Enjoy this teaching from John 13 which expounds on the Last Supper, Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, and what this means for us: we’re washed once with His blood, but we still need a daily foot washing with the “water of the Word.” (see transcript of teaching below)
Watch it on Vimeo or listen on SoundCloud!
Transcript of “Jesus, Our Eternal Divine Servant”
Introduction
Welcome to the first session of Beholding Jesus in His Amazing Grace. This session is entitled, “Jesus, Our Eternal Divine Servant.” My plan for this study is to pick up where I left off with “Let’s Keep the Amazing in Grace.” The focus of that study was the finished work of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 2:2, NASB – I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, [the Person] and Him crucified. [the finished work]
The focus of this study will be the Person of Jesus: the glory and beauty of His Person. My hope is that as we meditate on the stories of Jesus, our heart will burn within us like the two on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 whose heart burned as Jesus expounded to them all of the scriptures concerning Himself.
When we behold Jesus in His word, we see God. Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” When we behold Jesus, He becomes our “study of God.” He’s our theology. He is our knowledge of the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:6 – For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [where?] in the face of Jesus Christ.
The more the more we behold Jesus, the more our hearts will burn with the knowledge of God’s glory and grace. The more we behold the face of Jesus as in a mirror [according to 2 Corinthians 3:18], the mirror of the new creation whom He has made us to be – the more we will be transformed from the inside out. The more we behold Him, the more our soul is at rest. Beholding Jesus is the most practical thing we can do.
I’m going to start this study with the list of the accounts of Jesus I shared at the end of ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.’” last fall. I briefly shared several glimpses of Jesus that have burned in my heart over the years.
The first story I mentioned was of the story of the Last Supper and Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John 13. So I’ll just begin there.
John Chapters 13-17 are a record of Jesus’s final words to His disciples and then His prayer to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. The final words of people are the words that are repeated over and over.
What did Jesus talk about during His final meal with His disciples? What the Holy Spirit wanted recorded tells how much He cares for us, and how He wants us to remember what Jesus has done for us and continues to do for us even to this day.
Jesus came as our servant
John 13:1 – Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father…
The backdrop of John 13 is the Passover, which would be His last supper with His disciples. The next day Jesus would be offered up as our Passover Lamb.
John 13:1, cont – …having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
He didn’t just love them to the end of His own life. He would love them to the end of their unfaithfulness, their wandering and wondering, to the end of their pride and independence.
In the next 24 hours, they would all fail Him:
- Peter will swear and curse that he never knew Jesus. (Matthew 26:74)
- Jesus predicted, “This very night you will all fall away.” Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not!”
John 16:32 – [Later on that same night, Jesus said -] …you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
Knowing all of that, Jesus still loved them to the end. The Lord knows everything about us, and He still loves us anyway. He doesn’t just love us until our next sin. He will love us to the end.
John 13:2 – And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him…
Here we see the contrast of light and darkness. VS 1, He will depart to the Father, vs 2- He will be betrayed first. For the joy set before Him to return to the glorious kingdom of light and the presence of His Father – and also making a way for us to follow Him there – He would have to endure the shame and the horror of the cross, becoming sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He would drink the cup of forsakenness, that we might receive the free gift of sonship, and then on the other side He would return to His Father.
John 13:3-4 – Jesus, knowing [3 things – ] that [1] the Father had given all things into His hands, and [2] that He had come from God and [3] was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments [speaking of His outer garments which would have restricted His movements], took a towel and girded Himself. [this is the garb of a slave – girded about the waist]
Jesus knew His divine origin. He knew that He came from God and that He was going back to God. He knew His divine authority – “the Father had given all things into His hands.”
Knowing all of that, He stooped to wash the disciples’ feet. Why? Because when you are secure who you are, you have nothing to lose by serving others.
And this symbolic act would model the greatest service we as believers can do for one another – which I’ll explain as we go.
John 13:5 – After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
So here’s Jesus after the Passover meal, rising from the table. This is a picture of our Passover lamb who was roasted on the cross, buried, and then rose again! And what did He do next? He continued to serve.
This beautiful picture of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet tells us what He has been doing for 2000 years since His resurrection at the Father’s right hand. Jesus Christ is still our Servant.
He serves us even to this day as our High Priest before God. He is the eternal divine servant, ever living to intercede for us through His great work of intercession – His blood and His scars still cry out “forgiveness, acquittal, reconciliation” –
Hebrews 7:25 – …He always lives to make intercession for them.
Romans 8:33-35 – Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
1 Timothy 2:5-6 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all…
He rose up from the table to become their servant because He knew who He was, why He came and where He was going. The truth will set you free!
But do you know what the disciples were doing at this very moment? Let’s look at Luke’s account and see. after the Passover supper before He washed their feet – Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper –
Luke 22:19-20, 24-27 – And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. [He is telling them, “I am Your Eternal Bondservant. I will serve you forever and ever by becoming your once-for-all-time-Ultimate-Sacrifice for all of your sins.” But what was on their minds? Overwhelming gratefulness? No. Because they didn’t understand the kingdom of heaven and how it works.]… 24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. [Why were they thinking such things at this moment? Because there was a pail of water there, and a towel sitting there waiting for someone to wash feet!] 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ [That word mens “servants of goodness.” In other words, the leaders of this world rule oppressively while claiming that they do it for the good of the people, when in reality they are only concerned with how they appear to others.] 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, [meaning of the lowest rank, the least privileged] and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, [speaking of the world] he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.
Philippians 2
Think about Jesus – God Himself – coming from heaven to earth to be our Servant!
If anyone had the choice of where to be born, which family to be born into, how much money that family would have, it was Jesus. He’s the only One who could have chosen His life on earth. And yet He chose to be born in a dirty, smelly manger and be born to a poor family.
Philippians 2:6-11 – …who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, [NASB: “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped”] 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So He gave Himself as the roasted Lamb on the cross and He absorbed all our sins and curses and diseases and poverty into His very being. The fire and judgement that we deserved came upon Him. Though sinless, He became sin with all our sinfulness. Why?
Mark 10:45 – The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
The foot washing was symbolic of being washed with the word
John 13:6-7 – Then He [Jesus] came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” [In other words, it’s symbolic]
Why do you think Jesus approached Peter first? Maybe because Peter is the one who would need this the most later on when he understood what Jesus was doing. Peter – the one who would later that evening deny that he even knew Jesus three times.
Peter whose future Jesus predicted while they were still in that upper room:
Luke 22:31-32 – And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, [Jesus was already praying for Peter even before he had his crises of faith – this Jesus who said on that same night: in John 14:14 – “If you ask anything in My name I will do it.” John 15:7 – “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 16:23 – “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” I think Jesus understands prayer and gets what He prays for! Verse 32 – “But I have prayed for you – ] that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” [Peter’s destiny was secure in Jesus!]
It was Peter that Jesus approached first. Jesus said that what He was doing Peter didn’t understand, but would understand later. That tells me that this was a physical act with a symbolic spiritual meaning.
John 13:8 – Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Jesus said Peter would have no part “with” Him, not “in” Him. Jesus was saying, “If you don’t let Me wash your feet, you won’t be able to share life with Me. You won’t be able to take part in what I’m doing.” TLB says, if you don’t let Me wash your feet, “You can’t be My partner.”
This is speaking of a life of faith. Living from the inside out.
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. [Are you seeing a theme? “He gave Himself for me.” Mark 10:45 – “He gave His life a ransom for many.” 1 Timothy 2:6 – “He gave Himself a ransom for all.” And we’ll see in a minute in Ephesians 5:25 – “He gave Himself for her.” If we understand what this means, believe it, and receive it, we can truly partner with Him in this life.]
John 13:9 – Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” [In other words, I want to partner with You, but I’m not clean enough!]
Was Peter talking about his physical hands and his physical head? No. Because he would have known the Old Testament scriptures that spoke of the priest, when he was consecrated, having to wash all over in the water of the laver before he could go into the Holy Place and approach the presence of God.
Peter was conscious of his sin disqualifying him from partnership with Jesus. He knew that his thoughts weren’t always pure, and his hands do things that weren’t holy.
John 13:10-11 – Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed [louō] needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean [katharos – unstained with the guilt of anything]; and you are clean, but not all of you.” [speaking of Judas] 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
If you have been bathed, “you are completely clean!” All you need to do is wash your feet. So what is this bath that makes us completely clean?
The Greek word for “bathed” there is the word “louō”, and it is the same word used in Revelation chapter 1:
Revelation 1:5 – To Him who loved us and washed [“louō”] us from our sins in His own blood.
Past tense. You were washed – bathed from all your sins in His blood. It’s the aorist Greek verb tense – meaning one-and-done, never to be repeated. This is the all-over-bath in the blood of Jesus that removes our sin.
How could the disciples be “already clean” before the New Covenant was enacted in Jesus’ blood? Jesus had not yet gone to the cross.
Hebrews 9:16-17, NASB – For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, [Speaking of Jesus being crucified] for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. [Like a will]
Jesus was symbolically demonstrating for His disciples their future reality that would be accomplished through His death on the cross.
Jesus lived in the finished work. While He walked on the earth, He was still the Son of God who lives outside of time.
Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Revelation 13:8 – the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [the Lamb was slain 2000 years ago, but was planned before the foundation of the world.]
And our lives were prepared beforehand, too!
Isaiah 49:1, NIV – Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
Ephesians 1:11, TPT – Before we were even born, he gave us our destiny; that we would fulfill the plan of God who always accomplishes every purpose and plan in his heart.
Isaiah 46:3-4, 9-10, NLT – [God says – ] “I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. 4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.… 9 Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. 10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.”
Isaiah 49:16 – “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” [John 13:3 – The Father has given all things into Jesus’ hands]
John 10:28 – [Jesus, our Good Shepherd said -] “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”
Isaiah 43:1, NASB – “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!”
Doesn’t that make you feel loved? Doesn’t that make you feel safe? Doesn’t that give you hope? Doesn’t that give you assurance He will answer your prayers?
Blood and the water
Back to the foot washing. Jesus would wash their feet with water, but water doesn’t come first. The blood would come first, and then the water.
John 19:34 – [on the cross] But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Blood and water came out of Jesus’ side. Notice that blood comes first. And then water. We’re made righteous by the blood once for all. There is nowhere in the New Testament where it says to re-apply the blood. When we sin today, we need to understand that we have been bathed once and for all.
John 13:10, [again] – “He who has been bathed [“louō” – all over bath in the blood of Jesus], needs only to wash his feet…”
The word “wash” is a different Greek word than the one used for “bathed.” “Wash” It’s the word “niptō.” It’s used for washing a part of the body, not the whole body. In this case, just the feet – which represents our walk in the world. Our feet get dusty, dirty, grimy walking around in this dark world.
What is the water?
What does the “water” represent? It’s the word! But what is “the word”? Ephesians 5 tells us:
Ephesians 5:25-27 – Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
What was “the word” that sanctified and cleansed us and presented us before Him as having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing? It’s in the text! “ just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her!” It’s the gospel! That’s THE WORD that has cleansed us! That’s what the water represents. Nothing can separate you from His love!
Dust is the devil’s food
Jesus washed the dust and grime off of their feet. So what’s the dust? Go back to Genesis and see:
Genesis 3:14 – So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, [lied to Adam and Eve and brought death to the human race] you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
The dust is the devil’s food. It’s his nourishment. It’s what strengthens him. It’s the devil’s lies, temptations, and accusations, impure thoughts, and condemnation. We get his slime on us daily. We need to starve the enemy out! How?
We need a daily washing of the water of the word: “You are all fair My love. There is no spot in you. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 1:22-23, NLT – Yet now He [God] has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence [right now!], and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News [That’s the washing of the water of the word! That’s what we can speak over each other!]
Linen towel, the gift of righteousness
And then after our feet are washed, they need to be dried off. When Jesus washed their feet He “wiped them with the towel with which He was girded.” (That’s from John 13:5)
The word “towel” in the Greek is the word “lention.” It literally means “linen cloth.” Linen is a symbol of the gift of righteousness in the Bible. This was a picture of the robe of righteousness that Jesus has given to us.
After the dust of the devil’s food is washed off with the water of the word, the linen towel dries our feet so they are fresh and beautiful and ready to bring Gospel of peace to others!
Wash one another’s feet
Back to John 13 –
John 13:12-16 – So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?” [again – this was symbolic!] 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. [We are sent to share the Gospel and make disciples, and He modeled how to do that]
Jesus always personally demonstrated that the last shall be first, the humble will be exalted, and the greatest among us will be our servants. It’s totally opposite of the world’s ways.
And Jesus has no shame in going after the least, the lost, the last, and the losers. Why? Jesus has no shame! He goes after the ones who can never repay Him. Because He knew who He was, He knew what He had, He knew where He came from, and He knew where He was going. He has nothing to lose by serving the least among us.
I believe He specializes in taking the most unlikely among us to be His vessels of greatest honor to display His glory.
Grace is the great leveler. We’re all seated in heavenly places because of Jesus – no matter who we are or what we’ve accomplished. Jesus said that the laborers at the end of the day got the same pay! And that made some of the laborers mad. Does grace offend you?
Matthew 20:15-16 – [At the end of the parable Jesus said] “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
To His disciples who would one day lead the church, He explained the difference between the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of the world:
Matthew 23:6-12, NLT – “And they [the Pharisees – the big-shot religious leaders of the day] love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ 8 Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, [Jesus!] and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. 9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. [Father, Rabbi, Teacher were their highest honorific titles. We use other ones, right?] 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
That’s why I refuse titles. I feel like to do so would dishonor Jesus. If Jesus has set Himself as a Divine Servant to me, then I am simply a servant to you.
Paul said the parts of the body that you don’t see are the most necessary, and we ought to give greater honor to the parts that lack it because the ones out front have plenty of honor already.
His ways are not our ways. We want to be big shots. You know what He wants us to be like? He wants us to be like children.
Matthew 18:4, AMPC – Whoever will humble himself [meaning “to see yourself as unimportant in your own eyes.”] therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Our importance comes from our Creator. We are important to Him. We don’t need to be important to others.
1 Peter 5:5 – [Peter said] …Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” [Proverbs 3:34]
Why does God want us to be humble? Because He’s a giver. Humility – in other words, dependence on God’s goodness – is the only posture for receiving His grace. And He wants to give us MORE GRACE!
James 4:6 – But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” [Our God is giver!]
In Acts 20 – in the context of Paul meeting with leaders from Ephesus and talking about the persecution he had endured, he said –
Acts 20:24, 35, NLT – But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…. [he spoke about pouring out his life for the gospel, working hard, never coveting silver or gold, and even supplying the needs of others who traveled with him. Then he said – ] 35 You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” [We need to learn how to receive.]
Whenever I read those words, I don’t feel pressured to give. I think of Jesus who embodied what is meant to give sacrificially. We will never be more blessed than Jesus because we could never outgive Him.
He is the Blesser. We are the blessed. We’ll never be more blessed than the Blesser. Our part is to receive, as Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Last verse in the John 13 passage-
John 13:17 – If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. [blessed – is the Greek word makarios – one of my favorite restaurants! It means “happy!” Do you want to be happy? Wash some feet! Spread the good news!]
Remind each other of the finished work of the Jesus! When we fail, we need to be reminded then and there that we have been forgiven. Right?
I believe this is our number one ministry with one another. The best way we can serve each other is to remind each other of the ultimate service of Jesus:
Isaiah 53:4-5, 12, AMPC – Surely He[Jesus] has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him[Jesus] stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. 5 But He[Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, He[Jesus] was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him[Jesus], and with the stripes [that wounded] Him[Jesus] we are healed and made whole.… 12 He[Jesus] poured out His life unto death, and [He let Himself] be regarded as a criminal and be numbered with the transgressors; yet He[Jesus] bore [and took away] the sin of many and made intercession [at the cross] for the transgressors (the rebellious). [that was us!]
Copyright info: All scriptures in the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
- (NKJV) New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
- (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- (NLT) Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
- (NASB) Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
- (TPT) The Passion Translation® is a registered trademark of Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Copyright © 2020 Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
- (AMPC) Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
