John Chapter Thirteen: Humility, Holiness, and Betrayal
By: Deji Yesufu
Chapter thirteen of John’s gospel is the second half of the book. In the first half, our Lord Jesus Christ told the Jews that he was God who had come in the flesh to save man from sin. Christ had backed this message up with signs and wonders – John records seven of such miracles in the first half of the book. In the second half, Christ prepares to face what he was sent into the world to do: to die on the cross for humanity’s redemption. In chapters thirteen to seventeen, our Lord shares intimate messages with an inner circle of disciples. These messages border mostly on practical things – although etched upon essential gospel themes. The reader of the Book of John might observe that this section of the book bears close resemblance to the second half of Paul’s letters. In the first verses of this chapter, Christ extols the virtues of humility. It appears that he is saying that humility is the foundation of every practical thing in the Christian life. Jesus Christ is God, yet he humbled himself to fulfil God’s purposes. It cannot be any different for the Christians today. Between verses six and seventeen, Christ reveals the secret of genuine sanctification and true holiness. The chapter ends with a view of how Christians must handle betrayal.
In Matthew 18, the disciples asked Christ who is the greatest. Our Lord explained to them that whoever humbles himself and becomes like a little child, is the greatest in the kingdom. On another occasion, Christ pointed out to his disciples that leadership was going to be different among them. A true leader serves people; he is not meant to be served. In John 13, Christ puts these words into practice. The chapter begins with a comment on how much Jesus loves his disciples: scripture says that Christ loved his disciples “to the end”. The expression “to the end” is a pointer to the fact that Christ’s love for the disciples was something that cannot be measured. The only earthly thing that can be compared to it is the love of a mother to a child. Even that is very inadequate because God says in Isaiah that a woman can forget a child. It is from the depth of Christ’s love for the disciples that our Lord rises to wash their feet. We see then that humble service is not motivated either by fear, money, or any other thing that people use to compel others to serve them; genuine service in humility must be engendered by love. When a parent loves their children, they serve them in humility. When leaders love their people, they serve them in humility. When pastors love the flock, it is not difficult to serve them. Love is the catalyst for humble service.
From verses six to nine, Apostle Peter protests Christ washing his feet. Any careful reader of the New Testament will notice that what you see Peter do or say, is about the same thing in the heart and minds of the other apostles. However, God gave Peter a personality that was quite expressive. So you see Jesus often answering all the disciples, and by extension we also, through his responses to Peter. Christ makes it clear to Peter that his disciples were clean already – however, the feet washing was a kind of ritual that signifies Christ’s commitment to serve them and his ability to wash us from sin. When Jesus told Peter that all the disciples were clean (except Judas), our Lord was pointing at the mighty doctrine of the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus that is given to all who believe. The fact that those men had sincere faith in Christ, showed that they were believers already – and so they were saved. However, our positional state (righteousness) does not hinder our progressive state (sanctification). The man who has the righteousness of Christ will still undergo the washing of the Spirit via sanctification. In addition to this, Christ shows the disciples that just as love compels humble service, humble service to others is another means of sanctification. Wherever the believer finds himself, and he has the opportunity to serve in humility, the Lord Jesus commits washing such a person from his sin. We, therefore, that chapter thirteen has a bent towards practical Christian living, and how Christians must achieve this high calling of godliness.
From verse eighteen, John begins to enumerate Jesus’ troubled heart (verse 21). As our Lord is serving the disciples, his mind is both at the cross and the means to the cross. The means to the cross was going to be the betrayal of Judas – and the thought of this did trouble the Saviour. There is no greater pain in the heart than for one to serve other people, and for those people to turn against you in betrayal. Christ uses the rest of the chapter to explain to us how we must handle the subject of betrayal. First, he shows the disciples that when they discover who will betray him, they should understand that this is a confirmation of the fact that “I am he”. He used the prophecy on his betrayal to point at his deity – “I AM”. Second, he shows his disciples that betrayal should not be an occasion to cease to serve God; rather, when these things happen, believers should make a greater commitment to loving and serving each other more and more. The world will betray us, but when we return the “favour” by loving them and loving God’s people more and more, then the world will know the supernatural dimension of the Christian life and will understand that we are the disciples of Christ indeed (verse 35). Just as Jesus was concluding his admonition on betrayal, Peter makes the statement of bravado: “…I will lay down my life for you…” Jesus looks at him and tells him that following Judas’ betrayal, he would be next. He made this point to show to him that left to our evil machination, we all will commit the worst of sins. This is why we must be patient with the erring brother; any of us could find ourselves in those shoes, so we cannot boast.
The words of Jesus in the Bible are no less than two thousand years old, yet they are extremely relevant to modern times. Western civilization was overturned by the abolishment of the monarchy in many countries around the world because people discovered that the moment you are a man with power and money, he would inevitably misbehave. The modern system of government was therefore instituted via democratic means so that men could govern one another. Every government around the world that is genuinely people-oriented is a government that is led by men and women serving others in humility. In the days when Jesus uttered the words of John 13, most countries were led by autocratic leaders. It is safe to say that the wisdom of God is not just eternal, it is also beneficial.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY.
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