 13:16 above)