Carson - The farewell discourse and final prayer of Jesus: an evangelical exposition of john 14 -17

John 13

T HE ATMOSPHERE in the large upstairs room was tense, unhappy, uncertain.

The evening had gone badly from the start. The disciples had gathered with Jesus, as arranged, and climbed to the upstairs room where the food was already prepared. They looked around for the traditional servant to wash their feet; but seeing no one, and being too polite to mention it, they stretched out on their pallets around the low eating table without saying a word. Jesus offered the traditional prayer of thanksgiving; and then they noticed that Jesus was pushing himself off his pallet. The talk was stilled. The Master quietly took off his cloak. To their utter consternation, he went over to the washstand, wrapped the towel around his waist, picked up the large basin of water, and headed for the nearest disciple.

Teachers shouldnt do things like that. Not even equals should wash one anothers feet: it is a job for servantsand the servants with least seniority, at that. The first disciple, too surprised to move, too embarrassed to protest, felt his sandals being slipped off, and then the cool water and the dry towel. The Master proceeded to the second disciple, and to the third; all the while the silence was deafening.

Typically, it was Simon Peter who broke the silence. As Jesus approached to wash his feet, Peter curled up his legs and pointed out the inappropriateness of the Masters action with what he thought was a tactful question: Lord, are you going to wash my feet?

Jesus straightened his back, looked him straight in the eye, and replied quietly, You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.

Peters voice hardened; someone had to speak out. If the Master could not see that he was demeaning himself, Peter would have to tell him. No, he said, you will never wash my feet.

Still Jesus looked at him with that unwavering gaze. Unless I wash you, he said, you have no part with me.

Open confrontation. For a moment the still air was charged with suspense. Did Jesus not recognize that Peter was speaking out of love? But faced with a response like that, Peter was now slow in rising to the occasion. He decided to take advantage of the situation and declare his love in a different way, Then, Lord, he replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.

That might have relieved the tension; but then Jesus added something more, something that, at the time, was highly enigmatic and restored the gloomy foreboding in the room. He said, A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And, he added, looking around the room, you are clean, though not every one of you. And in the utter silence that followed, he finished washing their feet.

The disciples watched Jesus wipe his hands, don his cloak, and return to his pallet. Unable to look at each other, embarrassed both for themselves and for their Teacher, they were quietly grateful that the episode was over. And then all of a sudden it was not; for Jesus began speaking again.

Do you understand what I have done for you? he asked.

They understood well enough; he had washed their feet. But then they began to see that he expected a deeper answer than that. What Jesus had done for them was to provide a model; and as this truth slowly dawned on them, drawn out by the quiet question, they found their groping answers confirmed as Jesus responded to his own question.