Gary Burge calls chapters 1-12 “The Book of Signs.”
He calls chapters 13-21 “The Book of Glory.”
Chapter 13 begins a new section of the Gospel of John.
John writes five chapters [13-17] about the events in the Upper Room on that final night before the cross and does not mention the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
When I preached on Chapter 6, I said that Jesus is not referring to the Lord’s Supper when He says we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have eternal life. In John 6 Jesus says that He says that He is the True Bread from heaven. If you wish to read that sermon you can find it on our website.
The reason, I believe, that John does not mention the institution of the Lord’s Supper is so his readers will understand the spiritual meaning of the Lord’s Supper. My desire is to give you the spiritual interpretation of John’s Gospel.
Once more I must give Charles Alexander credit for this line of thought.
No other writer on John’s Gospel that I have read has given the spiritual meaning of the text. In this case it is what John does not say that is extremely significant.
John makes no mention of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. This is remarkable because John gives us more information about events in the Upper Room than all of the other three gospels. John devotes five chapters to that single night.
Why does John not mention the institution of the Lord’s Supper in chapters 13-17? The answer is found in Christ’s discourse on the Bread of Life recorded only by John in Chapter 6.
In the spiritual sense when we “eat and drink” Christ’s flesh and blood we are living on the doctrine of Christ. Jesus Christ is part of us as He indwells His people through the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus makes these statements about “eating His flesh and drinking His blood” the Lord’s Supper had not yet been instituted. It is my belief that the omission of any mention of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper by John is a deliberate effort to dispel any notion of efficacy in the substance of the bread and the wine.
To quote Charles Alexander, “He who does not see in this singular fact an inspired and silent protest against the sacramentalism, which by the art and craft of the Evil One was destined to overwhelm the historic church in the course of the ages, must not be able to see very far. Antichrist has used baptism and the Lord’s Supper to supplant the Word by substituting the sacramental virtues of the font and the altar, and the error rages in our day with unabated strength far beyond the Pope’s domain.”
The true “eating and drinking” the Lord’s body and of His blood is to dwell on the doctrine of Christ and to make His Word that which sustains you in life until you die. The Lord’s Supper is given to the church to remember His death until He returns in glory and judgment at the end of this present age.
John 13:1-27 A Lesson in Humility
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.
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.
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."
8 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."
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."
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.
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.
In John 13:34-35 Jesus gives His disciples a “new commandment.”
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
What is “new?” That they love as He did, self-sacrificing and unceasing. The Law said, “Love thy neighbor.” But this new precept is not to be a forced love.
In this passage [1-17], Jesus illustrates His new commandment by washing the feet of His disciples and explaining to them that He has given them an example to follow. It is a sad commentary on believers that we must be commanded to love one another!
And we do not have to cast about to know how to love one another if we would only read how the Apostle Paul defines love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
We need to understand Christian love as defined by the Bible in order to grasp the meaning of why Jesus washed His disciples feet.
If the Creator and Lord of the universe will do the work of a servant is there anything too low and trivial for any one of us to do?
The commentaries are all over the place trying to explain “… before the feast of the Passover…” and “… supper being ended…”
How can this event be before Passover and after the Passover meal?
There are a number of technical questions about the timing here but if you remember that Passover was a seven-day event culminating in the memorial Passover meal and that the death of the Christ was precisely at the time of the Passover meal, viz. “between the evenings” the problem can be solved in this manner. This is my own explanation not taken from anyone.
“Supper being ended” should be “at supper” or “supper taking place.”
This supper occurs before the actual Passover meal and in the other Gospels it is recorded how Jesus makes the transition to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.
Christ was hung on the cross on the actual day of Passover on either Wednesday or Thursday before a “High Day Sabbath” and not the weekly Sabbath on Friday.
Christ Himself is our Passover as the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7.
See the perfect foreknowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, “His hour had come.” The time of His death on the cross, which will glorify Him and the Father, has come.
Jesus loved His own who were in the world.
Doesn’t Jesus love everyone in the same degree?
There is a sense in which the Lord loves all men. As James Boice puts it,
“God does some things for all men. But God does everything for some men.”
Jesus loves “His own” to the ultimate degree, to the uttermost.
He loves “His own” to the extent that the Son of Man will be made to be sin and will die on a cruel cross as their sufficient Substitute.
(2) Judas is under the power of the devil in God’s perfect will. Judas is a pitiful figure but he is responsible for his sin. In the same way that the Roman soldiers are responsible for their sin and who will carry out every detail of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, so is Judas who will fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 41.
Judas Iscariot had already determined to betray Jesus. He had realized that discipleship did not “pay-off.” Jesus had rebuked him for his complaining about the excessive waste of an expensive jar of nard. Judas was a greedy thief. No doubt he did not want to be put out of the synagogue (9:22), and so he decided to cultivate the favor of the authorities (11:57).
Here among some who argued about “personal greatness” and with a traitor in their midst, the Lord is about to set forth an example of humility and service. He even washed the feet of Judas!
(3-5) Washing of feet is a menial task performed by a servant,
(Cf. 1 Samuel 25:41). Abigail who became David’s wife says”
Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, "Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."
But there is no servant in the upper room. Why didn’t one of the disciples offer?
Luke 22:24 says that they were arguing about which one was the most important.
Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.
F. B. Meyer
1.
Key to the incarnation of Christ {paraphrase}:
“He rose from the throne, laid aside His garments of light, took up the poor towel of humanity, and wrapped it about His glorious Person; poured out His own blood into the basin of the cross; and set Himself to wash away the foul stains of human depravity and guilt.”
Since pride was the source of human sin - humility must be the antidote.
2.Key to everyday cleansing:
Bathed once at Calvary – cleansed daily in our walk with Christ.
3.Key to our ministry to each other:
Are we willing to serve - rather than be served?
(6) Peter, who does his thinking out loud, sees the incongruity of what is happening: “Lord, do You my feet wash?”
Peter recoils at the idea of the Lord in the role of a Servant. It surely would not occur to Peter to wash another man’s feet! The idea that the measure of greatness was service had not yet registered with them.
What practical application can we make of menial service? When you see a tissue or a candy wrapper on the floor in this building do you ever think of picking it up? That raises the larger question of why someone would throw trash on the floor. Have they been taught to throw trash on the floor in their home?
This church is struggling to keep its finances solvent. We cannot afford a large staff of housekeepers. So each one of us needs to look for ways to serve the church.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(7) This event is part of the entire humiliation of Christ. Later Peter and the others will understand (16:12-14).
(8) Peter is emphatic: “By no means shall you wash my feet ever!”
Double negative! Let’s not be too hard on Peter. He did submit even though he said, “No!” Do we ever do the opposite?
Do we sometimes say “Yes” and then renege?
Jesus answered Peter: “ If I do not wash you, you will have no part with Me.”
Peter, If you are not willing for Me to wash your feet, you would not accept My blood poured out! Peter sees the incongruity of the present situation but does not see the incongruity of a disciple telling his Lord what to do!
(9-11) Peter completely misses the point.
Peter walks on the water but then he begins to sink.
Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and then rebukes Jesus.
After this event Peter says he will lay down his life and then denies that he knows Jesus. Peter learns that the Gentiles are as much the children of God as are the Jews and then at Antioch he plays the hypocrite.
Peter, the amount of washing is not equal to the blessing; it is not the physical washing that is important. Christ continues with the spiritual meaning: He who is bathed (justified in My blood) has no need of washing except for daily sanctification (setting apart), i.e., spiritual cleansing.
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
I have tried to give you the spiritual understanding of John.
In Chapter 3 there is the spiritual birth.
In Chapter 4 there is spiritual water.
In chapter 6 there is spiritual bread.
We could list many other spiritual truths that many miss, who like Peter, can only see the literal meaning of the Bible.
Verse 11 answers the notion put forth by some that Judas was saved and then lost; Jesus said he was not “clean.”
(12-15) Peter’s objection has been answered.
“Do you know what I have done to you?”
If the Lord of glory is willing to take the form of a servant, how much more should we, as His disciples, render loving service to each other in a spirit of genuine humility?
Is the washing of feet a new ordinance?
Is the washing of feet a part of the Lord’s Supper?
Some Baptists say it is and I respect their effort to follow the Scriptures and to practice humility. But here in Chapter 13 we have spiritual cleansing. If we focus on the literal washing of feet we will miss the lesson that the Lord teaches.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper and believer’s baptism are the only two ordinances that were commanded by the Lord and both have a reference to the blood of Christ and that the washing of feet is an example of humility and not an ordinance of the church nor is it a part of the Lord’s Supper.
Consider:
Verse 7, Peter knew that the Lord had literally washed his feet.
Verse 8, Jesus told Peter that if He did not wash him that Peter would have no part with Him. Surely there are many believers who have a part with Jesus but who have never washed another’s feet.
Verse 10, Judas could not be the exception to those who are clean because Jesus washed Judas’ feet. Jesus literally washed Judas’ feet and Judas was a lost man.
Verse 12, When Jesus asked, “Do you know what I have done to you?” He clearly means a spiritual lesson because they had to know that He had literally washed their feet.
And then in verse 15, Jesus does not say do what I did but as I did. It is not the outward act, but an inward attitude that is taught.
The same sort of lesson is taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus, after teaching who is our neighbor, says, “Go and do likewise.” Are we ever going to find a man who is beaten half to death to help?
Can we find other ways to “Go and do likewise”? Of course we can.
(16,17) We can never refuse to serve in what is beneath our “dignity.”
Faith without works is dead.
Are you looking for happiness?
Here is the proven formula.
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.
The promise is not that you will be happy if these things are done to you but if you do them.
Forgive me but I cannot resist repeating my old line about humility.
I was given a medal for my humility but they took it back when I wore it.
In C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, Letter Number 14, Screwtape says to Wormwood, “I see only one thing to do at the moment. Your patient has become humble; have you drawn attention to the fact?”
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Or, has pride kept you from repentance and confession of your trust in Jesus?
Amen
