Recap

We’re in the midst of a series called Shaped to Serve. The key verse for this series is Ephesians 2:10, which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. God has shaped each of his children in a unique way so that we can serve in a unique way. How has God shaped you? What kind of good works do you God has “prepared beforehand” for you to do? Are you willing to do those good works?

And as we saw in 1 Corinthians 13, it’s not enough just to do good works. We must do those good works in love. The motivation for our service must be love.

To the End

John 13:1 says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The Greek word translated “end” (telos) has two possible meanings: “end” or “completely,” so the verse is translated two different ways.

• “He loved them to the end” (ESV).
• He “showed them the full extent of his love” (NIV, 1984).

“Perhaps there is intended ambiguity here, for Jesus did indeed show the full extent of his love, and he did so until the end of his life.”

What Jesus Knew

I want you to notice three words in John 13: “knew” (v. 1), “knowing” (v. 3), and “knew” (v. 11). Before we consider what Jesus did, I want us to understand what Jesus knew.

During the Last Supper, Jesus knew three things.

1. Jesus knew that “his hour had come.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus’s “hour” is the time of his crucifixion. Back in chapter 2, Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come” (2:4; cf. 7:30; 8:20). Then in chapter 12, he says, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour” (v.:27: cf. 12:23; 16:32; 17:1). Jesus knows that he will soon be crucified, and his soul is “troubled.”

2. Jesus knew that “the Father had given all things into his hands.”

Jesus knows that he is the Son of God. He knows that he has “come from God” and is “going back to God” (v. 3). On earth, there is no one greater than him.

3. Jesus knew “who was to betray him.”

Sitting at that table is a man who is going to betray Jesus, and Jesus knows it. He also knows that when he’s arrested, Peter is going to deny him three times (v. 38).

What Jesus Did

Now that we understand what Jesus knew, let’s consider what he did. Look at verses 4-5: Jesus “rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

In spite of everything he knew, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

“Foot washing was the most demeaning task assigned to household servants.” It would have been unthinkable for a rabbi to wash his disciples’ feet. Peter says, “You shall never wash my feet” (v. 8). What Jesus did is without comparison in our culture. Washing feet was much worse than cleaning toilets.

When I think about Jesus washing his disciple’s feet, I’m reminded of what the apostle Paul says about Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8:

. . . who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [4] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

When God took on flesh and lived among us, he washed dirty feet and died on a cross. Jesus once said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). Jesus was willing to do what no one else would do. 

We might think that Jesus is not acting like God when he serves. (A CEO doesn’t clean toilets; God doesn’t wash feet.) But I believe that Jesus never looked more like God than when he served others.

I also believe that Christ is most visible in us when we serve others. Jesus says to his disciples, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (vv. 14-15).

Jesus (our leader) showed us (his servants) how we are to serve.

In Spite of Everything He Knows

In spite of everything he knew, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. In this act of lowly service, he revealed his heart—a heart that would lead him to the cross (the ultimate act of service).

In spite of everything he knows about us, he says, “Come to me.” And he will love us “to the end.”