Do you know what I have done?

John 13:1-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would 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, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

⁵ Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ⁶ So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” ⁸ Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸ I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ¹⁹ From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

²¹ When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” ²² The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. ²³ There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. ²⁴ So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” ²⁵ He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” ²⁸ Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. ²⁹ For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

There is an interesting timeline in today’s text. In verse 2 it says:    the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him   Then it says Jesus got up from the supper and washed the disciples feet. In verses 10-11 it says:  “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”  For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” Jesus then after washing their feet takes a moment to teach them. He says:  “Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.  Not only is Jesus example of washing the disciples feet a model of how we are to serve one another but without saying it there is also the example of the unconditional love and forgiveness of God and Jesus.

In Luke’s account of the last supper, Luke 22:19-22 we read:  when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.  But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.  For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”      So, Judas the betrayer was among both those whose feet were washed by Jesus and who received the bread and cup of the new covenant.

In Matthew 5:44 Jesus says: “I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”  Jesus never asks us to do things He has not already done. There is an expression that sometimes is said, particularly by parents to their children. It says: “Do as I say not as I do.” Often we recognize that our behavior isn’t what it should be, yet we expect others to follow our words and disregard our actions and behavior. Jesus did what He said. His actions and His words were consistent with His mission. In John 5:19, Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”   In John 12:49 Jesus says:  "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”      Jesus words and actions were always consistent because they were the words and actions, the will of the Father, who is unchanging. Jesus is the revelation of the Father’s heart and will, the demonstration of His unconditional love. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.     He calls us to be the revelation of that same unconditional love to the world. To love, serve and forgive others not based on what they do but rather based on what Christ has done for us.

There is another side to this account of unconditional love and forgiveness in today’s text. Judas the betrayer was shown that unconditional love and forgiveness. He was offered the body and blood of the new covenant in Christ. Yet we are told in Matthew 27:3-5:  when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,  saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”  And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.       It wasn’t that the unconditional forgiveness, the power of the cross of Christ and the new covenant was not enough or not applicable for Judas. It was that Judas chose to reject God’s forgiveness shown in Christ and the cross. He chose to pay for his sin with his own sacrifice rather than accepting the sacrifice of Christ. Jesus said:  "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" (Luke 22:22)    Like Judas, every person has been created with a free will, an ability and a right to choose. The love of God, the cross of Christ is for all. John 3:16 says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   Unfortunately not all will believe or receive. Some will choose another path.

Like Christ we are to love, serve, and forgive unconditionally. Not all though will receive and believe. Jesus, knowing Judas would betray Him, still offered him the forgiveness of the new covenant. Jesus has told us and shown us what to do. Will we be the revelation of the unconditional love and forgiveness of God?

Heavenly Father thank You for the demonstration of Your love for me, that Christ died while I was a sinner. Jesus thank You for the cross and the new covenant, for Your sacrifice which washes me clean. May I truly live, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what You said and what You did, to:  love my enemies, bless those who curse me, do good to those who hate me, and pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me. May I trust You with the results.  Amen