Scripture Reading: John 13
We come to chapter 13 of the Gospel of John. It may seem to us that what is recorded in this chapter is not of great importance. Actually, this chapter is crucial, for it is a link that connects chapters 1 through 12 with chapters 14 through 21.
Chapters 1 and 2 of John’s Gospel give us a brief sketch of the entire book. Chapter 1 may be considered a prologue to the Gospel of John. Then in chapter 2 we see that the principle of life is to change death into life (vv. 1-11) and that the goal of life is to raise up the house of God that had been destroyed and enlarge it into the mysterious and mystical Body of Christ (vv. 12-22). Hence, in these two chapters we have the prologue to the entire Gospel, and we see the principle and goal of life.
In chapters 3 through 11 we have nine cases. These cases indicate that all our needs have been met by the One who came that we may have life (10:10). The first case, that of Nicodemus, is a case of regeneration, and the last case, that of Lazarus, is a case of resurrection. Regeneration is actually the first step of resurrection. These nine cases depict one complete person who is in the new creation, a person who has gone from regeneration to resurrection.
In chapter 12 we see that these nine cases result in a house at Bethany, which represents the church life in miniature. This indicates that out of the nine cases the church life is produced. However, the church life in John 12 is too small. In quality it is adequate, but in quantity it is too limited. With the miniature of the church life in Bethany we see service with Martha, love with Mary, and the testimony with Lazarus. Through the testimony of the resurrected Lazarus, many people were drawn to the Lord Jesus.
In chapter 12 of John a large crowd was drawn to the Lord (v. 18). However, He told His disciples that He was not willing to accept exaltation from the crowd. The Lord Jesus knew that exaltation cannot multiply the church life. The church life can be multiplied only through death and resurrection. Therefore, the Lord refused to take the opportunity to be exalted. Rather, as a grain of wheat, He said that He would fall into the ground and die in order to produce many grains for the enlargement of the church life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v. 24).
The Lord’s death was also for His glorification and for the glorification of the Father. This was the reason the Lord said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (v. 23). It was also the reason He prayed, “Father, glorify Your name” (v. 28).
Furthermore, the Lord’s death was the judgment of the world and its ruler, Satan: “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (v. 31).
Regarding His death, the Lord went on to say, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (v. 32). This reveals that through His death many would be drawn to the Lord in order to be regenerated and resurrected into the church life. It is in this way that the church is enlarged.
By the time we come to chapter 12, all the offerings have been fulfilled: the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. Although the ones in the house in Bethany were feasting with the Lord Jesus and were enjoying the peace offering, they were still in the outer court, around the altar. They had not yet come into the Holy Place. Therefore, it was necessary for the Lord to accomplish something further to bring them into the Holy Place.
In the nine cases recorded in chapters 3 through 11, plus the record concerning Bethany in chapter 12, we see the fulfillment of the offerings. All the offerings have been fulfilled by Christ as the reality. He is the real sin offering, trespass offering, burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering. However, it was still necessary for Christ to prepare the place and cut the way for His believers to enter into the tabernacle. Concerning this, chapter 13 is of vital importance, for it is a dividing line and a turning point.
According to the type in the Old Testament, between the altar of burnt offering and the tabernacle was the laver. The laver was a place where the priests washed their hands and feet. It was necessary for those who had come to the altar and who were ready to enter the tabernacle to come to the laver to be washed.
We have seen that in chapters 3 through 12 the people have to come to the altar, where they enjoy Christ as the offerings. Now they are ready to enter into the tabernacle. But for this there is the need of washing. Therefore, the washing in chapter 13 is the turning point, for it brings us from the outer court into the tabernacle.
In their reading of John 13 many Christians pay attention to the matter of foot-washing. No doubt, this chapter is a record of foot-washing. But what does this foot-washing signify? When I first came to the United States, I was asked by a certain believer if we practiced foot-washing. The one who asked me this question was a member of a foot-washing group, a group that emphasized foot-washing to such an extent that they believed it was not possible to be a proper church apart from this practice. I was somewhat bothered by his question. I realized that although we certainly are not a foot-washing group, there have been occasions when we literally washed one another’s feet. However, that was not done as a legal practice but was done according to the inner leading of the Spirit. I mention this incident as an illustration of the fact that many Christians read the Bible only according to letters in black and white. Reading the Gospel of John in this way, they may completely miss the significance of foot-washing in chapter 13.
The Gospel of John is a book of divine life. As such a book, this Gospel begins like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Surely this opening word indicates that the Gospel of John is a book that is concerned with profound matters. Chapter 1 goes on to tell us that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality, and that the disciples beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father. All this is profound. What is the beginning in verse 1, and what is the Word? What does it mean to say that the Word became flesh and that it tabernacled among men? What is the significance of the incarnated Word being full of grace and reality? What is the glory beheld by the disciples? We may also go on to ask the significance of regeneration in chapter 3 and of resurrection in chapter 11. We need to be impressed with the fact that all these matters are deep and profound.
Because the Gospel of John deals with such profound things, we should not be satisfied with a superficial understanding of it. John’s writings are deep, and we need to delve into them. If we look into the depths of the writings of John, we will see many precious things. These precious things, which include the extracts, are found only in the depths, not on the surface. Therefore, we should not be content to read and understand the Gospel of John in a superficial way.
John 13:3 says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God.” This verse says that the Father had given all into the hands of the Lord Jesus. What does all mean? In this verse all means all things and all people. Hence, the Father has given into the hands of the Lord Jesus all things and all people. If we would understand the significance of the foot-washing in this chapter, we need to know this all-inclusive Lord, the One to whom the Father had given all things and all people. Because the Lord Jesus knew that the Father had given all into His hands, He washed the disciples’ feet. The One who washed their feet was the One who had received such a great commission.
Verse 3 also tells us that the Lord Jesus knew that He had come forth from God and was going to God. The Lord came from a wonderful source — the almighty, infinite God. The Lord’s source was not Nazareth, Bethlehem, or even heaven. As the One who came from the source of the almighty, infinite God, the Lord washed the feet of His disciples.
Furthermore, verse 3 tells us that the Lord Jesus knew that He was going to God. It is significant that in chapters 13 through 16 of this Gospel the word heaven is not mentioned. We are told not that the Lord Jesus came from heaven and that He was going to heaven but that He came forth from God and was going to God. However, due to the influence of traditional religious interpretation, we are accustomed to saying that the Lord came from heaven and was going back to heaven. According to verse 3, the Lord came from God as His source, and now He was returning to this source.
In 13:3 we see three factors related to the Lord’s washing His disciples’ feet: first, that all things and all people had been committed to Him by the Father; second, that He had come forth from God; and third, that He was going to God. These three factors indicate that the Lord Jesus is a great person. Surely, as such a great person, He had come to accomplish something great. He did not come into the world simply to pay us a visit. No, the Lord came because He was commissioned to accomplish a great thing.
When verse 3 says that the Lord Jesus knew that He was going to God, this indicates that He had fulfilled the purpose for which He had come from God. The Lord Jesus had come forth from God, lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years, and now He was going back to God. Certainly, He had come to do something on earth. The fact that He was going to God indicates that this purpose and commission had been accomplished.
The Lord Jesus had been commissioned by the almighty, infinite God. Hence, the One who commissioned the Lord was great, and the commission given to Him was also great. What was this commission? What did the Lord Jesus come to accomplish? Different answers can be given to these questions. Some may say that the Lord came to accomplish redemption; others, that He had been sent to bring God into man. The commission God the Father gave to His Son was divine and mysterious. The commission was to bring fallen, natural, sinful, satanic, and demonic man into the holy, glorious, infinite God. This is what the Lord came to accomplish.
The commission the Lord Jesus received from God the Father was to bring us into God. Do you realize what we are in ourselves? We are natural, fallen, sinful, satanic, and demonic. Furthermore, in ourselves we are in sin, blindness, and death. But the Lord Jesus was commissioned by the Father to come to earth in order to bring such people out of sin, darkness, and death into the almighty, infinite God. This was, and still is, the Lord’s commission.
In verse 3 the word knowing means realizing. The Lord Jesus realized that all things and all people had been committed to Him. He also realized that He had come forth from God for the accomplishment of the commission given to Him and that now He was going back to God. Knowing all this, He washed the feet of His disciples. This indicates that foot-washing is a matter of great significance.
In 13:1 we see that the foot-washing in chapter 13 is also related to the Lord’s love for His disciples: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come for Him to depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost.” Verse 1 says that the Lord loved the disciples to the uttermost. This love to the uttermost is related to foot-washing. To be sure, the Lord manifested His love for us by dying on the cross for us. Nevertheless, not even that love was called love to the uttermost in the Bible. The uttermost love was the love shown in washing the feet of His disciples. This is a further indication of the importance of foot-washing. In the next chapter we will consider the sign of foot-washing (vv. 1-11) and the sign of brotherly love in foot-washing (vv. 12-38).
