Judas, an example of rebellion, John 13:18-30

Last week we looked at the washing of the disciples feet as what I called an animated parable of Christ-like love, or sacrificial love.  And according to Christ, that kind of love is supposed to be the defining characteristic of the church.  Jesus said in vs.35 that “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And I would suggest to you that this Upper Room Discourse is really a message on the foundational doctrines of the church. The disciples at this point constitute the church. Jesus is no longer publicly ministering from this moment on.  He has retreated from the crowds and taken the disciples apart to the Upper Room, and for the next few chapters, we have the record of detailed instructions for the church.  Those who are saved, who have been set apart.  

These next four chapters then, through chapter 17, are essential doctrines of the church, to enable it to survive after Jesus physically leaves Earth.  And so it is fitting, that as the church’s main characteristic is that they should love one another, that there would be this animated parable of Christ washing their feet, to be an illustration of how they are to love one another.

But in today’s passage, we see another illustration of a characteristic of the church.  And that is illustrated by none other than Judas.  Today we are going to take a different approach from the usual verse by verse exegesis.  I don’t want to merely regurgitate the historical facts of Judas’s treason.  I think everyone here is probably very familiar with the facts of Judas’s betrayal.  

Perhaps what we aren’t so familiar with however, are the spiritual applications taught by this event.  So I am not going to focus on expounding historical details, but instead I would like to show you the spiritual lessons that Judas’s betrayal teaches concerning the church.  Because I think that is one of the major reasons that John includes this information for us.  He is not writing a day by day biography.  None of the gospel writers really do that.  They were not writing a biography about Jesus, but they were writing a gospel.  The gospel is an account or testimony given to reveal the good news about Christ that leads to salvation. So what is included in them has been selected for that purpose.  And that is especially true in John’s gospel.  

So to that end, I would point out first of all, that Judas is a type.  A type is a person, or thing or event that symbolizes a truth or doctrine or person.  Though Judas was an actual historical figure and the facts given here are true and happened as presented, I believe he also serves as an archetype for a certain kind of individual that is present in the church.  

And I find evidence for this theory right here in Jesus’s statement in vs.18, “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’”  Jesus is quoting from Psalm 41:9, which says, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”  Jesus is correlating Judas’s act of treason with another act of treason committed 1000 years earlier in the life of David by a royal counselor known as Ahithophel. Ahithophel was a highly regarded counselor to King David, whose words were thought of as the voice of God. That’s how highly thought of he was.  But when Absalom rebelled against his father, Ahithophel also rebelled against King David and went over to Absalom.  And though I don’t have the time to go into all of that this morning, I will say it’s interesting to note that when the rebellion went wrong, Ahithophel committed suicide by hanging himself.  He suffered the same fate as Judas.  

So Jesus is quoting from the Psalm to show that Ahithophel was a type of Judas.  And so I think it is fair to say that in turn, Judas represents a type of a certain kind of person in the church.  The church is presented often in the Bible as a place for demonic activity, and from which false prophets arise, and for all kinds of dangerous doctrines.  One great example is Jesus’s parable of the mustard tree in  Luke 13:19 in which He spoke of the kingdom of heaven, which is the church; “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR NESTED IN ITS BRANCHES.”  

At first blush, that sounds like a good thing.  The tiny little mustard seed grew so huge that the birds made nests in the branches.  But when you consider it, you realize that it is not a good thing.  Because mustard seeds do not naturally produce giant trees, but bushes. So the tree is abnormal.  It has become a monstrosity.  And the birds sound innocuous enough, until you remember the parable of the sower, where Christ identified the birds of the air as the devil and his angels who snatch away the truth of the gospel.  So you have a picture given by Christ of the church which would grow and spread beyond it’s intended size, to encompass even the devil and his angels who would find refuge there.  

Now that’s quite an alarming picture of the church.  On the one hand, we just had this beautiful picture of sacrificial service and love that should exist in the church as we imitate Christ’s love for the church, and now on the other hand this grotesque picture of abnormality and demonic activity, which results in rebellion, and treachery, and which undermines Christian fellowship.  

And I shouldn’t even have to point out that in this passage this demonic activity is going on right in Jesus’s presence.  Right in the midst of His trusted inner circle, the 12 disciples, Jesus said one of them was a devil. One of them was under demonic influence to destroy the church even as Christ is administering the rites of the Passover, which was the precursor to the Lord’s Supper.  In fact, as Jesus gives Judas the morsel, it says that Satan entered into him.  

Now let that be a lesson to all of us.  Simply because something which seems supernatural happens in a church, or during a church service, does not mean that what happens there is necessarily of God.  That’s why we are told to test the spirits.  There are birds in the branches, and sometimes, there are demons in the rafters.

And I would point out another noteworthy thing.  None of the disciples knew that Judas was the one who would betray Him.  Jesus knew it, of course.  In vs.21, Jesus “became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.’”  But notice the response of the disciples.  Vs.22, “The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.”  

The disciples were clueless as to who Jesus was referring to.  In fact, the other gospels tell us that they began to search themselves, asking, “Lord, is it I?”  They would have never guessed it was Judas.  Judas after all was the treasurer. He carried the money bag.  You know, Matthew had been a tax collector.  He had been basically an accountant in the employ of the Roman Empire.  If there was a natural choice to be treasurer you would think it would have gone to Matthew.  But instead it was given to Judas.  

And I believe it was because Judas was above reproach in the eyes of the others. Literature and media often portray Judas as an evil looking character, scheming, conniving with features you would expect from such a person.  But I would suggest the exact opposite.  I would suggest that Judas was quite literally what we might call a handsome devil.  He was sophisticated.  He was educated.  He was of a more noble Judean heritage than the rest of the disciples who were thought of as low brow Galileans.  Judas was considered philanthropic, concerned about the poor, trustworthy, above reproach.  And yet he was used by the devil to conduct the most nefarious treachery known to man.

The Lord Jesus, of course, knows all of this in advance.  He knows the heart and plans of Judas.  He knows He is an imposter.  A poseur. And yet Christ is more than accommodating to Judas.  Christ never calls him out, or reveals him as a thief.  Christ never publicly condemns him for his hypocrisy.  And that is what Judas was, a hypocrite.  The Greek word for hypocrite means to be an actor on a stage.  Doing what he does to be seen of men, to gain their applause and acclaim.  And if we are to believe the accusations of the world, then the church is full of them.  Judas must have been a very good actor.

In some respects, Judas is presented here as a foil to Christ.  He is darkness, and Jesus is Light.  He is of the devil, Jesus is of God.  Judas’s motives are selfish, Jesus’ motives are unselfish.  Judas’s sin is pride, Jesus’ virtue is  humility.  Judas is the black backdrop against which the brilliance of Christ shines.

The life of righteousness of Jesus caused contrition in the disciples, but it caused frustration in Judas.  But Jesus’s kindness towards Judas only served to embolden Judas to be even more conniving.  He thought he was getting away with it.  He may even have thought he was justified in his actions because of his perceived failure of Christ. He continued to harden his heart until he conceived of the most vile treachery the world has ever known.

The application to the church should be obvious.  There are going to be people in the church who appear to be the icons of virtue.  And yet they are unconverted.  They are unsaved. Or they are living in rebellion. Judas is a picture of how possible it is to be apparently so close to God, and yet be so far away from Him spiritually.  In fact, it’s possible to be in the church and be used as an agent of Satan to spread dissension. The prophet Samuel said in 1Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”  

The 18th century theologian Matthew Henry said it this way; “We are not to confine our attention to Judas. The prophecy of his treachery may apply to all who partake of God's mercies, and meet them with ingratitude. See the infidel, who only looks at the Scriptures with a desire to do away their authority and destroy their influence; the hypocrite, who professes to believe the Scriptures, but will not govern himself by them; and the apostate, who turns aside from Christ for a thing of naught. Thus mankind, supported by God's providence, after eating bread with Him, lift up the heel against Him! Judas went out as one weary of Jesus and his apostles. Those whose deeds are evil, love darkness rather than light.”

Jesus gave the reason why Judas rebelled and rejected the love of Christ in vs.20, which was because he did not receive Christ.  In the first chapter of his gospel, John says, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name," (John 1:12). So it is possible to be a member of a church, a visible disciple, called a Christian, and regarded as a Christian by other Christians, and still not have your heart respond to Jesus and surrender to his will. Such rebellion spurs dissension in the church, and the result is often the same as happened to the disciples; in just a few hours they are scattered.  That is the strategy of Satan to overthrow the church from within, and that is why rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

I want to you to see something else in that statement from Christ in vs.20, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”  The primary meaning of “receives” is to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.  That is what John 1:12 says constitutes salvation.  That is the means of becoming part of the Kingdom of Heaven.  But there is another aspect here of receiving that Jesus mentions.  And that is, that he who Christ has sent acts as the representative of Christ.  So that when you receive them, or their teaching, you receive Him.  I believe that Jesus is referring not only to the apostles, but to those He will send to the church after His resurrection. 

Paul speaks to that in Ephesians 4:8; “Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’” Then Paul tells us what those gifts are which He gave to the church in vs.11, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  

So in the foundational years of the church Christ gave the apostles, and in these last days, Christ has given us pastors. Now that should serve to emphasize how important it is to go to a church where you know the pastor has been called by God.  He is the representative of Christ to the church.  He is to accurately and faithfully give God’s word to the church, so that the church might grow in relation to Christ. To raise up mature Christians.  

Going back to the parable of the mustard tree, there are many churches to pick from today.  There are many who are claiming to be pastors and teachers.  But I would suggest that on a grand scale, there are not many that are sent by God.  There are not many that are called by God.  And though James warns us that not many should become teachers, for they shall incur a stricter judgment for their words, yet the evidence suggests that there are more teachers than ever.  But Christ and the apostles warned the church that this was to be expected. 2Peter 2:1 says,“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies.”

But the hearer also has a responsibility to receive the truth and walk in the truth.  We reject the truth at our peril.  I doubt that Judas conceived of his treason when Jesus first chose him to follow Him and become a disciple. I’m sure that Judas had every nothing but good intentions at the beginning of Christ’s ministry.  He was probably excited.  He was attracted to Jesus and the whole idea of the kingdom of heaven, although he had a distorted view of it perhaps.  But little by little, he started rejecting certain truths, rejecting teaching that he found incongruent with his own ideas.  We know from scripture that he began to criticize Jesus and the way He did ministry.  I”m sure he found fault with the way Jesus called people out in public. I suppose his gentrified upbringing found such outbursts embarrassing.  And so for three years, though he walked with Christ externally, internally he was rebelling against Him.  It was a slow decent into apostasy. Remember what Samuel said, “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”  It opened the door to demonic influence.

MacLaren says in his commentary: “Again, any evil is possible to us, seeing that all sin is but yielding to tendencies common to us all. The greatest transgressions have resulted from yielding to such tendencies. Cain killed his brother from jealousy; David besmirched his name and his reign by animal passion; Judas betrayed Christ because he was fond of money. Many a man has murdered another one simply because he had a hot temper. And you have got a temper, and you have got the love of money, and you have got animal passions, and you have got that which may stir you up into jealousy. Your neighbor’s house has caught fire and been blown up. Your house, too, is built of wood, and thatched with straw, and you have as much dynamite in your cellars as he had in his. Do not be too sure that you are safe from the danger of explosion.”

Well, what safeguard then does the church have?  How can we defend against these demonic influences and baser tendencies among us? Well, I would suggest the best safeguard is to not think too highly of yourself.  Humility is the opposite of pride.  And Jesus showed in washing the disciples feet the importance of humility.  Of putting other’s needs before your own.  Sacrificial, Christ-like love is the antidote for the poison of the serpent’s attack on the church.

But there is another necessary hedge against pride, and that is illustrated in the disciples’ question, “Lord is it I?”  The disciples exhibit a wholesome recognition of the evil which is possible in us all. They do some soul searching to see if there was any wicked way within them.  None of them looked at another and thought, “I bet he is the betrayer.”  But all of them except Judas looked in their own heart and recognized their weaknesses, recognized their sinful tendencies, and came to the Lord with a contrite heart.  

Our defense against rebellion is recognizing that all sin has a common origin, and that is living for myself instead of living for God.   Putting my agenda before God’s agenda is idolatry.  Putting my needs ahead of others is iniquity.  And from such seemingly inconsequential beginnings, a monstrous tree might grow that harbors the very demons themselves.

I think there is an apparent dismay in the disciples response, in Peter’s question to John, and John’s question to Jesus, that indicates how distressed they are by Jesus’s words.  They are heartbroken over the possibility that one of them would betray Christ.  And I think that kind of brokenness is indicative of the right kind of heart in the church that keeps one from rebellion.   

That attitude is found in Eph. 5:8 which says,  “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light, (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”  That last phrase I think is key.  If you love the Lord, you will try to please the Lord.  I believe the disciples strove to please the Lord.  They didn’t always do things right, but they had the right attitude.  They loved the Lord and tried to please Him.  Judas was about pleasing himself.  He wanted to serve himself.  But a child of God walks as Christ walked, imitating Him, and tries to please HIs heavenly Father. 

And that is something that has to be learned.  That goes back to the job of the pastor/teacher of Ephesians 4, he is teaching and building up the saints so that they grow in maturity, they grow in Christ likeness, to ultimately please the Lord, to ultimately glorify God.  And the church needs to receive such pastors that preach the truth as having been sent by God.  To reject the truth is to reject Christ’s counsel.  Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  

Well, I’m out of time and I feel like we have only scratched the surface here.  But let me just try to summarize a couple of things in closing.  A frequent debate in theological circles is whether or not Judas was a Christian.  And I would just answer that this way.  Only God knows the heart.  Jesus knew the heart of Judas.  But one thing is evident to us and that is that the disciples certainly believed that Judas was a Christian. They thought he was above reproach.  He was the best of them, or so they thought.  It reminds me of 1 Cor. 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.”  Don’t let yourself think that you are above the sin of rebellion. Don’t let yourself be blind to the possibility that you may have put yourself back on the throne of your life.  

As Jesus dipped the bread into the paste to hand it to Judas, we should see in that action a choice that we all have to make, sometimes even on a daily basis.  On Jesus right side was Judas.  He had given Judas the place of honor at His table.  And on His left side is John.  After taking the sup, Judas was entered into by Satan.  He went into the darkness after eating the morsel. That is a picture of eternal damnation.  John on his other side represents the beloved of God.  He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved.  He doesn’t leave Jesus’s side.  He is spoken of as leaning on Jesus’ bosom.  HIs relationship is marked by love for Christ, closeness to Christ, fellowship with Christ, dependency, leaning on Christ.  That is the type of person that Christ loves.  Those who lean on Him.  Who look to Him for communion, and for Lordship. 

Two men, two choices, two types of relationships, two outcomes.  One goes into eternal darkness and damnation, and one goes into eternal Light and Life.  One hangs himself in remorse, one lives in a spirit of repentance.  It reminds me of the two thieves on either side of Jesus just 12 hours later as He hangs on a cross, dying for rebellious sinners.  One man cursed Christ and died, going into everlasting darkness, and one man received Christ as Lord and was with Him in Paradise that very evening and still lives today.  

 F. F. Bruce said, “Satan could not have entered into Judas had he not granted him admission. Had he been willing to say "No" to the adversary, all of his Master's intercessory power was available to him there and then to strengthen him. But when a disciple's will turns traitor, when the spiritual aid of Christ is refused, that person's condition is desperate indeed.”  

Today everyone here is pictured as one of the two men on either side of Christ.  You are either like John or you are like Judas.  There is a choice before each of you as to which you will consent to. If you renounce your sin, and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you will receive the blessings that Jesus spoke of earlier in vs.17; “If you know these things, then you are blessed if you do them.”  

Jesus came to earth to give us an invitation.  You can either enter into His kingdom, or you can reject it in favor of your own.  But you have to choose.  You can’t have both.  I pray that you don’t reject the truth.  "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,"

An animated parable about love, John 13:1-17

What we have presented to us in the first 17 verses of this chapter, is what I have called an animated parable. A parable is a story that is given to illustrate a spiritual truth.  And so what Jesus is doing by washing the disciples’ feet is providing a living illustration, or an animated parable, in order to teach a spiritual truth.  

Now that is important to understand.  Because the illustration is not the object of our attention, but the illustration serves to present a lesson.  There are some that take from this text the idea that we need to practice foot washing as an ordinance of the church.  But I don’t believe that is what is being taught here.  The foot washing is simply used to teach a lesson about Christ-like love.  

Agape love, or Christ-like love, or sacrificial love is really the principle being taught here. Notice how many times we see the word love in this text which is called the upper room discourse.  In the next 4 chapters which is the record of the upper room discourse, you will see the theme of Christian love presented again and again by Christ.  He defines love. 

For example; in chapter 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  And in vs  23 Jesus answered, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” Then in chapter 15:10, He says, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” And in vs .12 He says again,  "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” Finally, in vs13 He gives the grand summary of sacrificial love; ”Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

Probably the most misunderstood and misused term in Christendom is the word love.  I see it used on almost every church sign that I pass by.  And in most cases I think that they are intending a meaning that does not correlate with the Biblical meaning.  And for the most part, I think it’s because they have allowed the world to redefine what love is, and then adopted their usage of it.  But God has defined love as He intended it to be.  And that love is illustrated by sacrifice, particularly the sacrificial love of Christ, who laid down His life for us.  He has defined love.

Now in this opening section we find Jesus and the disciples in the Upper Room, and right at the beginning John declares Christ’s eternal love for HIs disciples, and then we see this illustration, this animated parable of Christ-like love.  And again I would remind you that the public ministry of Christ is over.  He warned the Jews in the last chapter that He was soon to depart and their opportunity to believe would pass.  So as John begins this passage, we see that Jesus has left the public arena, and is in the Upper Room with just the disciples.  These are “His own” which John speaks of in vs 1.  These are the true believers.  And so in chapters 1-12 we have the public ministry of Christ, and now in chapter 13 to the end of the gospel we see the private ministry to the disciples.  So it is safe to assume that this animated parable is intended for saved people.  It’s not a parable to teach unsaved people, but an illustration to teach saved disciples, those who belong to Him.  

Vs. 1 says that this occurs during the Feast of the Passover.  The Passover was the Jewish festival which commemorated the Israelites deliverance from Egypt, when God sent the angel of death throughout the land, and killed the first born son of every family.  But for the Jews, God gave them the opportunity to slay a lamb and sprinkle the blood over the doorpost, and in response, the angel of death would pass over that house and not touch the first born son.  The judgment upon Egypt then also served as the means of salvation for the Jews.  And once a year, the Jews were commanded to celebrate this feast.  Every family would provide a lamb to be slain, and would eat the Passover meal as a memorial to God’s deliverance.

So it was the time of the Passover.  And according to the plan of God, it was also the appointed time of Christ’s sacrifice.  He would become the Lamb of God which was slain for the salvation of the world.  This was the appointed time.  Throughout the three years of Christ’s ministry, He was constantly saying His time had not yet come.  But now, John notes in vs.1, Jesus knows that His hour had come.  The appointed hour when He would lay down His life, and return to His Father in heaven.

So John says, “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”  The idea there is not just to the end of His life, but that He loved them to the uttermost.  He loved them completely.   It speaks of the ultimate fulfillment of His love for His own.  It speaks of an eternal love which continues even after He has gone to the Father. And it speaks of the ultimate expression of love, the ultimate sacrifice.  As He says later in ch.15, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down HIs life for His friends.”  He would make the ultimate sacrifice for His friends.  

Now Jesus would illustrate this love, but in such a way so that the disciples might imitate Him, and so commemorate His love for us, by loving one another.  Jesus is going to illustrate agape love to the disciples.  But before He does so, John tells us that the devil had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ.  The question is why does John make that particular point at that particular moment?  Well, I believe it is to illustrate that though God loved the world, yet all the world does not love God.  It is a reminder that not everyone believes unto salvation, and even within the church, there are those who do not believe.  Even in the church, there are wolves in sheep’s clothing.  

And Judas is the premier example of self love, which is pride.  It’s the opposite of Christ-like love. But we will come back to Judas in a future message.  For now, let’s just focus on the parable that Jesus provides.  Basically, vs.3 indicates that Jesus knew full well that His hour was at hand, He knew who was His, He knew who would betray Him, He knew that the Father had already given Him the authority to lay down His life and take it up again, and in the fullness of that knowledge, He was going to spend this last night with His disciples reinforcing certain principles so that they would be better equipped to handle their mission once He was gone.

So in vs.4, Jesus “got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”  Now the first principle that is being taught here is humility. 

Humility is a hallmark of sacrificial love.  The more humble you are, the less concerned you are with yourself, the greater your capacity to love someone else.  Humility and love are related to one another proportionately.  The lower you go in self esteem, the higher you are in concern for others.  The more you sacrifice your priorities, the greater you will sacrifice for others.

In its purest form, Biblical love is completely unselfish.  That’s not necessarily  true of human love. Human love is based reciprocation. We turn the Golden Rule around as if we say,  I’ll do unto you if you will do unto me.  There’s a reciprocal quality in human love that is actually selfish at it’s root. But for the Christian, love in its purest form is completely unselfish.  True Christian love is not based on reciprocality. Paul summed all that up by one statement in Romans 13; “Love seeks not its own.” 

Judas is presented here in this passage as one that is governed by pride, by self love. He is hanging around Jesus, feigning love but in reality he just wants to get rich from his relationship.  And that attitude has reached it’s zenith.  He has already sold Jesus down the pike for a few pieces of silver.  So Judas’s self love is the ultimate contrast to Jesus’ humility. 

But there is another stark contrast to Christ’s humility as well.  We have to go to Luke 22 for this one. In Luke 22 we learn that the disciples during the Passover are arguing over who is the greatest.  This is probably an argument that has been going on for some time among the disciples.  You will remember that in Matthew 20 it records that just a few days before James and John had asked Jesus if they could be seated at His right and left hand when His kingdom was established.  So this has been an ongoing dispute among all the disciples, each trying to be first, each trying to be the chief disciple, all of them vying for prominence in anticipation of when the kingdom comes to fruition.  

The problem is, that in spite of everything Jesus has said regarding His death, the disciples still don’t understand what’s going on.  Their paradigm of the Messianic Kingdom is so entrenched, that they cannot fathom what Jesus is talking about when He said the grain must fall into the earth in order for it to bear fruit.  They can’t seem to get it.  So they just disregard the parts of Jesus’ teaching that they can’t understand, and persist in their wrong theology.   That sounds like a lot of Christians today, I’m afraid. Many people don’t understand the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God, and they are so entrenched in the prosperity doctrine or their nationalistic fervor that they simply disregard a lot of what the Bible says in order to maintain their theological perception.

So Jesus is there in the Upper Room just hours before His death, and He wants to teach them the true nature of the Kingdom. To do that, He lays His garments aside and girds a towel around His waist and starts to wash the disciples feet.  This was the job of the lowliest of the household servants.  It was customary in that culture for the servant to wash the feet of people as they entered the house.  Contrary to Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, they were not sitting on benches or chairs.  They would lie back on pillows around a low table.  Actually they would recline on their left sides so that they could eat with their right hand.  And consequently, their feet would be near the next guys head.  So particularly before a meal, but also just as proper etiquette, when you entered the house you would remove your sandals, and these water pots would be near the door.  A servant, usually the lowest ranked servant in the house would wash the person’s feet.  That was the custom, and it was especially important at dinner.

But this had not been done in the Upper Room.  There were no house servants in attendance.  So as the disciples are fighting for the prime seats around the table, which were usually determined by rank or importance, Jesus gets up, and starts to wash the disciples feet.  Now this was undoubtedly an awkward thing for the disciples.  They know that this was not something that He should be doing.  He was their Lord.  He was the Messiah.  But none of them dared to take His place, for fear of seeming less important than the other guys. 

And as I said earlier, Jesus is using this to teach them by example what Christian love is.  It starts with humility.  It starts with putting others needs above your own.  And that is what Jesus is illustrating. 

When Jesus got to Peter though, he objected.  Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” I think that there is an incredulity to Peter’s objection.  I think he realizes that this is backwards.  Peter knows he should be washing His Master’s feet.  But Jesus responds, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”  

What Jesus is saying is that this is an object lesson that may not be understood now, but when the Holy Spirit comes, they will understand it.  That is the way it is with spiritual truth.  We are given the Holy Spirit, Jesus said in John 16:13, to guide us into the truth.  He said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.”  The natural man cannot understand spiritual things, so God has given us the Holy Spirit to give us spiritual discernment.  1Cor. 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  Once the Holy Spirit came, then suddenly Peter and the apostles understand the scriptures, and they understand the truth of Christ.

Peter though, I believe, really loves the Lord.  But Peter loved the Lord with a passionate, human love.  It was a love based in emotion.  And as a result, we see Peter make some critical mistakes.  It’s good to have passion, but agape love must be governed by spiritual discernment.  It needs to be based on truth.  It’s not enough to be passionate, or to be emotional.  But we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.  Peter had the passion, but he was missing the truth.1 John 3:18 says “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

But passionate Peter says, ““Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”  First, he says Jesus will never wash his feet.  He knows that is not the proper order of things for the Messiah to wash His disciple’s feet.  But when Jesus says, “if I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me,” then suddenly Peter says, “then wash my hands and my head.  Wash me all over.”  Peter wants fellowship with Christ.  So if fellowship is contingent upon washing his feet, then he thinks how much better it must be to be washed all over?  But unfortunately, Peter is missing the point.  

So Jesus responds, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”  Now let’s make sure we understand the significance of what Jesus is saying.  When a person in that culture took a bath, it was not located in the bathroom of their house.  Houses were not equipped with bathrooms and bathtubs or showers.  So it was necessary to go to a pool or stream or if they were in a village or town, there would often be a bathhouse.  After bathing, they would of course be clean.  But as they went back to their home, wearing their sandals, their feet would get dirty again.  So as we talked about earlier, they needed to have their feet washed upon entering the house.  

Now remember, Jesus is teaching to His disciples, who are already saved, who are believers.  And the principle He is teaching is this, that when you are saved, you are washed, you are made clean by faith in Jesus Christ.  That is a one time cleansing.  That salvation is not what is pictured here in this foot washing.  What Jesus is picturing is the need for daily cleansing, for daily confession of the sins we commit as we walk through this sordid world.  We have been made clean by the blood of the Lamb,  the coat of righteousness which belongs to Christ has been given to us in exchange for our sins.  But now every day, as I go through this world, I find myself getting dirty, I find that the things I wish to do I don’t do.  I sometimes inadvertently sin.  Sometimes I might even deliberately sin and then regret it.  So every day I need to have my feet washed.  If I am going to be in fellowship with Christ, if I am going to be in communion with Christ, and that is not going to be hindered in any way, then I need to confess and be cleansed of my daily sin.  I don’t need to be washed all over again from head to toe, but I need the sinful dirt that I pick up in my walk taken care of, so that I might have communion with Jesus.  

So Jesus says, If I don’t wash you, then you have no part with Me.  What is meant by part?  Well in Luke 10:42 when Jesus visits Bethany, Mary and Martha are there in the house, and Mary is sitting at Jesus’s feet listening to Him, and Martha is in the kitchen.  And in response to Martha’s complaint about Mary, the Lord speaks regarding the position of the two women. He says, “Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.”  The good part then is to sit at our Lord’s feet in communion with him and to hear his word. So the term “part” there has reference to communion, not to the receiving of life, but the communion in life.

Now how is this principle of foot washing related to Christ-like love?  Well, remember how Christ defined love in chapter 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  And in vs  23 Jesus answered, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” Then in chapter 15:10, He says, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.”

So love is defined as keeping His commandments, and keeping His word, and that results in abiding in His love. Abiding means communion,  fellowship,  intimacy.  So then,  when we sin, we break His commandments, don’t we?  And when we sin, then we break communion with God.  We break fellowship with God. It’s equivalent to reclining at the table to eat with stinky feet.  So it is important that we are cleansed from the sin which so easily besets us, as Paul said, in daily confession of our sins before God.  

This principle is extrapolated by John in his later epistle; 1John 1:6-9 which says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  

The same principle is expounded in 2Cor. 6:14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”  Partnership can be translated communion, or fellowship.  When we sin, we need to have our fellowship restored.  We are saved, we have been washed, but our feet need to be washed so that we might have communion restored with God.  

That’s what David prayed to God after his sin with Bathsheba.  David said in Psalm 51, “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. ...  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy] free spirit.  And then David said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”  Now David was saved when he sinned against God.  David was saved when he sinned with Bathsheba, when he arranged the death of her husband Uriah.  But he did not have a right spirit within him, he did not have fellowship with God.  Because he knew that he had sinned against God.  He needed confession, he needed restoration, that he might have the right communion with God again.

Finally, there is one more application that can be made from this illustration of Jesus washing the feet.  It too speaks to the principle of Christ-like love.  And this application is made by Jesus himself in vs. 12, Jesus said, “Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

The application is pretty simple. We are to imitate Christ. Ephesians 5:1 says “be imitators of Christ.”  So if you love God, you will love your neighbor as yourself, even as Christ loved us.  That was the commandment Christ gave in Matt. 22:37-39  And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”

Jesus is illustrating in this example how you love your neighbor.  We just explained how you love God- you keep His commandments.  And now this is the second commandment, you love your neighbor as yourself.  You give the same regard to others as you would give to yourself.  In fact, Jesus is showing that you give preference to your neighbor.  The disciples knew that washing feet was needed, but they didn’t want to have to stoop to wash their neighbors feet.  They didn’t want to have to humble themselves to a lower position than the other disciples.  But Jesus showed that He was willing to humble Himself and become their servant, so that they might be benefited.  

Paul says in Philippians 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  

Now that is often quoted as a great doctrinal statement on the humility of Christ, but notice that Paul says “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”  That is exactly what Jesus is saying here in John 13.  As He did for them, so we are to do for one another.  The servant is not greater than the Master.  And if you confess Jesus as your Lord, as you should, then you must do what He commands us to do.  That is humble ourselves, empty ourselves of pride, of self love, and love the Lord your God with all your heart, keep your heart in constant communion with Him, don’t let any sin stand in your way of fellowship with God.  And then love your neighbor the way Christ has loved you.  Give up your life, your preferences, your prejudices, for the sake of your brother or sister in the Lord.  

And even one more level of love is represented here.  Love your enemies.  Jesus gave the same treatment to Judas that He gave to the other disciples.  Imagine Jesus, knowing that Judas had already plotted to betray Him, and yet Jesus washes Judas’s stinky feet.  What humility.  What an illustration of what Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'  "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt. 5:43-44)

And then Jesus said in vs.17,  "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”  I could quote a lot of verses to illustrate this truth, but I will just pick one. In chapter 15:14 Jesus said,  "You are My friends if you do what I command you.”  That simply means that you will know the love of God.  You will know the fellowship with Christ, the joy of your salvation.  You will know the sweetness of communion as He abides in you, and you in Him. That is the blessing that comes from loving God and loving your neighbor.  That is the blessing from being a servant to the brethren.  I will leave you with one last word from Christ in Matthew 20:26, “but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”