Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
When Jesus rises from the Passover supper in the upper chamber on His last evening before death, lays aside His garments, girds Himself with a towel and begins washing the disciples' feet, Peter asks in astonishment whether his Lord would wash his feet. The disciples have come to the supper selfish and heated by dispute over who should be greatest, and in contrast to their pride Jesus without a word takes the servant's place. Peter's protest springs from love and reverence and shame, yet it exposes his impetuous self-confidence and his failure to yet understand that Christ came to serve and to cleanse the heart from sin. The lowly act is Christ's final lesson that His followers, especially ministers, must embrace humility and loving ministration, laying aside alienation, jealousy and exaltation of one above another that they may be joined in oneness with Him. He institutes it as a sacred ordinance of humility to be observed through all time as the appointed preparation for partaking of the emblems of His broken body and spilled blood, even washing Judas as a final appeal of patient mercy without exposing him, though Judas hardens himself and goes on to betray Him.
Setting and Action
Then he comes to Simon Peter in turn, and Peter asks whether the Lord himself is going to wash his feet. This happens as Jesus rises from supper, lays aside his garments, girds himself with a towel, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash and wipe the disciples' feet. He does this knowing that the Father has given all things into his hands and that he has come from God and is going to God. He does it even while the devil has put betrayal into the heart of Judas Iscariot.
The setting is the Passover supper in the upper chamber on the last evening before his death. It is in his final week and in the last hours before he offers himself as a sacrifice for the world, when he is near the hour of ascending to the Father. He is preparing the disciples for the coming trial, for his betrayal and suffering, and for their separation from him.
The disciples have come to the supper selfish, with tempers heated by contention and disputing which of them should be accounted greatest. They are yielding to Satan's determined effort to arouse strife, and this fills Christ's heart with sorrow and keeps them from blessing. In striking contrast, hearing their whisperings and seeing their flushed faces, he without a word lays aside his outer garment and girds himself with a towel like a servant to wash their feet. Though Lord, he takes the servant's work while they are contending for the highest place in the promised kingdom.
The verse belongs to John 13-17, which plainly outlines God's will for those who minister in word and doctrine. That portion calls for careful, prayerful study and earnest practice of Christ's example, his service, and the duties he specified as Substitute and Surety. That instruction bears God's credentials to the world. It is presented as the remedy for dissension and the call to humility and unity with one another and with Christ.
Peter's Astonished Protest
Peter's cry, Lord, dost thou wash my feet, is astonishment that his Lord would stoop to the lowly place of a servant to wash him. He is ashamed that Jesus is doing this service while none of the disciples themselves had taken the servant's place. That humble condescension breaks Peter's heart, and the disciples are left too astonished and ashamed to speak.
His protest springs from love and reverence for One he believes to be the Son of God. Yet it also lays bare his impetuous, hasty, self-confident character and the very pride the act was meant to expose. Though he often appeared more faulty than even Judas, he was patiently borne with, and his later life of service and sacrifice testified to the power of grace.
He does not yet understand that the washing reaches beyond bodily cleansing to the cleansing of the heart. He cannot yet grasp that Christ came into the world to serve and to cleanse men from sin and to show the disciples their own need.
Judas had already been washed first, his soiled feet bathed by those precious hands and wiped with the towel. Jesus alone read Judas's secret purpose, while the others knew nothing of it, yet He did not expose him. By the time He comes to Peter the disciples are ashamed, mortified, conscience-stricken, subdued and broken, their hearts going out to Jesus in deep earnest faith that works by love and purifies the soul.
Humility Unity and Service
Though Lord and Master, Christ girded Himself to do the work of a servant by washing the feet of His disciples while they were contending for the highest place in the promised kingdom. His condescension, meekness and humility in performing this menial service for His own followers appeared more conspicuous the nearer He came to the hour of ascending to the Father. The act most forcibly illustrates the necessity of true humility and that true service calls for unselfish ministry.
It was a final lesson in humility and loving ministration that rebuked the pride of the disciples and taught humility through humble service. His example teaches His disciples, and especially gospel ministers, to embrace humility and service and not to consider themselves superior to the lowliest saint. The washing was meant to remove alienation, jealousy and pride and to bring the humility and love needed for fellowship with Christ. Through remembrance of what Christ did it brings about a state of feeling where no exaltation of one above another finds place, and brings brother to an understanding of his brother's feelings.
It was given to teach a lesson of humility and to bring them together in unity, to join their hearts in oneness with Him. Its instruction expresses God's will for His people as the remedy for dissension and the call to humility and unity with one another and with Christ. Neglect of His words leaves pride, self-sufficiency, evil thinking, evil speaking, and planning without His help, with contention and strife among those who should be one in Christ.
Those who minister in word and doctrine and are acquainted with present truth are called to be converted and to understand the philosophy of genuine missionary work. God means just what He says in this verse, and it is their privilege to believe every verse in John 13-17 and to live them out before their fellow ministers. His followers will show the same meekness and humility as they more closely resemble Jesus and grow richer in Christian graces. Like grain bending under full ripe ears when ready for harvest, they will have less disposition to honor or exalt self.
Ordinance Before Communion
What Peter questioned was no mere customary washing of dusty feet as hospitality; it had become a sacred religious service, an ordinance of humility, a memorial service of foot washing joined with the sacramental supper to be observed by followers through all time and in every country. As the pure spotless Lamb presenting Himself as a sin-offering while eating the Passover with His disciples, He put an end to the sacrifices offered for four thousand years and in place of the national festival instituted this memorial. Type was meeting antitype in Himself as the authority and foundation of all the Jewish ordinances pointing to Him as the great and only efficacious offering for the sins of the world, so that to continue those rites would be an insult to Jehovah.
The ordinance is Christ's appointed preparation for communion and must precede partaking of the emblems of His death. Since pride, conflict, and rivalry prevent fellowship with Christ, remembrance of His humiliation was made to come first, and then comes the broken bread to represent His broken body and the juice of the vine to represent His spilled blood. In that ordinance God is sacredly near, to be remembered by bringing to mind that if He as Master and Lord washed their feet they also ought to wash one another's feet, for He gave an example that they should do as He had done.
It tests and proves the loyalty of God's people and is meant to clear away misunderstandings. It brings man out of selfishness and seeking the highest place, down from self-exaltation to humility of spirit that will lead him to wash his brother's feet, and happy are they if they do as He gave example.
It was given as His last established ordinance in connection with the last supper because His disciples needed it. In this simple ordinance He discharged His disciples from the cares and burdens of the ancient Jewish obligations in rites and ceremonies which no longer possessed any virtue, to disentangle them from ceremonies they had hitherto engaged in as essential but which the reception of the Gospel made no longer of any force. He made it a special season when He Himself will always be present to lead everyone participating to feel the pulse of conscience, to awaken them to the lessons symbolized, to revive memory, to convict of sin, and to receive penitential offerings, and to teach that brother is not to exalt himself above brother and that the dangers of disunion and strife must be seen, for the health and holy activity of the soul are involved. This speaks not so largely to intellectual capacity as to the heart, for the moral and spiritual nature need it, while eating His body and drinking His blood means not merely partaking at the sacramental service but daily partaking of the bread of life that alone satisfies soul-hunger by receiving His Word and doing His will.
Mercy Toward Judas Iscariot
When He came to Simon Peter in the round of washing, He had already washed all the rest including Judas, bathing the soiled feet with His own hands and wiping them with the towel. He knew Judas would betray Him, that Judas had twice promised to do it and that the devil's purpose was in his heart, yet He tenderly included him and did not expose him though He alone read his secret purpose while the others knew nothing of it. He did not refuse him a place at the table and allowed him to share in the sacrament.
The washing was a final appeal of love and long-suffering, offering even the sinner an opportunity to receive Him, repent, and be cleansed from sin. It showed patience and mercy and Christ's long patience with human weakness and perversity. It was a final effort to reach Judas and give him opportunity to turn from his course, and it helped bring all but one of the twelve to repentance.
Judas did not heed the appeal but rejected it and went from having his feet washed to carrying out the betrayal and going out to betray Him. The servant's work did not make him love Christ; he was angry that Christ had taken a servant's place and became more determined to betray Him. He was already out of harmony with Christ and used his place beside Him at the supper to conceal his plan, and even when he realized Jesus knew his purpose he felt no fear but left to carry out his plan.
His example teaches not to abandon someone believed to be in error or in sin, and not by careless separation to drive that person further into temptation and leave him more exposed to it. The washing is not to be deferred and no one is to be excluded from the ordinances because some present are considered unworthy, for human beings cannot tell who is worthy and who is not and cannot read hearts or the secrets of the soul, and it is not left to man to say who shall present themselves or to say he will not attend if such a one is present. Unseen heavenly and evil messengers witness these services.
Observance and Christian Practice
The washing of feet is a humble Christian duty set as a pattern for believers to follow when they break bread together. Leaders are to set the example first, and then all are to join in heartily. Keeping this example helps keep God's people separate from the world and from backsliding. Following it softens the heart, expels selfishness, and brings the Holy Spirit with love, grace, and peace.
It is to be observed together with the sacrament and the Lord's Supper. It comes after humble confession. It belongs in evening worship, to be joined in by the largest possible number of believers, and in seasons of revival when sinners are seeking the Lord for the first time. So kept, it brings deep gratification and solemn impressiveness, accomplishes a good spiritual work, and settles believers into the work.
The ordinance brings a solemn humbling before God with weeping and rejoicing that is long remembered. The breaking of bread is joined with fitting words that move hearers to sobs and groans. Through remembrance of what Christ did, it creates a state of feeling where no exaltation of one above another finds place and brother is brought to understand his brother's feelings.
The washing of saints' feet follows Christ taking the disciples away alone, apart from unbelievers, first washing their feet and then sharing the bread and the cup with them. It must be kept private among believers and never done among unbelievers, or it brings reproach on God's cause. It should be followed with care and wisdom, especially when introducing it to people unfamiliar with the practice or prejudiced against it.
Men are to wash men's feet and women to wash women's feet. A man has no business washing a woman's feet, and men and women washing each other's feet together is not right.
When Jesus rises from the Passover supper in the upper chamber on His last evening before death, lays aside His garments, girds Himself with a towel and begins washing the disciples' feet, Peter asks in astonishment whether his Lord would wash his feet. The disciples have come to the supper selfish and heated by dispute over who should be greatest, and in contrast to their pride Jesus without a word takes the servant's place. Peter's protest springs from love and reverence and shame, yet it exposes his impetuous self-confidence and his failure to yet understand that Christ came to serve and to cleanse the heart from sin. The lowly act is Christ's final lesson that His followers, especially ministers, must embrace humility and loving ministration, laying aside alienation, jealousy and exaltation of one above another that they may be joined in oneness with Him. He institutes it as a sacred ordinance of humility to be observed through all time as the appointed preparation for partaking of the emblems of His broken body and spilled blood, even washing Judas as a final appeal of patient mercy without exposing him, though Judas hardens himself and goes on to betray Him.
Setting and Action
Then he comes to Simon Peter in turn, and Peter asks whether the Lord himself is going to wash his feet. This happens as Jesus rises from supper, lays aside his garments, girds himself with a towel, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash and wipe the disciples' feet. He does this knowing that the Father has given all things into his hands and that he has come from God and is going to God. He does it even while the devil has put betrayal into the heart of Judas Iscariot.
The setting is the Passover supper in the upper chamber on the last evening before his death. It is in his final week and in the last hours before he offers himself as a sacrifice for the world, when he is near the hour of ascending to the Father. He is preparing the disciples for the coming trial, for his betrayal and suffering, and for their separation from him.
The disciples have come to the supper selfish, with tempers heated by contention and disputing which of them should be accounted greatest. They are yielding to Satan's determined effort to arouse strife, and this fills Christ's heart with sorrow and keeps them from blessing. In striking contrast, hearing their whisperings and seeing their flushed faces, he without a word lays aside his outer garment and girds himself with a towel like a servant to wash their feet. Though Lord, he takes the servant's work while they are contending for the highest place in the promised kingdom.
The verse belongs to John 13-17, which plainly outlines God's will for those who minister in word and doctrine. That portion calls for careful, prayerful study and earnest practice of Christ's example, his service, and the duties he specified as Substitute and Surety. That instruction bears God's credentials to the world. It is presented as the remedy for dissension and the call to humility and unity with one another and with Christ.
Peter's Astonished Protest
Peter's cry, Lord, dost thou wash my feet, is astonishment that his Lord would stoop to the lowly place of a servant to wash him. He is ashamed that Jesus is doing this service while none of the disciples themselves had taken the servant's place. That humble condescension breaks Peter's heart, and the disciples are left too astonished and ashamed to speak.
His protest springs from love and reverence for One he believes to be the Son of God. Yet it also lays bare his impetuous, hasty, self-confident character and the very pride the act was meant to expose. Though he often appeared more faulty than even Judas, he was patiently borne with, and his later life of service and sacrifice testified to the power of grace.
He does not yet understand that the washing reaches beyond bodily cleansing to the cleansing of the heart. He cannot yet grasp that Christ came into the world to serve and to cleanse men from sin and to show the disciples their own need.
Judas had already been washed first, his soiled feet bathed by those precious hands and wiped with the towel. Jesus alone read Judas's secret purpose, while the others knew nothing of it, yet He did not expose him. By the time He comes to Peter the disciples are ashamed, mortified, conscience-stricken, subdued and broken, their hearts going out to Jesus in deep earnest faith that works by love and purifies the soul.
Humility Unity and Service
Though Lord and Master, Christ girded Himself to do the work of a servant by washing the feet of His disciples while they were contending for the highest place in the promised kingdom. His condescension, meekness and humility in performing this menial service for His own followers appeared more conspicuous the nearer He came to the hour of ascending to the Father. The act most forcibly illustrates the necessity of true humility and that true service calls for unselfish ministry.
It was a final lesson in humility and loving ministration that rebuked the pride of the disciples and taught humility through humble service. His example teaches His disciples, and especially gospel ministers, to embrace humility and service and not to consider themselves superior to the lowliest saint. The washing was meant to remove alienation, jealousy and pride and to bring the humility and love needed for fellowship with Christ. Through remembrance of what Christ did it brings about a state of feeling where no exaltation of one above another finds place, and brings brother to an understanding of his brother's feelings.
It was given to teach a lesson of humility and to bring them together in unity, to join their hearts in oneness with Him. Its instruction expresses God's will for His people as the remedy for dissension and the call to humility and unity with one another and with Christ. Neglect of His words leaves pride, self-sufficiency, evil thinking, evil speaking, and planning without His help, with contention and strife among those who should be one in Christ.
Those who minister in word and doctrine and are acquainted with present truth are called to be converted and to understand the philosophy of genuine missionary work. God means just what He says in this verse, and it is their privilege to believe every verse in John 13-17 and to live them out before their fellow ministers. His followers will show the same meekness and humility as they more closely resemble Jesus and grow richer in Christian graces. Like grain bending under full ripe ears when ready for harvest, they will have less disposition to honor or exalt self.
Ordinance Before Communion
What Peter questioned was no mere customary washing of dusty feet as hospitality; it had become a sacred religious service, an ordinance of humility, a memorial service of foot washing joined with the sacramental supper to be observed by followers through all time and in every country. As the pure spotless Lamb presenting Himself as a sin-offering while eating the Passover with His disciples, He put an end to the sacrifices offered for four thousand years and in place of the national festival instituted this memorial. Type was meeting antitype in Himself as the authority and foundation of all the Jewish ordinances pointing to Him as the great and only efficacious offering for the sins of the world, so that to continue those rites would be an insult to Jehovah.
The ordinance is Christ's appointed preparation for communion and must precede partaking of the emblems of His death. Since pride, conflict, and rivalry prevent fellowship with Christ, remembrance of His humiliation was made to come first, and then comes the broken bread to represent His broken body and the juice of the vine to represent His spilled blood. In that ordinance God is sacredly near, to be remembered by bringing to mind that if He as Master and Lord washed their feet they also ought to wash one another's feet, for He gave an example that they should do as He had done.
It tests and proves the loyalty of God's people and is meant to clear away misunderstandings. It brings man out of selfishness and seeking the highest place, down from self-exaltation to humility of spirit that will lead him to wash his brother's feet, and happy are they if they do as He gave example.
It was given as His last established ordinance in connection with the last supper because His disciples needed it. In this simple ordinance He discharged His disciples from the cares and burdens of the ancient Jewish obligations in rites and ceremonies which no longer possessed any virtue, to disentangle them from ceremonies they had hitherto engaged in as essential but which the reception of the Gospel made no longer of any force. He made it a special season when He Himself will always be present to lead everyone participating to feel the pulse of conscience, to awaken them to the lessons symbolized, to revive memory, to convict of sin, and to receive penitential offerings, and to teach that brother is not to exalt himself above brother and that the dangers of disunion and strife must be seen, for the health and holy activity of the soul are involved. This speaks not so largely to intellectual capacity as to the heart, for the moral and spiritual nature need it, while eating His body and drinking His blood means not merely partaking at the sacramental service but daily partaking of the bread of life that alone satisfies soul-hunger by receiving His Word and doing His will.
Mercy Toward Judas Iscariot
When He came to Simon Peter in the round of washing, He had already washed all the rest including Judas, bathing the soiled feet with His own hands and wiping them with the towel. He knew Judas would betray Him, that Judas had twice promised to do it and that the devil's purpose was in his heart, yet He tenderly included him and did not expose him though He alone read his secret purpose while the others knew nothing of it. He did not refuse him a place at the table and allowed him to share in the sacrament.
The washing was a final appeal of love and long-suffering, offering even the sinner an opportunity to receive Him, repent, and be cleansed from sin. It showed patience and mercy and Christ's long patience with human weakness and perversity. It was a final effort to reach Judas and give him opportunity to turn from his course, and it helped bring all but one of the twelve to repentance.
Judas did not heed the appeal but rejected it and went from having his feet washed to carrying out the betrayal and going out to betray Him. The servant's work did not make him love Christ; he was angry that Christ had taken a servant's place and became more determined to betray Him. He was already out of harmony with Christ and used his place beside Him at the supper to conceal his plan, and even when he realized Jesus knew his purpose he felt no fear but left to carry out his plan.
His example teaches not to abandon someone believed to be in error or in sin, and not by careless separation to drive that person further into temptation and leave him more exposed to it. The washing is not to be deferred and no one is to be excluded from the ordinances because some present are considered unworthy, for human beings cannot tell who is worthy and who is not and cannot read hearts or the secrets of the soul, and it is not left to man to say who shall present themselves or to say he will not attend if such a one is present. Unseen heavenly and evil messengers witness these services.
Observance and Christian Practice
The washing of feet is a humble Christian duty set as a pattern for believers to follow when they break bread together. Leaders are to set the example first, and then all are to join in heartily. Keeping this example helps keep God's people separate from the world and from backsliding. Following it softens the heart, expels selfishness, and brings the Holy Spirit with love, grace, and peace.
It is to be observed together with the sacrament and the Lord's Supper. It comes after humble confession. It belongs in evening worship, to be joined in by the largest possible number of believers, and in seasons of revival when sinners are seeking the Lord for the first time. So kept, it brings deep gratification and solemn impressiveness, accomplishes a good spiritual work, and settles believers into the work.
The ordinance brings a solemn humbling before God with weeping and rejoicing that is long remembered. The breaking of bread is joined with fitting words that move hearers to sobs and groans. Through remembrance of what Christ did, it creates a state of feeling where no exaltation of one above another finds place and brother is brought to understand his brother's feelings.
The washing of saints' feet follows Christ taking the disciples away alone, apart from unbelievers, first washing their feet and then sharing the bread and the cup with them. It must be kept private among believers and never done among unbelievers, or it brings reproach on God's cause. It should be followed with care and wisdom, especially when introducing it to people unfamiliar with the practice or prejudiced against it.
Men are to wash men's feet and women to wash women's feet. A man has no business washing a woman's feet, and men and women washing each other's feet together is not right.