Or, Measuring Humility by the Foot
Scripture: John 13:12-17
Date: August 4, 2013
Speaker: Sean Higgins
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Jesus leaves no place for pride to hide in John 13:12-17. Starting from His own example, He argues by comparison to the disciples’ duty. He follows the principle with a truism and finishes with a great promise. All those who call Jesus Lord should lower themselves to serve others. By the time He is finished we’ll understand that humble service is the only way to be happy. Jesus begins by asking, Do we understand it? The bigger question is, Will we do it?
The whole thing started when the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Logos, took on flesh and dwelt among men. If that weren’t enough of an example of His heart—of course, His disciples didn’t grasp the incarnation implications until later—Jesus loved His own to the end (13:1). That love came out His fingers as He washed the disciples’ feet before sharing the Passover meal with them (verses 2-5).
John told us that Jesus did all this because He loved them. Then John recorded Peter’s objection and the rabbit trail discussion about Jesus’ cleansing work (verses 6-11). Now John lets Jesus tell us His own reason for taking up a towel.
Jesus says nothing cryptic. We can’t hide behind mystery or textual variants or conflicting interpretations. There is only one problem in this paragraph: a disciple’s pride. Jesus measures humility by the foot and there’s no comparison between Jesus’ example and our obligation .
I’m dividing this paragraph between verses 17 and 18, not 20 and 21 as does the ESV. The time marker in verse 21 (“After saying these things”) is significant. However, verse 17 turns the foot-washing screw one final twist. Also, verses 18-30 change the subject; they all deal with the betrayer. It makes sense to consider 12-17 as a unit and then consider how that unit fits within the immediate context as well as into the broader context of chapters 13-17. Verses 12-17 are Jesus’ argument for humility (verses 12-16) and His promise of happiness (verse 17).
Jesus’ plan for saving the world included cleaning the road dirt out from between the toes of 12 guys. He loved them so He lowered Himself. He leaves no doubt about why: not just so that disciples would admire Him but so that disciples would be like Him.
Jesus starts by getting their reasoning engines running.
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? (John 13:12, ESV)
John has vivid memories of that night as seen in the minute details about Jesus putting His robe back on and sitting down. The scene isn’t the only thing that stood out to him, so did Jesus’ question.
It’s not merely a rhetorical question but the question has rhetorical effect. He surprised His disciples by washing their feet, something Jews reserved for the lowest slaves. Jesus did it for more than shock value. Before they ask Him, He asks them.
Do you understand what I have done to you? The question wonders more than if they can recount the details of what He did. He wants to know if they can explain the reason why He did it. He’s asking them to put some thought into it. That will be helpful when He’s gone.
I wonder if Jesus created men with two feet and 10 toes (8 crevices) with toenails on the end of each one just for this moment. He could have made men to balance on bendy but flat platforms with no digits. Or He could have come a couple thousand years later when image-bearers finally figured out closed-toe shoes. He chose a dirty time for His great lesson. He has the attention of the class.
The lesson Jesus teaches is not egalitarian (that is, everyone is equal in every way). He isn’t teaching how to make everyone the same. He’s teaching how to make a proper comparison.
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (John 13:13, ESV)
Jesus builds His argument on a true understanding of His personal greatness. You call me Teacher and Lord . This isn’t just how they addressed Him, that’s how they talked about Him. They believed He was “the Teacher,” the one who revealed divine things as well as “the Lord,” the one who demonstrated divine power. This was an articulate confession about His exalted position.
Jesus didn’t wash their feet to show them that He was just like them after all. He didn’t serve to show that He wasn’t a great person. He showed them that a person who is great serves. He owned their confession, You are right, for so I am . If anything, the pedestal they put Jesus on wasn’t high enough.
Here is the key comparison, the if/then hinge that defines a disciple’s duty.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14, ESV)
If we used abstract terms it might sound like: “If I—the one most high in honor—have lowered myself in humble service, then you—those who are not so honorable—should certainly lower yourselves in humble service.” The argument is from greater to lesser.
Jesus squares the duty on us. We are obligated: you also ought to do it. The obligation comes by comparison to the Lord and in connection with the Lord. In principle (as verse 16 summarizes) it is right for the lesser to do no less than the greater. And because of our personal relationship, we should obey Him and follow His example (verse 15). Our obligation is both rational and relational.
If they truly understood verse 14, there’s not much in verse 15 that needed saying. Jesus doesn’t take His foot off the gas.
For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:15, ESV)
We may be confused at certain times trying to determine what Jesus would do. He makes this clear. This is the way of the Master or, if you prefer, the wash of the Master.
We’re to do just as His example. What is the example ? The foot-washing is the form but the substance was strong love that drives humble service. There are some denominations that practice foot-washings as a ceremony or ordinance similar to baptism and communion. But providing an example is different than instituting an ordinance. Nowhere else in the NT do we read instructions for it or the corporate practice of it. 1 Timothy 5:20 includes it in a list of ways to serve, showing hospitality and caring for the weak. But foot-washing itself isn’t required to follow the example. In fact, following Jesus’ example may require more than foot-washing.
What do you not want to do? What belongs to someone else’s job? What are you too busy for? What do think others should do for you? The options are limitless, which is exciting and overwhelming. Whatever you do, it won’t be a waste of your talent.
Jesus follows by adding His authority to an old adage.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:16–17, ESV)
The nature of things under the sun includes leaders and followers, those with a message to send and those sent with the message, bosses and employees. That’s how it is. Those relationships don’t define a person’s value but they do define a person’s job. To reverse the job would be to reverse the title. A messenger who sends a message is not the messenger. If he is the messenger, he takes someone else’s message.
Jesus doesn’t abolish rank. He shows how those with highest rank act. From the question in verse 12 to the truism in verse 16 Jesus makes His argument about our obligation to love so strongly that we serve so lowly.
Jesus puts His foot on the neck of pride and exalts those who go low.
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:17, ESV)
Knowledge may be power but it isn’t blessing. If you know these things , if you’ve got your head on straight, if you can tell the difference between a master and a servant, if you can see the humility of Jesus, good. But it’s not enough.
Blessed are you if you do them . In other words the humble are the happy. If humility is measured by the foot, then are you humble by a yard? A mile? Or is the measuring tape stuck?
Doing depends on knowing but knowing doesn’t equal doing. Humble service is right, it is obedient and it is satisfying. We will reap a great harvest of happiness from the tips of dirty toes. It’s a dirty job with a great promise.
This paragraph stands on its own. But it also flows from verses 6-11 and flows into 18-30. Immediately before Jesus said “not all of you are clean” (verse 11). Immediately after promising the blessing Jesus said He was “not speaking of all of you” (verse 18). The one who was unclean—Judas—couldn’t handle the message or example or promise of Jesus about humble service. Only the washed can wash. Only those who are humbled before the Lord live out humility to others. Judas was angry because he was dirty with pride.
In the broader context of chapters 13-17 we begin to see Jesus’ end goal: to prepare a people to become the church. Of all the tools He chose, He chose the technology of a towel. He did not wait for the book, the Internet, or mobile devices, roads or planes or indoor plumbing. He came at the right time, when shoes weren’t invented, just for such a work as foot washing. This lesson prepared the disciples to follow His example of strong love that drives humble service. And here we are.
There is no shame in serving someone “beneath” us. For Christians, there is shame in not. It’s been said that to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To a man with humility, everything looks like a towel.