The Teacher's example

13:1-35 Loving one another, just as Jesus loves us

Read John 13:12-15

When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he was doing far more than giving them an example of humble service. It was an acted parable of what he was about to do for them on the cross, as his comments show. Not all of them were clean, he said, referring to Judas (13:10), though Judas too had had his feet washed. Only afterwards would they be able to understand the primary meaning of what he had done for them (13:7).

Nevertheless, it also sets an example for them (15), and that aspect they should have been able to understand already (12). They recognised him as “Teacher and Lord” and they were right to do so (13). So if he who is Lord over all was willing to humble himself in this way, how much more should those who follow his teaching be willing to humble themselves and “wash one another’s feet” (14). This doesn’t mean a literal act but (as Peter came to realise) is a call to “clothe yourselves with humility towards one another” (1 Pet.5:5).

The best commentary on Jesus washing the disciples’ feet is found in Philippians 2:1-11. In Christ and in the unity of the Spirit (2:1-2), Christians should do “nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” but “in humility consider others better than yourselves”, looking out for their interests as well as for our own (2:3-4). In other words, “your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ” (2:5). This is the reason why Paul then goes on immediately to quote the famous verses in 2:6-11, not simply as a glorious statement of Christ’s humble death and subsequent exaltation, but as an illustration of how Christians should behave towards one another. Such an attitude involves costly action, just as the cross was costly for Jesus.