Jesus Asks a Question: “Do you understand what I have just done for you?”

Jesus Asks a Question: “Do you understand what I have just done for you?”

The Grand Inquisitor. Messiah Jesus was a Master of asking questions: some were open-ended, others were very pointed; some were out of curiosity, others were challenging; some seemed rhetorical, others seemed painfully obvious; some were to reveal Himself, others were to guide the other into self-understanding; some were intentionally provocative, others were to kick-start a conversation; some questions were asked to explore a topic to deepen understanding and stretch toward the truth; some were leading questions that He designed to suggest a particular answer, and others were questions in response to questions asked of Him; some were hypotheticals to stimulate the imagination, other questions were used  by Him as stepping stones to think logically from one point to the next. Jesus used questions to dignify the listener, letting that person know that He is taking that person seriously and listening carefully. Many of His questions were acts of friendship and used to pursue a more profound intimacy with someone. Jesus asked very few yes-no questions, and since time was usually irrelevant for Him when He was with people, He rarely asked a “when” question. Several biblical scholars have studied the gospels with Christ’s questions in mind, and they have literally counted a total of 307 questions in His various conversations and teachings. It seems that a worthy spiritual exercise when considering the many questions of Jesus is that we ask ourselves… should I take His questions personally, as if He was asking us that question right now?

The Question. “Do you understand what I have just done for you?” (John 13:12).

“The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”  (John 13:2-5).

Foot-Washing: A simple act of kindness and hospitality that gives dignity to and honors the person being washed; a task reserved for Gentile servants, or the lowest-ranking servant in the household; involved respectfully placing someone else’s dirty, smelly, ugly feet into a bowl of water and carefully cleansing those feet of all dirt, grime and sweat, then drying the feet with a clean towel; a common, menial act of self-sacrifice and humility; exercising the ministry of touch to the least touchable part of a human body; a comforting and practical service to that part of someone else’s body that absorbs the wear and tear of daily life; the powerful sacrament of servanthood.

The Father. It’s not surprising that Jesus refers to the Father before this humiliating act of service. Earlier, Jesus had said that He only does what He sees His Father doing (John 5:19). The Son, in profound union with God, shares a oneness with the inner sanctum of the Father’s heart. Jesus has watched firsthand how God has been humbly washing the feet of all humanity since the very beginning. So washing feet comes as naturally to Jesus as it does to the Father God.

“After washing their feet, He put His robe on and returned to His place at the table. ‘Do you understand what I just did?’ Jesus said. ‘You’ve called me your Teacher and Lord, and you’re right, for that’s who I am. So if I’m your Teacher and Lord and have just washed your dirty feet, then you should follow the example that I’ve set for you and wash one another’s dirty feet. Now do for each other what I have just done for you. I speak to you a timeless truth: a servant is not superior to his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  So now put into practice what I have done for you, and you will experience a life of happiness enriched with untold blessings.’” (John 13:12-17).

A Profound Object Lesson: The Master Teacher is here beginning His Farewell Discourse to his disciples, and He decides to do a demonstration, an object lesson complete with visual aids. Jesus decides to act out a parable instead of offering a sermon. He wanted His disciples to see the truth, to experience the truth, and not merely hear it. Jesus wanted to make sure His vital lesson was learned and worked into their lives. Jesus wanted to have this lesson fixed into their muscle memory, both physically and spiritually.

The Unexpected Demonstration. Imagine yourself in the Upper Room on Thursday night at the Last Supper. The Passion is starting in earnest. Jesus is just beginning to wash the dirty feet of each one of His disciples, including the one who would soon betray Him. For their honorable Master to volunteer to do this humiliating work, instead of the lowliest house servant, was certainly beneath Him and embarrassing to them. No one else offered to do this simple, menial act of hospitality, so Jesus stepped right in. In fact, any of the Twelve could have stepped right in at any time to assist Jesus, but it apparently never entered their minds to do such a thing.

Doing the Truth. Here we are again, Jesus thinks, right in the middle of a very important teachable moment. Should I just tell them that the greatest among them must be a servant (Matthew 23:11; Mark 10:43)? No, He tells Himself, I’ll show them the truth in action. I’ll do the truth. So Jesus took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, filled a bowl with water, and proceeded to wash everyone’s feet. This was undoubtedly very startling and confusing to the disciples. They have just experienced three years of astounding miracles and spellbinding teachings. The Lord acting as a slave? But Jesus wanted to teach the disciples this important lesson about humility. He wanted to demonstrate what He wanted His disciples to do after He has left this world. He desired to be an example of the spirit in which they are to engage in their ministry in His name. He yearned for His disciples to be humbly willing to serve each other and the world at large. Jesus is saying, If I can be this humble, so can you. If I can put my meekness into practice like this, so can you. You need to understand that there is nothing beneath you as you minister for the Kingdom. There is nothing too menial or basic or dirty. A Paul instructed the Roman believers later, “Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise  in your own estimate.” (Romans 12:16)

Holy Ground. Can there be anything more humiliating than washing someone else’s filthy and ugly feet? This foot-washing was an unforgettable, defining moment for the disciples, and it’s a wonder why it wasn’t reported by the other gospel evangelists. As common as this appeared to be, this was a sacred moment, and the Upper Room was holy ground. Instead of a consuming fire or a burning angel, we have a bowl of water and a clean towel. It only seems right for everyone to take off their sandals, since that is what one does when on holy ground. And in their ministry soon thereafter, they were comfortable touching the untouchable, just like Jesus. Isn’t it odd that none of the disciples offered to wash the feet of Jesus after this teaching lesson was done? When serving others, the servant is often the forgotten party.

Baptism. In the Orthodox Church, this foot-washing is a symbol of baptism, for Jesus says here, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me, and you can’t be a part of what I’m doing.” (v. 8). The cleansing water of the bowl symbolizes the purifying power of Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection. After Jesus told Peter that there would be no partnership with Him, no union with His life, unless Peter allowed Jesus to wash him, Peter finally started getting the right idea when he exclaimed to Jesus in v. 9, “not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Foot-washing has since become a sacramental ritual across every denomination in the Christian in the Church, a time when the physical mingles with the spiritual, when we are able to experience the power of Christ’s servanthood. Washing the feet of a person in need of cleansing is the perfect opportunity to follow Jesus in His ministry of touch. Our consistent offering to God of our repentance and confession may be viewed as periodic foot-washing, being cleansed by Christ, the dirt of our sins being washed away as we confess our way through a sinful world.

“I say to you, love your enemies, and do something wonderful for them in return for their hatred. When someone curses you, bless that person in return. When you are mistreated and harassed by others, accept it as our mission to pray for them. To those who despise you, continue to serve them and minister to them… Love your enemies and continue to treat them well. For your Father is famous for His kindness to heal even the thankless and cruel. Show mercy and compassion for others, just as your heavenly Father overflows with mercy and compassion for you.” (Luke 6:27-29, 35-36, TPT).

Love Your Enemies. The fact that Judas, who turned out to be the arch-enemy of Jesus, had his feet washed by Him, leads us to an obvious question. Jesus was once asked, “Who is my neighbor?” In this context, a good question would be, “Who is my enemy?” Scripture seems to say that an enemy is anyone who hates you. An enemy is anyone who curses you, mistreats you, is unfair to you, harasses you, who uses you for his gain. Taken this way, in a world of sin, we all have ample opportunities to practice and live into this quality of Christ. This particular command of Jesus is maybe the most difficult command to put into practice. How do we let our enemy bring out the best in us, and not the worst? Even if we don’t feel like it, in fact especially when we don’t feel like it, love of enemy is an act of will, and intentional decision to go against our human instinct and instead respond with kindness to those who hate us, to actually go out of our way to minister to this personal enemy. This is the ideal opportunity to live into the character of Christ… When I’m having a difficult time knowing where to start in loving an enemy, remember the foot-washing event. I need to ask myself, what would I do if I actually loved this enemy? I would try to serve that enemy in some way that reveals God’s love for him. That’s a good place to start, after asking for the Holy Spirit to equip us with what is needed to follow Jesus into this special kind of love.

Jesus and Judas. The tragic life of Judas Iscariot is well documented in the Gospels. He was hand-picked by Jesus to be in the original group of twelve disciples. He was soon the treasurer of that group’s common purse as they traveled from place to place. Judas was greedy and dishonest, though, and he occasionally stole from the purse when he wanted money. Judas followed Jesus for three years, listening to all His parables, witnessing the countless miracles, observing Jesus in his interactions with everyone from the Pharisees to the lepers. Judas was with Jesus around the campfires at night, at meals, in synagogues, on the road. But Judas never really believed in Jesus. He was going through the motions of following Him without actually taking Him into his life.

God’s Chess Game. There must have been many spiritual complications in Judas’ psyche, for he became ripe for manipulation in the hands of Satan. The enemy used Judas, plain and simple. Satan gleefully moved Judas from one square to another on his checkerboard. But while the evil one was playing checkers, God was playing chess. And Judas chose to become a pawn. Judas used his free will to become a treasonous fulfillment of God’s ancient sovereign plan:

• “Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.” (Psalm 41:9; also refer to Jesus’ words in John 13:18).
• “It is not an enemy who taunts me – I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me – I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you – my equal, my companion and close friend. What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God.” (Psalm 55:12-14).
• “I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them! They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love… Let his years be few, let someone else take his position.” (Psalm 109:4, 5, 8; also refer to Acts 1:20).

Christ Loved His Enemy To the End. How did Jesus respond to someone who could literally be called the chief of sinners? What was Jesus’ reaction as He saw Judas start spinning a small web of dishonesty until it became a giant web of betrayal? Through the whole process, Jesus displayed forbearance, friendship, and forgiveness.

Forbearance. Jesus knew at the start that Judas was stealing from the common purse. And He knew Judas wasn’t about to change. There are no secrets from Jesus, because no one can look into the human heart quite like Him. (John 2:25). “Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and He knew who would betray Him.” (John 6:64). Jesus knew of Judas’ early thievery, but He didn’t do anything about it. As Jesus said in Luke 4:19, quoting Isaiah 61, this is still the time of God’s grace and favor, “the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus’ kindness here towards Judas was intended to give Judas a chance at turning his life around. “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). Alas, Judas continued to harden his heart, and repentance was not forthcoming.

Friendship. Jesus knew what was going on in Judas’ heart, and yet He continued to offer Judas acceptance and friendship. Jesus never wavered in His commitment to Judas. On the one hand, early in His ministry He called Judas “the devil.” (John 6:70). But on the other hand, Jesus remained faithful to Judas throughout their years together in ministry. Just before His betrayal, Jesus actually washed the feet of Judas, knowing that his feet were the least of it! (John 13). How could Judas have allowed that to happen in good conscience? By that time, Judas had no conscience. Shortly later at the Last Supper, Jesus dipped a piece of bread into a bowl and offered it to Judas. This was an extraordinary gesture in this situation, because in their culture to perform that simple act in particular was a display of intimate friendship. It was at this point that Satan entered Judas’ heart for good. (John 13:26). And finally, when Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus addressed Judas with, “Friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” (Matthew 26:50). There are two Greek words for friend. One word, philos, means true friend and intimate companion. The other Greek word is hetairos, which means false friend, someone who attaches himself to a one-sided friendship for selfish reasons. Aware of all the dynamics in this complex situation, Jesus called Judas hetairos. Jesus acknowledged that with Judas He indeed had a one-sided friendship.

Forgiveness. As Jesus gasped for breath on the cross, He uttered this unforgettable intercessory prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). Jesus could very well have been fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12, which declared that the Suffering Servant was “interceding for the rebellious.” Jesus seems to be asking the Father not to charge certain people with the depravity involved in killing the very Son of God in all His innocence and purity. Overlook the wrongs of these perpetrators, Jesus is pleading, since they do not understand the profound role they play in this cosmic drama. They can’t grasp how they are part of God’s grand scheme of prophecy fulfillment and eternal salvation. Some biblical scholars claim that the Greek text implies a repetitive action, that His prayer on the cross was not a one-time prayer. Evidently, Jesus kept asking the Father to forgive all those who had done Him wrong during His Passion. Can one imagine the amazing love displayed by the Lord as He in His depleted and tortured state, hanging on the cross, mentally goes through an inventory of who needs to be forgiven? Certainly at the top of the list was none other than Judas, His betrayer. There is a deep mystery here… Did the Father comply with Jesus’ request to forgive Judas? Or was Jesus accurate when He earlier said that “none of my disciples are lost except the son of perdition, the one headed for destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12).