Daily DeeperJohn 13
1 It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.
2 The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
3 Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
4 So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked 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 “Never shall You wash my feet!” Peter told Him. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus told him, “Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”
11 For He knew who would betray Him. That is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you?
13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am.
14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
15 I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.
16 Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
18 I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’
19 I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
20 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
21 After Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit and testified, “Truly, truly, I tell you, one of you will betray Me.”
22 The disciples looked at one another, perplexed as to which of them He meant.
23 One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.
24 So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus which one He was talking about.
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this morsel after I have dipped it.” Then He dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.
27 And when Judas had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
28 But no one at the table knew why Jesus had said this to him.
29 Since Judas kept the money bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.
30 As soon as he had received the morsel, Judas went out into the night.
31 When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify the Son in Himself — and will glorify Him at once.
33 Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
36 “Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked. Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.”
37 “Lord,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”
38 “Will you lay down your life for Me?” Jesus replied. “Truly, truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.[’’]
Daily Deeper
Think of someone you have served, really served, and who repaid you with silence. Or worse. You gave your time, your care, and they walked away as if it were nothing. Do you remember the ache? Something inside you closes after that. You tell yourself: never again. Love, the generous kind, has a limit, and betrayal is where most of us draw it.
So listen to how John 13 opens. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end" (John 13:1). To the end. Not up to the point of betrayal. Through it.
The Feet He Washed
Watch what Jesus does, and watch when He does it. Verse 2 tells us the devil had already put betrayal into the heart of Judas. Verse 3 tells us Jesus knew the Father had given all things into His hands. He knew everything. He knew Judas was already lost, that Satan would soon enter him (Luke 22:3). He knew Peter would swear loyalty and deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.
And knowing all of it, He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, wrapped a towel around His waist, and knelt. The Lord of all, on the floor, with a basin. He washed Judas's feet. He dried them with His own hands. The feet that would carry that man out into the night to sell Him for silver.
We skim over how scandalous this is. The Jews washed cups and kettles and couches with great care (Mark 7:4); a rabbi's feet were washed for him, never by him. Jesus turns the whole order upside down and takes the lowest place. "Do you know what I have done for you?" He asks (John 13:12).
The Command We Cannot Keep
Then comes the command. "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another" (John 13:34). And there is the impossible word: as I have loved you. Not as much as you can manage. As He loved.
Can we? Honestly? We cannot love the one who wronged us as far as the front door, let alone to the very end. That person whose face just surfaced in your mind, could you kneel with a basin before them tonight? Willpower cannot do this. The harder we grip our resolve, the more the old ache tightens its hold. The commandment, taken alone, only exposes how far short we fall.
Washed First
But look again at what Jesus said to Peter. "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me" (John 13:8). The feet He washed that night point past the basin to a cross. Soon those same hands would be nailed to wood, and the water would become blood. He was not only setting an example. He was cleansing us.
And here is the thing we were too slow to see. We assume we are the disciples with dirty feet, needing a little humility. No. In God's house we were the ones with hearts like Judas, the ones who lifted up our heel against Him. We were the feet that walked out into the night. Yet He knelt. He did not love us up to our failure and stop. He loved us through it, to the very end, to the grave and out the other side.
This is not a truth that corners you. It is the truth that kneels before you.
So bring that unforgiving face back to mind. You will not love them by clenching your jaw. You will love them because you finally believe that He first knelt before you, basin in hand, knowing everything. The Spirit presses that water deeper and deeper into us, and one ordinary day you notice your hands are already reaching for the towel. Not by resolve. Without even realizing it. Because you were washed first, and love like that cannot help but spill.