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. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 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.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

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. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

“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.’ I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, [this disciple] asked Him, “Lord, who is it?”

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. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 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. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night (John 13:1-30).

After the raising of Lazarus, Jesus’ public ministry on the earth was effectively finished. From that point on, He began preparing for “His hour,” the time when He would complete the work for which He had been sent by the Father. During this time, Jesus turned His attention to His disciples, to also prepare them for what lay ahead.

Context

This scene takes place at the beginning of the Passover celebration. There is some debate on whether Jesus and the disciples are celebrating the Passover meal or the Last Supper (so called because it was the last meal made with any type of leaven before Passover). The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) seem to indicate that the actual Passover meal is in view (Luke 22:15). In that case, Jesus may have celebrated it early with His disciples, knowing He would be crucified the next day.

There would have been 3 tables arranged in a U-shape, and the guests typically lay on their left sides against pillows. Given the conversations that took place, John most likely sat in the seat traditionally taken by the “friend” of the host (in front of Jesus, making it possible to “lean back against Him”), while Judas Iscariot sat behind Him, in the seat traditionally taken by the guest of honor (making it possible for Jesus to easily give the bread to him).

A Conversation with Peter

John starts by telling us that “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” Jesus knew that His time was fast approaching. He knew that He was on the path that the Father had ordained for Him, and He was committed to following through. John continue by saying, “So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. . . . [And] began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (vv. 4-5, emphasis mine). This use of “so” is similar to the story of Lazarus. We read in that account that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, and “so, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days” (11:6). The idea in John 12 is similar. Because Jesus knew that His time was at hand, and knew that the Father had put all under his authority, he now could show what real love is.

In those days, it was of course the servant’s job to wash the feet of guests who might enter a home. In this intimate gathering, there were no servants present. (And we should note that none of the disciples had offered to take this job.) That Jesus would (literally) stoop to perform such a task was unfathomable–and offensive in many eyes, as we see with Peter.

When the Lord came to Peter, He was given a mild rebuke: ““Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” The question is one of unbelief rather than just a simple question. Though Peter doesn’t understand what is happening now, Jesus assures him that he will understand later. But, the idea that Jesus, the Teacher and Lord, should wash his feet offends Peter. Perhaps his attitude is similar to John the Baptizer’s: “I need to be baptized by You! Why then do You come to me” (Matt. 3:14, the difference between Peter and the Baptizer being this: Peter did not offer instead to wash Jesus’ feet).

Jesus tells Peter that it is necessary that He wash Peter’s feet; otherwise “you have no part with Me.” Here Jesus is echoing John’s words in 1 John 1:7-9, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. . . . [and] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This prompts Peter’s impulsive reply: “If You are going to wash my feet, then my hands and head need washing so I will be totally clean.” Jesus replies that Peter is already clean; indeed, all the disciples (save one, who John identifies as Judas) are clean, and thus only need to wash their feet.

The picture here is of a person who gets up in the morning and takes a bath. The whole body is now cleansed. In Jesus’ day, it was common for people’s feet to be very dirty after walking along the roads, as the wore sandals–close-toed shoes were not yet a thing. Therefore, they would need their feet washed, especially when entering someone’s home (cf. Luke 7:44). As applied spiritually, one who is “clean” has experienced the new birth of chapter 3, and thus only needs cleansing from walking in a fallen world and stumbling into sin. This is accomplished by confessing our sins, according to 1 John 1:9.

Jesus Explains His Actions

After completing His task, Jesus addresses the disciples. He has given them an example to follow. If He, their Teacher and Lord could stoop to the position of a servant to wash His disciples’ feet, then they should do likewise for each other. To refuse to do so would be saying that the disciple is greater than the teacher. The goal of the disciple, however, is to be like his teacher. Therefore, if the disciples follow the example He has given, they will be blessed.

On a side note, while some in the church see verse 15 as sanctioning foot washing as a continual ordinance of the church, the thrust of the passage argues against a mere outward understanding. While the word translated “example” can mean something done for imitation, the focus of Jesus’ words is on the attitude behind the act. (Greek hypodeigma, “copy; example.” See Heb. 8:5, where it is translated “copy” in the ESV). It is certainly not sufficient to perform the act of foot washing as a ritual without a genuine servant attitude. That would be no different than the Pharisees’ “observance” of the law. Of course, the text does not argue against the practice specifically, but on balance, the context does not support the idea of foot washing as a binding ordinance on the church.

It’s extremely important to remember that Jesus washed all the disciples’ feet–even the one He now identifies as His betrayer! He indicates that one of the disciples has already turned against Him (v. 18). He is telling the disciples this before it happens so that they will know He is the Messiah. And in knowing that, they can have certainty that those who receive the testimony of the disciples receives Jesus Himself, and also receives the Father. The language suggests a close relationship between Jesus, His disciples and the Father.

Jesus is then “troubled” in spirit (the same phrase used in chapter 11 at the resurrection of Lazarus). It is not that the betrayal of Judas was unexpected. On the contrary, Jesus had already predicted it some time ago (see 6:64). Now that the time has come, however, the bitterness of the betrayal weighs heavy on Jesus, showing yet again that He is fully human. Jesus then lets the disciples know that one of them would betray Him (v. 21). The tone suggests that there was no hysteria in His pronouncement (at least not from Jesus), but that He calmly stated the fact. The disciples are both shocked and uncertain (v. 22). Shocked, because they had not taken His previous warning of betrayal to heart, and now that the time has arrived the blunt statement has hit them all the more. Uncertain because they could not fathom which of them would do such a thing. One wonders if some of the disciples, instead of asking, “Who is it” may have instead asked silently, “Could it be me?”

Peter decides to find out. He signals to “the disciple whom Jesus loved, who reclined against Him” to ask Jesus about the identity of the betrayer. This identification has long been held to be John. In the arrangement of the meal, John would have been in the place of the “friend,” and so it was easy for him to lean against Jesus and inquire. Peter alone would have been able to make eye contact with John due to their placement (making it probable that Peter was at the “lowest” place, the place closest to the door).

In any case, John does ask Jesus, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus’ reply, though quite clear in its meaning, apparently was missed by all the other disciples but John (possibly Jesus spoke in low tones). John notes that “Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.’ So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.” It was common for the host of a meal to give a piece of bread dipped in the communal bowl to a friend or guest. Thus, Judas would have had to recline at the table with Jesus and John–otherwise he would not have been close enough. Jesus’ reply and actions must have been understood by John, yet he apparently did not communicate this to Peter, for whatever reason.

Up until that point Judas had been planning to betray Jesus. We are told that Satan had prompted Judas to betray Jesus (v. 2, literally “the devil had put it into the heart of Judas”). When Jesus offered Him the morsel of bread, that was his last chance to change his mind. He could have refused the bread, and thus repudiated the plan he had (most likely without any explanation). However, when he accepted the bread from Jesus, he crossed a line of no return, for now “Satan entered him.” The statement of Jesus to Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly” simply was Jesus’ way of dismissing Judas to the task that Judas had set for himself. In other words, it is a statement of resignation: “Get on with this business and be done with it.”

John records that Judas, after receiving the bread, “immediately went out,” and then points out “it was night.” Night had come, and for Jesus the time was drawing close at hand now. Judas, however, had entered a true spiritual night, from which there would be no end.

Takeaways from the Passage

The main thrust of this passage has to do with the idea of servanthood. Jesus has taught His disciples that to be called great in the Kingdom is to be the servant of all. If He, the Perfect Lord and Teacher, could stoop to wash the feet of those who show unbelief and even betrayal, then His disciples can do no less. We are called to do good and show love to all–even in the face of unbelief, ridicule, and persecution. We are to leave the results up to the Lord.