Episode 88 - He loved them to the end - John 13:1-5

John 13:1   Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 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.

As I read this text, I’m reminded of my childhood when occasionally I would have a sheet of paper or a book with “connect the dots.” By using a pen or pencil and beginning at the dot with the number ‘1’ and drawing a line to each successively numbered dot, an image would appear. This book has a number of “dots” that are to be connected and it reveals a picture of Jesus and God’s plan for sending him into the world.

First, John mentions that once again they are nearing the Passover Feast. The feast commemorated the first Passover when the ancestors of these Jews were in bondage in Egypt and the Lord was bringing judgment upon the nation. The final plague was that the Lord would kill the firstborn of every family and animal because of their evil and rebellous ways. In order to avoid this, the Jews were instructed to sacrifice a lamb without blemish, apply some of the blood to the outside of the door frame of their homes, then enter into their homes, and eat the roasted flesh of the lamb. (See Exodus 12) What significance does this have with respect to Jesus and the events that are unfolding?

Well, early in John’s gospel, John the Baptist points to Jesus and declares that he is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) It would seem that by John pointing out that the Passover is near and the context of Jesus (the Lamb of God) knowing that he will soon die seems to connect the dots that the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover is about to happen in Jesus’ imminent death.

Second, John mentions that Jesus knew his hour had come. We read that happened when it was reported to him that there were Greeks seeking him. (John 12:20-23) John adds here that Jesus had loved “his own.” Do you remember that? John 1 records, “he (the Word) came unto his own. But, his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11-12) He didn’t just come to them. John says here that he “loved them.” Now, he builds on that by saying that even though he knew they were about to kill him, “he loved them to the very end.” Is that not amazing? Jesus never stopped loving the people who would take part in rejecting him and killing him.

Now we get some specific detail when John tells us about this meal Jesus and his closest disciples were sharing and John tells us that the devil had already put the idea into Judas Iscariot’s heart to betray Jesus. This detail is helping us understand that it’s not just antagonists who were after Jesus. But, even one of Jesus’ own disciples would betray the one who would love him to the end.

John then explains that Jesus knew that God had handed all authority to him and that he had come from God and was going back to God. This would seem to suggest that John understood that Jesus could have done so many things in response to the knowledge he had. But, what he did was to get up from the table where he had been reclining, took off his outer garment, wrapped a towel around his waist, took a towel and bowl of water, and began washing his disciples’ feet.

Why is this detail important? If you recall from John chapter one, John the Baptist tells people that there is someone else in their midst whom they didn’t recognize, “the straps of his sandals I am not worthy to unloosen.” (John 1:27) The disciple of a teacher in that day was considered on a similar level of a slave and might be expected to do anything for their teacher that a slave would do except one thing. Foot care was considered so low that only a slave was expected to do that. John the Baptist was saying that he was not worthy to even be called a slave of Jesus. But, here in this text, Jesus is taking on the role of a servant to his own disciples. This helps us see how Jesus was loving his own. Shortly, we’ll learn more about what Jesus is teaching his disciples and us through this act of love. 

As you meditate on this, I hope you will not miss the point that you are included among Jesus’ “own” whom he has loved to the end. The question is whether you receive it.