MikePaschall.com

JOHN 13:1-15  Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, ³fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, ⁴he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” ¹¹For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? ¹³You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. ¹⁴If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.

 

 

The Hour Had Come

John writes in a way that sounds plain at first hearing. Yet the longer we live with his words, the deeper they go.

You could spend an entire month turning them over in your heart and suddenly realize there is more wisdom in their simplicity than in a lifetime of clever thinking.

Part of why we gather is not only to reflect on Jesus, but also to reflect with John on this simple act—this lived, embodied lesson for the disciples.

“The hour had come…”

We normally assume that means Jesus’ arrest, his suffering, and his death.

But for John, “the hour had come” means something we need to see and understand.

It is the moment the whole world has been waiting for.
It is the beginning of the great mystery—not the mystery of death, but the mystery of life.

This is the hour when God finally reveals who God really is.

Not a Lecture—A Gesture

How else could Jesus explain who He is and why He had come?
How does He answer the endless questions of the human heart?

He doesn’t give a lecture.
He doesn’t argue or persuade.

Instead, He rises from the table, removes His outer garment, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash the feet of His disciples.

To understand the weight of this moment, we have to remember the customs of the time.

In that ancient world, people traveled dusty roads wearing sandals. When guests arrived, they were greeted—not by the master of the house—but by a servant, often a slave.

Only a servant would wash another person’s feet.
It was considered too humiliating for anyone else.

And yet—Jesus kneels.

The room falls silent.

The disciples are not ashamed for themselves—they are ashamed for Him. Their Lord and Master is taking the place of a slave.

And they know this isn’t an act.

Jesus never performed gestures for religious effect. Everything He did carried truth.

Peter’s Resistance

Then it’s Peter’s turn.

Peter—the passionate one, who loves fiercely and fails repeatedly.
Peter—who promises everything and then denies everything.

He says:

“You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus responds with words that sound shocking:

“Unless I wash your feet, you can have nothing to do with me.”

In other words:

If you do not allow Me to love you this way, you will never understand who I am.
You will never understand why I came. You will never understand who you are meant to be.

Peter, unable to imagine life without Jesus, surrenders:

“Then not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well.”

What It Means to Wash Feet

In this act, Jesus reveals the deepest truth about God.

God is not a taker.
God is a giver.

This is God kneeling before humanity—in love.

Love is not just a feeling or an idea.
To love is to serve.
To love is to give yourself away.

If we love, we wash feet—literally and figuratively.

We understand this instinctively when we see a young mother with her baby.

A newborn is completely helpless—unable to speak, unable to give anything back—and yet the mother gives her whole life: years of care, patience, and sacrifice.

Not because the child is useful, but because the child is worthy of love.

And in giving herself, she doesn’t lose her life—she becomes more fully alive.

The Mystery We Live In

We live either with a sense of mystery—or we live clueless.

We do not know where we came from.
We do not know where we are going.
We do not fully know what we are capable of.

But we should know this:

We can love. And when we love, we live.

The love Jesus reveals is different from the love we hear about every day. It is not measured by what we receive, but by what we give.

Love, for Jesus, is sacrifice.

Love That Goes All the Way

This was how the Easter saga began—not with power or authority, but with humility and service.

Not with speeches or ideas, but with love made visible.

Everything else fades away. Only love remains.

Love is the secret of wisdom. The one who loves understands truth.

In the days that followed, we saw how far that love goes.

Jesus gives everything on the cross—His friends, His reputation, His life.

And His final gift is forgiveness: “Father, forgive them.”

It is in this forgiveness that we are healed and raised to new life.

Two Images

Two images tell the whole story:

The Table — where Jesus gives Himself in bread and wine, promising to remain with us always.

The Basin and Towel — where He shows us how love lives.

If we want life, we must die to selfishness.
If we want love, we must learn to serve.
If we want to know God, we must wash one another’s feet.

Not Admiration—Imitation

We have to move beyond admiring this gesture.

We are meant to imitate it.

Not to sentimentalize love—but to practice it.

We kneel while the world tells us to rise above.
We give while the world tells us to take.
We forgive while the world tells us to harden our hearts.

Unless we learn to wash one another’s feet, we will never truly understand love.

And without that love, we will never fully know who we are called to be.

The Way Forward

As we move about in the world, where there is so much hellish pain and glory of self, we carry this simple, scandalous truth:

God kneels.
God gives.
God washes.

If we want life, we must die to the small self that counts and hoards.
If we want to live in love, we take up the basin of service.

This is not a lesson to admire from afar. It is a way of life practiced daily—in quiet, ordinary moments:

• In difficult conversations
• In choosing to give
• In choosing to forgive

When we wash one another’s feet, we begin to understand who God is—and who we are meant to be.

May the God who bowed low to love us give us the courage to bend low for others.

And may the peace of Christ—who feeds us at the table and humbles Himself at the basin—go with us now and always. Amen.

Much love to you all,

Mike