Credentials for Service

Psalm 36:5-12                      John 13:1-17

Credentials for Service

Dwight L. Moody apparently once said: “The measure of a person is not how many servants he has, but how many people he serves.”  Years ago, a friend of mine who went to seminary in Germany told me of an incident that occurred when their septic tank overflowed due to a blockage. Evidently, the person in charge of maintenance was on leave, so as a student, he reported it to the principal’s office. Later, when he returned to the men’s bathrooms, he was pleasantly surprised to see a man hard at work, ankle-deep in the sludge, unplugging the drain with his hands and then washing away the muck. His surprise, however, quickly turned to shame as he saw who it was who was cleaning up the mess. It was the principal of the seminary. 

Needless to say, my friend never forgot his lesson in humility. Now, I think that Jesus taught a similar lesson to his disciples in our Gospel passage for today.

John tells us that the incident took place the day before the Passover…in other words, the Day of Preparation on the 14th of Nissan. Scholars have struggled to correlate John’s timeframe with that of the synoptic Gospels as he seems to place the Last Supper on the evening before the actual Passover, apparently one whole day too early for the slaughtering of the lambs. However, Exodus 12:6 states that the ritual killing of the lamb could take place “between the two evenings”, in other words, sometime between the sunset that would start the Day of Preparation and the following sunset that would start the day of the Passover. 

It is also true that the Pharisees and the people from Galilee counted days from sunrise to sunrise while the Sadducees and the people of Judea counted days from sunset to sunset, so it is possible that Jesus and his Galilean disciples celebrated the Passover a day before those holding to the Judean calendar. 

Others have asserted that due to the sheer volume of pilgrims, the priests out of necessity began to slaughter the lambs a day earlier so that all could be ready for the Feast. Whatever the case may have been, all these explanations allow for Jesus to have been crucified at the same time as lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple.

According to verse one, the foot-washing incident was a direct result of Jesus knowing that his hour had now come. So, there must be some link between Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on the cross and this action of washing his disciples’ feet. It was because of what he knew that he now did what he did. Bear that in mind as we work our way through this passage.

Chapters 13-17 are what we would call a Farewell Discourse, very much like the latter part of Deuteronomy and other final wills and testaments found in Scripture. The most important point made throughout this discourse is Jesus’ love for his own. John tells us that his love is constant, unchanging, and permanent. His love was not based on the performance of his disciples…if it were, his love would be impossible. 

Our kind of love is so unlike our Lord’s love. Our love is very often performance-oriented, and we tend to mercilessly reject those who do not measure up to our expectations. Even our love for God tends to be subject to his performance…whether or not he has given us what we desire or what we expect him to give. As such our love for God or for others is a poor symbol of his love. As C. S. Lewis has said: “On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for him.” 

Never make the mistake of measuring God’s love by the actions of another human being, whether they are believers or not. God’s love cannot be fathomed or measured. As the Psalmist says: “Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalms 36:5-7) God’s love for you is infinitely deeper than anything you could ever imagine.

And so we should never lose sight of Jesus’s love for us, even during our most desperate moments. His disciples were about to face the most stressful time of their lives…a time when every one of them thought God had abandoned and forsaken them. But they, like us, could not see into the future…even though he had told them repeatedly about the resurrection, their finite minds could not see beyond the cross…they could not understand that in three days the battle against Satan and sin and death would be won. 

So, don’t measure his love for you by events or by circumstances, whether good or bad. Besides, adverse circumstances are often there because of his love. So rather believe him when he says that he loves all of his own even to the very end.

The act of washing the feet of his disciples was a physical parable, a significant symbol, if you will, demonstrating the love of God revealed on the cross. There are five points in verses 2 through 5 that we need to examine to understand why Jesus washed their feet.

Firstly, we need to understand when this took place. John tells us that it happened “during supper”, not before supper. The custom at the time was for guests to have their feet washed on entry to the home by a servant, then at least one hand had to be washed for appetisers, and then both hands for the main course. Now, even though the text does not explicitly tell us that there was no one to wash their feet, it may be that as the disciples had been arguing about who was to be greatest in the kingdom before this meal (according to Luke 22:24) none of them were willing to assume the role of this foot-washing servant. Nevertheless, my point is, these washings of feet and hands usually took place before supper, not during supper.

Secondly, we need to understand whose feet were washed. John seems to indicate that all the disciples were present at this time, including Judas. So, think about this. Jesus knew that the devil had already put it in the heart of Judas to betray him and yet he still washed his feet. In fact, if any of the disciples ought to have objected to Jesus washing their feet it ought to have been Judas, not Peter! But we will look at Judas later. Let it suffice to say here that Jesus applied this sign to all his disciples to serve as both a blessing and a curse.

Thirdly, we need to understand the basis for this action. John tells us that Jesus performed this action because he knew that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he knew he would soon be returning to the Father. Verse 3 says: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper…he laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel tied it around his waist”…and then he washed his disciples’ feet. So, his action of foot-washing must somehow relate to this “knowing”. 

Interestingly, we see similar words used at the ascension (when Jesus was about to return to the Father) in Matthew 28:18-20. There Jesus said that all authority in both heaven and earth has been given to him. But it is the command that follows this statement that is of interest to us. Because God the Father had given Jesus supreme authority over all things and because Jesus was about to go back to the Father, he now commissioned his disciples to do to others as he had done to them…to make disciples as he had made them disciples. 

As the wording is very similar, it is possible that what Jesus did in the foot-washing incident somehow ties in with his command before his ascension…or his going back to God…especially since he commanded them after the washing to do what he had done.

Fourthly, we need to understand the role taken on by Jesus, not only here but at his incarnation. His entire life was one of sacrificial servanthood. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. If this act of foot-washing was to serve as an example to his followers, as he states it should, then anyone who claims to follow him should be like him – a servant to others. 

And then fifthly, in the light of all these previous points, we need to understand what Jesus was actually doing. Was this merely an act of hospitality overlooked by the disciples and therefore designed to embarrass them? Did it happen during the meal because Jesus was waiting patiently for someone to swallow their pride and perform the demeaning task? Or is there something more to this action?

Perhaps we should start by understanding a tradition about feet and the ground. In Genesis 3:17-19 God told Adam that the ground would be cursed because of his sin. For this reason, shoes were worn not only to protect the feet but also to prevent contact with what was considered cursed. This is why several biblical characters were told to remove their shoes when coming into the presence of God because his presence hallowed the ground on which they were standing. This is also the same imagery behind the act of shaking the dust off the feet when leaving an inhospitable village…it was a symbolic gesture that indicated that the person departing did not leave behind a blessing.

But, I think, there is an even greater meaning behind the foot-washing. In Exodus 30:17-21, God told Moses to command the priests to wash their hands and their feet before approaching the altar or before they could perform their priestly duties. Is it possible that Jesus was doing something similar here? They were about to be appointed to be disciple-makers of the nations…witnesses to Jesus’ victory on the cross…the final sacrifice on the altar, so to speak. Perhaps this is what Isaiah had in mind when he wrote, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7) 

So, if we put all these images together, we see that the foot-washing event was at once a cleansing to and for service – it was a call, an equipping, a consecration, and a commissioning of the disciples to the ministry of servanthood.

As such, this act symbolised a significant heritage for the disciples…a symbol which Peter misunderstood. It has been said that the measure of a servant-like attitude is how you act when you are treated like a servant…but I think it is equally true in how you react to being served. Peter’s pride would not allow him to submit to the humble service of his Lord. Indeed, there is no parallel in ancient sources of any authority figure doing menial work like this, so one can understand his discomfort. 

Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, Jesus’ reply to Peter’s objection indicates that the washing had a deeper significance than purely customary hospitality. This is, of course, not Peter’s first objection nor will it be his last, as once again he seems to have had the wrong end of the stick, but notice what Jesus said to him. “If I do not wash you, you have no share or part with me.” He does not say Peter would have no part of him or no part in him, but no part with him. 

Why did Jesus use this preposition here? I think the answer lies in his reply to Peter’s characteristic overreaction. The washing was not a sign of regeneration – they were already proverbially ‘clean’. Rather, I think it was a sign of commissioning. Jesus declared Peter, and all the disciples except Judas, to be clean already. According to John 6:70, even before he called his disciples, Jesus knew which one would betray him. So, like the priests in the Old Testament, Peter and the others were considered clean or set apart by virtue of their position and their calling to serve. Still, their feet needed to be washed before they could serve.

To summarize: I believe that here Jesus was commissioning Peter and the others to a life of service, as followers of their servant king. This is why Jesus used the preposition with. Peter had a part with Jesus as a co-worker – as a bearer of his light, his love, and his life to a lost world. 

Now, of course, as I said earlier, if there was one who should have objected to the application of this sign, it was Judas. John tells us that he had already made up his mind to betray Jesus. So, he did have a part to play, but his role would be radically different to that of the other disciples because he had no part with Jesus. 

In verses 12-17, Jesus proceeded to reveal the significant meaning of this humble action. Even though the disciples correctly identified Jesus as Lord, they failed to understand his concept of leadership. He came to serve…to give his life as a ransom for many. That’s the credential for leadership in his kingdom. The greatest is the one who serves.

And I believe we make a big mistake if we think that it is the simple re-enacting of this foot-washing episode that Jesus wants his followers to mimic. That’s not what this is all about. Rather, it is doing whatever service is required in any given situation. 

What will destroy any church is a lack of sacrificial love for God and a lack of sacrificial love for others. Like Judas Iscariot, many in the Church throughout the ages have received the outward signs of grace while harbouring satanic tendencies in their hearts. The measure of a healthy church is not based on how many members they have, but rather on how many members use their God-given gifts for the benefit of all. 

Jesus commissioned the disciples to a ministry of service. What I have done to you, he said, you too must do to each other. This message echoes down through the centuries and applies to each successive generation. 

So, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024