- Introduction
- Demonstration of love
- Confrontation of Peter’s pride
- The lesson
- The betrayal of Judas
- The divine milestone
Introduction
Caption
John prefaces the next milestone of his journey with Jesus with a caption that summarizes four aspects of the mind-set he perceived was driving the final actions of Jesus before leaving his disciples for his execution.
1 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.
John’s observation that Jesus knew his hour had come was informed by the statement Jesus had made shortly before at the meal given by the family of Lazarus in his honour.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (12:23-24)
He knew that he had to die, in order for the Father to bring many to life, and the time was now. He was to become the Passover sacrifice by shedding his blood to bring many to life through all ages. He had fulfilled the Father’s commission. His mission had reached its consummation. Now was closure time. Now was the time to be glorified by his Father and glorify his Father. Now the towel around his waist would become nails pinning him to a cross, and water for cleansing the feet of a few become his blood to cleanse the souls of multitudes. Hence, John records the last essential acts to be completed by Jesus before surrendering himself to be executed by the authorities. They were:
- a demonstration of the extent of love required from every disciple of his;
- the confrontation of Peter’s pride;
- the betrayal by Judas
- critical teaching concerning his inseparable unity with his Father and his followers.
Demonstration of love
John summarised the extent of the love of Jesus by its target (his own) and duration (to the end). He then recorded a demonstration by Jesus to his disciples of the extent of this love.
Having loved his own[1] who were in the world, he loved them to the end.[2]
His own
Who were his own? The followers of Jesus were more than acquaintances. John certainly was. He had left everything to join Jesus on his journey and chosen to follow commands given by Jesus driven by love. He had demonstrated his love for Jesus by obeying those commands no matter what the cost. As a result, he had become a uniquely owned, private possession of Jesus, loved by him and his Father and privileged to receive insights into their relationship and purposes, as he later records:
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (14:21)
Likewise, the other disciples had become the separate possessions of Jesus. They also were loved by Jesus and his Father and no longer belonged to the world. They too were his own receiving insights to spiritual light and truth not available to intellectual reasoning.
The end
At the time of writing this record of his journey with Jesus, John had witnessed the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and heard his promise to return again to rule all peoples. Therefore he had a comprehensive understanding of what it meant for Jesus to love to the end. At this point, however, in recording his journey with Jesus, he inserts the moment when Jesus sought to demonstrate the extent to which his love was prepared to go as the internal benchmark required of all who would choose to become his own.
Jesus chose the perfect timing to demonstrate the kind of the love that releases life in his kingdom. He chose a practice in his culture that would communicate vividly to any culture, through the centuries, across a range of childhood and adult ages. His demonstration of the nature of love that releases life, and the light of spiritual insight, remains relevant for all today.
Timing of the demonstration
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Earlier would have been too soon for his demonstration of loving to the end. The seed of betrayal had already been sewn by Satan and would soon manifest. Mary had shown at the previous meal in honour of Jesus that she knew his execution by the religious authorities was imminent and prepared him for burial. Now her sacrificial demonstration of love was to be followed by a vivid demonstration of sacrificial love by Jesus himself.
Self-knowledge drives action
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
John notes that Jesus operated from a clear knowledge base of his identity and purpose. It gave him an understanding of self against which to assess actions needed and their timing. Without a clear understanding of our identity and purpose, we often choose wrong actions at the wrong time. Our intent to love becomes easily fragmented and dissipated.
Nothing can destabilize or push into another agenda the person who knows without a doubt that God with his great love has forgiven them, given their disengaged spirit new spiritual life, given them his power and promised them an eternal destiny with him. Such a person can act with a sense of perfect timing without fear of failure.
With his strong sense of identity and purpose, Jesus was clear in his choice of timing.
4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
A demonstration of the extent of how far his love was prepared to go could only be achieved with a full appreciation of his identity and mission. The demonstration of that extent was about to be encapsulated in washing the feet of each of his disciples.
Foot washing
5 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.
How far would the love of Jesus the heralded King and Messiah go to demonstrate the nature of love in his kingdom? His disciples needed a clear example to follow. The extent his love would go was a measure of the extent to which his pride would detach from his perception of his identity and purpose. Jesus would detach his pride fully. This was the challenge being demonstrated for every would-be disciple in the foot washing of his current disciples. How far am I prepared to detach my pride from my goals, social activities and religion to be able to hear the inner voice of God and obey him?
Peter struggled with this. How far would he allow his pride to be detached from his sense of self-identity and purpose? That would be the measure of how far he could follow as an effective disciple, just as Jesus was following effectively the commands of his Father.
Confrontation of Peter’s pride
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Peter clearly was caught by surprise. His understanding of Jesus was still in formation and had not grasped the servant nature of this man of miracles claiming to be the Son of God, nor the scope of his mission. Jesus later made that clear, but for now assured Peter that one day he would understand why his Master wanted to wash his feet.
“You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
With pride fully engaged, Peter vehemently rejected the desire of Jesus. He did not merely deny the wish of Jesus with a “you shall not wash my feet”. He displaced “not” with “never”. He emphatically forbade Jesus to wash his feet.[3] “You shall never wash my feet!” His pride needed more failures to disengage from the growing sense of identity and purpose he was gaining from following Jesus. Being specially chosen with one other disciple to see the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain and being given a new name Petros by Jesus (meaning a stone) had no doubt given him a sense of privileged identity and purpose. Jesus would later have to bring his pride into alignment with the humility needed to surrender fully to him. Peter had to wait until after the resurrection of Jesus to be restored to the place of humility needed to lead the witness of the early church with clarity about Jesus and courage needed to face fierce opposition.
For now, Jesus had to reject unequivocably the pride of Peter so that it would not subtly divert and later entrap Peter.
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Jesus never dealt in shades of grey adjustments and compromises. All or none is the measure every person must face if wanting to become a disciple of Jesus. That is what Jesus expected from Peter, whose response instantly showed his unreserved commitment to Jesus that would be seen again and again in his leadership of the early church.
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
In other words, “Then Lord, go all the way with your washing!” God later did go all the way with challenging tasks for Peter that ultimately led to his crucifixion.
The lesson
12 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.
Jesus made clear that his action was not solely to clean feet that had dirt from walking to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. It was educational – an example of action that brings personal blessing.
13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought[4] to wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Jesus made it clear to the gathered disciples that if he, as their Lord and Teacher, had humbled himself to the role of a servant, every disciple is morally obligated to do the same for others. Then, when he explained that he had given an example they should do for others, he places the emphasis on their relative position rather than their action.
16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
It is critical to know where we fit in spiritual relationships. However, Jesus concluded his teaching by making the point that knowing where we fit as a servant or messenger does not bring the blessing of God. The blessing comes when give sacrificial love with our pride detached from our position as Jesus had demonstrated. In God’s kingdom, actions speak louder than words! Jesus now switched to the actions of Judas.
The betrayal of Judas
Prophesied
It was time for Jesus to focus on Judas in his journey to death for the sins of the world. He needed to continue developing his disciples to be witnesses of this divine destiny. They had already been alerted to his imminent death by the action of Mary to prepare him for burial and heard his rebuke of Judas for objecting to the waste of a potential money source. The anticipation of his death was strong. Jesus, therefore, needed to make it clear to the disciples that they were not the subjects of a prophecy about his betrayal that he was about to reference to authenticate his divine mission.
18 I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me’.
Jesus drew from a Psalm of David, who was betrayed by a close associate when stricken with an illness, and used it prophetically to authenticate his identity.
“Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me”. (Psalm 41:9)
19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.
Belief in his divine identity was the primary objective of Jesus for his disciples. For them to continue his mission in the face of life-threatening opposition, they needed to grasp undiminished that the man they had followed for three years was in fact the Creator and Lord of all. “I am who I am”. Their mission to make him known to the uttermost parts of the earth would be supported by the following spiritual reality:
20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
Jesus claimed that the presence of God stretches unbroken from his frontline disciple, back to his Son, back to the Father himself. The acceptance of his disciple is the acceptance of Jesus, which is the acceptance of God himself. Likewise, the reverse is true: the rejection of his disciple is the rejection of God himself.
Spiritually distressing
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled[5] in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
John observed and recorded the deep agitation of Jesus that accompanied his announcement of being surrendered up by Judas to the religious authorities baying for his death. What caused the deep agitation? Was it the hurt of betrayal by one who had been with him for three years journeying on the road sharing life experiences together: enjoying nature, jostling in pressing crowds pushing for their loved ones to be healed, and as invited guests to meal tables in private homes? Or was it the dark cloud of impending physical and spiritual agony beginning to cast its horrific shadow over him? Either way, Jesus was not just shaken up in his emotions. He was deeply agitated in his spirit.
…one of you is going to betray me.”
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.
Characteristically, Peter could not handle the suspension of undefined events and marshalled John to draw more specific detail about the identity of the supposed betrayer.
23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
Young John, who habitually rested his head on the chest of Jesus as they reclined around the meal table, complied to Peter’s request and became the first-hand witness of the interaction of Jesus with the betrayer among them.
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
John saw this enacted out in front of him, watched the body language and facial expressions of Judas and concluded:
27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
Jesus remained in control of his destiny. Judas had lost his.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
John filled out the intense scene with more comments on the reactions of the disciples.
28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.
30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out.
At this dramatic turning point in history, it is instructive to notice that Satan’s timing was ‘now’. He did not wait after a Judas accepted his temptation. He moved him to action immediately. His victims’ actions and their fall is immediate and swift with no room for reflection and resistance of their will.
John added the following observation, which seemed to display physically what was happening in the soul of Judas. He had left the light.
And it was night.
Alternatively, John may have inserted this observation to capture the descending spiritual darkness approaching Jesus in his crucifixion for the sins of the world. Either way, every reader can relate to this dark night of sin that has descended on their own soul at some time in their life.
The divine milestone
Shared glory
Jesus now made clear that the departure of Judas was more that the exit of a dinner companion determined to initiate a seismic betrayal. His action was accompanied by a heavenly change within God himself. Firstly, Jesus was glorified by the decision of Judas to leave and carry out the betrayal.
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.
In what way was the Son of Man glorified by this milestone event? Possibly it was because Jesus had set up the last action that would assure his assassins would be able to find, identify and capture him to be executed. This was the last action he needed to take for his enemies to capture him and his Father’s will be fulfilled. He remained obedient to the Father’s will to the end. This was the moment of his glory.
“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
How was God glorified in this final action of Jesus to set Judas on his path of betrayal? We see in this action, and the consequential actions of the crucifixion to follow, the love of God for his creation being prepared to go the whole distance of sacrificing himself to provide a clear pathway to eternal life. In those actions, God was, and continues to be, glorified in Jesus to his creation for all time.
United glory
32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
Jesus then made clear that glory does not reside in either the Father or the Son but in both. Their unity results in instant, interchangeable, united glory. When I seek to glorify Jesus in my witness of him, I am instantly glorifying his Father, who instantly glorifies the Son in him in oneness with his Father.
Divided journey
Jesus now presented to the disciples his departure to a destination currently inaccessible to them.
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
Their journey with him had reached a fork in the road. He was going on his own journey without them. They would be left behind. Jesus instantly instructed them on what their focus should be until seeing him again.
The new commandment
Jesus wanted their focus in his absence to be on keeping their identity clear to their society as his disciples by living according to a new commandment from him. This was it, and remains so today:
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What was new about this commandment? God’s emphasis on love certainly was not new to the Jews as his chosen people. It was present in the early revelations of himself to them over a millennium ago. God had reinforced them at critical times of the creation under the leadership of Moses that they were to love him with all their being and their neighbour as themselves. (e.g., on the cusp of their entry into the Promised land, Deuteronomy 6:5; 30:16). David had extolled God’s love on several occasions. (e.g., Psalm 103:8, 106:1, 107:1, 108:4, 118:1, 145:8) Their God was the God of love. That is who they worshipped.
Jesus had already instructed, when asked, that the greatest commandment was the two-fold love of God with our whole being and the love of our neighbour as ourself. (Matthew 22:39). Clearly, the commandment to love was not new to the Jews. Hence, what was new about this command as claimed by Jesus at the time the clock had begun ticking for his imminent betrayal, arrest and execution?
What was new was the recent demonstration by Jesus of the nature of the love governing his kingdom. With the washing of their feet by him fresh in their minds, Jesus now commanded that the love needed to wash their feet was to be the mandatory benchmark of their love for each other at all times.
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
What Jesus had previously instructed using the present subjunctive tense, “should wash continually” he now sharpens to a firmer requirement by adding the personal pronoun, “yourselves”,
34 As I have loved you, so you yourselves should love one another.[6]
It would not be theological precision or articulation that would make it clear to their society that they were the disciples of Jesus. It would be their demonstration continuous, sacrificial, towel-around-the-waist love for each other. Where has that demonstrated love of God’s kingdom failed to be the benchmark of love in every marriage breakup and division of Christian groups since Jesus humbled himself in sacrificial love? How far is my love prepared to go in sacrifice? What limits have I imposed with my pride? Without exercising the love demonstrated by Jesus with a towel around his waist washing the feet of those he loved, including Judas, the world cannot see the nature of Jesus in his followers, but only a collection of religious organisations prioritising their dogma above maintaining love for each other.
As I have loved you, so you yourselves should love one another continuously.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another continuously.”
Peter’s unprepared devotion
Peter was a man of the heart and action. He could not stand the thought of not following Jesus on his journey.
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
Having assured Simon that their separation would not be permanent, Jesus had to modify Peter’s instant response with realism about his pride. He would have to learn to diminish it to lead the disciples after Jesus physically became permanently absent. It had already refused to have Jesus wash his feet. Now it boasted again, driven by deep affection:
37 “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?.” I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Time would soon reveal three times that Peter’s pride could not survive the threat of physical danger. Once could be explained away with an excuse. Three times could not. Three times or more reveals an engrained habit sustained by pride not faced. Each person who wants to follow Jesus has to go through an honest evaluation of their pride.
“Before the rooster crows, will you disown me three times?”
Idios, meaning ‘uniquely one’s own, private and separate’. ↩︎
Telos, meaning ‘end’ was derived from ‘tello’ meaning to set out for a specific point or goal. In this case, it conveys the completion of a chosen purpose. Jesus loved his own to that completion. All would be saved. ↩︎
Οὐ μὴ Peter uses Οὐ, which objectively denies categorically a thing or action, and combines it with μὴ, which subjectively negates the possibility of idea or action. The combined effect is to vehemently communicate rejection of a proposal or action. ↩︎
Jesus used the present indicative active tense of opheiló , meaning obligated and indebted, to indicate that the sacrificial love shown by him is a continuous obligation for every disciple and not optional, based on their own personal indebtedness. Then, when instructing that his disciples should follow the example of love he had given, he placed his emphasis on their subjective need to respond by intensifying the subject “you” and coupling it with a subjunctive tense to signal their response was not guaranteed. ↩︎
John describes the agitation of Jesus as more than surface. This was deep emotional agitation with emotions being shaken back and forth to the extent the John took notice. ↩︎
NIV translation makes this even firmer: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.“ ↩︎