Verses 1-17. Our Lord Jesus has a people in the world that are His own; He has purchased them, and paid dear for them, and He has set them apart for Himself; they devote themselves to Him as a peculiar people. Those whom Christ loves, He loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ. We don't know when our hour will come, therefore we have to constantly prepare for it. What way of access the devil has to men's hearts we cannot tell. But some sins are so exceedingly sinful, and there is so little temptation to them from the world and the flesh, that it is plain they are directly from Satan. Jesus washed His disciples' feet, that He might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God's glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in what we have to do. Christ washed His disciples' feet, that He might signify to them the value of spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollution of sin. Our Lord Jesus does many things of which even His own disciples do not do.
All those, and those only, who are spiritually washed by Christ, have a part in Christ. All whom Christ owns and saves, He justifies and sanctifies. Peter more than submits; he begs to be washed by Christ. How earnest he is for the purifying grace of the Lord Jesus, and the full effect of it, even upon his hands and head! Those who truly desire to be sanctified, desire to be sanctified throughout, to have the whole man, with all its parts and powers, made pure. The true believer is washed when he receives Christ for his salvation. This is what ought to be the daily care of those who through grace are in a justified state, and that is, to wash their feet; to cleanse themselves from daily guilt, and to watch against everything defiling. This should make us the more cautious. From yesterday's pardon, we should be strengthened against this day's temptation. And when hypocrites are discovered, it should be no surprise or cause of stumbling to us. Observe the lesson Christ here taught. Duties are mutual; we must both accept help from our brethren, and lend help to our brethren. When we see our Master serving, we must see how we need to serve, too. And the same love which led Christ to ransom and reconcile His disciples when enemies, still influences Him today.
Jesus was the model servant, and He showed this attitude to His disciples. Washing guests' feet was a job for a household servant when guests arrived. But Jesus wrapped a towel around Him, as the lowliest slave would do, and washed His disciples' feet. If even He, God in the flesh, is willing to serve, we His followers must also be servants, willing to serve in any way in order to glorify God. Are you willing to follow Christ's example of serving? Whom can you serve today?
Verse 3. There is a deep truth in the simple phrase, "And how He loved His disciples!" Jesus knew He would be betrayed by one of them and denied by another, and that all of them would desert him for a time. Still He loved them. God knows us completely, as Jesus knew His disciples. He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will commit. Still, He loves us. How do you respond to that kind of love?
The love of God is His joyful self-determination to reflect the goodness of His will and glory by meeting our needs. ~~ Tony Evans
Verses 6 and 7. Imagine being Peter and watching Jesus wash the others' feet, moving closer to you. Seeing his Master behave like a slave must have confused him. But Jesus graphically explained that to be His disciple, Peter had to follow His example. To be a leader, he must be a servant. This is not a comfortable passage for many people with leadership responsibilities who find it hard to serve those under them.
It is impossible to expect someone to listen to your words, but ignore your example. Lead by example.
Verses 18-30. Our Lord had often spoken of His own sufferings and death, without such trouble of spirit as He now discovered when He spake of Judas. The sins of Christians are the grief of Christ. We are not to confine our attention to Judas. The prophecy of his treachery may apply to all who partake of God's mercies, and meet them with ingratitude. See the infidel, who only looks at the Scriptures with a desire to do away their authority and destroy their influence; the hypocrite, who professes to believe the Scriptures, but will not govern himself by them; and the apostate, who turns aside from Christ for a thing of naught. Thus mankind, supported by God's providence, after eating bread with Him, lift up the heel against Him! Judas went out as one weary of Jesus and His apostles. Those whose deeds are evil, love darkness rather than light.
Verses 31-35. Christ had been glorified in many miracles He performed, yet He speaks of His being glorified now in His sufferings, as if that were more than all His other glories in His humbled state. Satisfaction was thereby made for the wrong done to God by the sin of man. We cannot now follow our Lord to His heavenly happiness, but if we truly believe in Him, we shall follow Him; meanwhile we must wait until His time, and do His work. Before Christ left the disciples, He would give them a new commandment. They were to love each other for Christ's sake, and according to His example, seeking what might benefit others, and promoting the cause of the gospel, as one body, animated by one soul. But this commandment still appears new to many professors. Men in general notice any of Christ's words rather than these. By this it appears, that if the followers of Christ do not show love one to another, they give cause to suspect their sincerity.
Verses 36-38. What Christ had said concerning brotherly love, Peter overlooked, but spoke of that about which Christ kept them ignorant. It is common to be more eager to know about secret things, which belong to God only, than about things revealed, which belong to us and our children; to be more desirous to have our curiosity gratified, than our consciences directed; to know what is done in heaven, than what we may do to get there. Christ knows us better than we know ourselves, and has many ways of discovering those to themselves, whom He loves, and He will hide pride from them. May we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to love one another with a pure heart fervently, and to walk humbly with our God.