John 20 Chapter 13

[HKHaugan]

Chapter 13 begins a series of teachings that will extend through Chapter 17. Chapters 13-14 take place in the upper room. Chapters 15-17 cover Jesus and the disciples walking to and through the Kidron Valley to an olive grove where Judas will betray Him, Jesus teaching along the way. These are Jesus' last teachings before His crucifixion. They are capped by His prayer in which there is a clear assurance for the disciples of the Father's love and care not only for them but for all future believers.

We'll look at these in some detail but they begin with a special occasion. Having withdrawn from public exposure Jesus brings His disciples into an upper room to have a private celebration of the Passover, His third since His baptism and the undertaking of His mission. Here He will be present Himself as the once and for all Passover for all people for all time. He is preparing them for His Cross and the one they will take up in their lives on a daily basis.
Faith in Jesus in every next moment and event is the cross He has called us to take up.
For us the first faith step is to be Jesus conscious in every next moment and event.
The second faith step is to praise Him and then thank Him as we look forward to the opportunities to share Him in those moments and events.
The third faith step is to follow up the experiences we are given.

Now back to Chapter 13 specifically. It presents four events that set the stage for Jesus' teaching: the Passover meal itself, Jesus washing the disciples' feet, the betrayal by Judas and the prediction of Peter's denial. These were to show “the full extent of His love.”

The Passover Meal
He has assembled His disciples for a personal celebration of the Passover wherein He will be the actual Passover in person, in grace, truth, faith and love. He will be the new Passover celebration, passing over being led by sin to being Spirit led, passing over death to life, passing over wrong to right, passing over self first to others first, passing over deceit to honesty, passing over lust to trust, passing over fear to faith, passing over compromise to truth, passing over world conformity to Spirit conformity, passing over success in the world to success in the Spirit and all the 'Passovers' that the Lord brings in each next moment. It will be a passing over of the sinful mind to Jesus' mind, the sinful heart to the heart of Jesus and the spirit of fear to Spirit led faith. A redeeming process bathed in Scripture.

The way we celebrate the new Passover comes from His direction (Mt.26:26-28, Mk.14:22-24, Lk.22:14-20, 1Cor.11:23-26, Jn.6:53-58). We have given it different names---the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, Holy Eucharist, Mass and the Divine Liturgy. It's the reminder of His continuing presence in our hearts as our personal Passover Savior and Lord. The promise is that on our final day on this earth we pass over from death to eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. The bread eaten (His broken Body in our body), drinking the wine (His shed blood flowing in us), repeated with His words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” brings His presence into our hearts. It is a spiritual meal taken in faith, received in faith and lived out in faith. It gives us the pattern for our daily life as a believer. We take our bodies (mind, heart and spirit), give thanks for them, let them be broken away from sin and given to His Spirit to let them be directed by the Spirit in witness and service to the Lord. In essence we are celebrating the Passover every day just as in Jesus every day is a Sabbath day cherishing the Lord in all we say and do.

Footwashing
If ever an act of personal sacrifice was significant, Jesus washing the feet of His disciples caps the list. This is God the Son demonstrating how personal His Father is to Him and wants to be with us. When you look at the broad universe in which we live it is beyond us to grasp that the God of all this, the Creator of it all, would want to be so personal and internally present. It defies imagination and our conscious awareness of ourselves in the midst of the overwhelming massiveness of the environment that surrounds us. The Lord God, Creator of the universe, has designed us for a relationship with Him. This is the good news Jesus will go to the Cross to show and fulfill.

The Footwashing sequence will be the seal of the Father's intention.
First, the devil prompts Judas to betray Jesus.
Second, Jesus removes His outer clothing with three assurances, the Father has given Him power over everything, He has come from God and He is returning to God. He removes the clothing the world uses for identity and wraps the towel of spiritual identity around Himself.

He proceeds to wash the disciples' feet drying them with His towel (His spiritual identity). Peter objects probably on the basis of the worldly principle of a master's superiority. He can't understand this at that moment but will later. Again the word realize comes into play. Peter can't internally grasp what Jesus is doing because Pentecost is the 'later' to which Jesus is referring when the Holy Spirit enters Peter's heart and the Holy Spirit is the serving Spirit from a Lord who was sent to minister and not be ministered to (Mt.20:28). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of humility that defines humility as being humble before the Father in mind, heart and spirit (Php.2:6-11) wherever and with whomever we are. This faith humility is what the Lord uses to work His way into the hearts of others through us.

Jesus' statements are important principles here:

“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“You call me Teacher and Lord and rightly so for that is what I am.”
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.”
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
“I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
“Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them.”

The 'doing' of them will be empowered at Pentecost. It is the presence of Jesus in the heart through the Holy Spirit that does the enabling. Notice that there are 6 principles fulfilled by the 7th which is Jesus Himself. He is the blessing and the One who produces the spiritual experiences through the Holy Spirit, the blessings following each 'doing.' Remember, 'blessing' is God's personal touch (Heb. Barakah).

Judas' Betrayal
There is far more to the Judas event than simply the traitorous activity in which he was involved. The 'more' is contained in the immediate quote Jesus uses from Psalm 41:9, “He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.” It is a foretelling of future believers who advertently or inadvertently by omission or commission, intentionally or unintentionally will sin and need to repent to experience His forgiveness. It really reveals a kind of 'Judas streak' in human nature where we will follow our tendency to self-decision instead of Spirit-decision.

The devil enters Judas when he takes the bread from Jesus. Judas leaves and it is night. That is the Scriptural description of spiritual darkness. Judas is alone, intensely aware of his next move, to turn Jesus over to the Jewish leadership. He is totally absorbed in the moment of darkness. It is sin shutting out conscience and conviction allowing only the momentary obsession with self and being in control. It is one's personal hellish separation from God in the cul de sac of no return.

The Prediction of Peter's Denial
Again, there is more to this event than Peter's shallow declaration and lack of understanding. One can say there is a 'Peter streak' in human nature. It is quite different from the totally absorbing intent Judas had to betray Jesus. His economic support dried up and he knew conspiracy pays. Peter seems to have lost his grip in the moment, in fact three moments, when he was confronted and the chips were down. We may have strong belief as disciples but when there is a momentary threat to how we come across to others the tendency to withdraw is tempting. Everything for Peter was external and he had no internal resource upon which he could rely. He had to go through this in order to see his heart changed by the Holy Spirit.

The power of sin evidences itself in each person in different ways. Sin is a malevolent force; subtle, deceptive, isolating and self-justifying. The events that led to Jesus' unjust crucifixion and death show the dynamics of sin at work. There is no human being free from its snares. The cross of Jesus will cancel its power and the hope of freedom from it is assured in the Resurrection through confession and forgiveness. We will see that in Chapter 20 when Jesus appears to the disciples after His Resurrection. Again, Pentecost will bring internal spiritual transformation and what was fear will be replaced by faith.

So the important statements in vs. 31-38 have to do with the glorification of Jesus which the disciples won't understand until later. Jesus is giving them hope for the future, a hope that what Jesus is all about will be understood. That understanding of glory in Jesus will be their glory as they experience His presence through the Holy Spirit and begin their mission and ministry. The Body of Christ will emerge and bring the love of the risen Christ for all to see. This is the personal life changing event that transforms hearts through faith.

Here also are His statements to which they can look forward:

“Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.” (What glory really is, the Cross.)

“Where I am going you cannot come.” (To His Cross which only He can carry for all people.)

“A new command I give you: love one another.” (This will require a daily cross of faith.)

“Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” (After Peter takes up his daily cross.) When Peter replies to this one and says he will lay down his life for Him, Jesus asks him, “Will you really lay down your life for me?” (Impossible without the Holy Spirit.)

Then Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Peter represents us all in being a fallen image of God in mind, heart and spirit (18:15-18, 25-27).

Like the five events in Chapter 12 these four events and five statements will seem disconnected but will show their connection through two major events still to come. All to show the full extent of His love.