An example and a cleansing at once, done from full authority rather than in spite of it, and extended to the man who had already arranged the betrayal.
Ask why did Jesus wash the disciples feet and John 13 gives two answers, not one. He says it Himself in verse 15: I have set you an example.
But before that, in verse 8, He tells Peter that unless I wash you, you have no part with me. So it is a lesson in service and a picture of cleansing at the same time, and most teaching keeps only one.
There is also a detail in the scene that changes how the whole thing reads, and almost nobody mentions it.
Guests arrived with feet covered in road dust and animal waste. Washing them was the lowest task in the household, given to the lowest-ranked servant available.
They had reclined to eat with unwashed feet, which means every man in the room had decided it was beneath him. That is the setup John does not spell out.
Luke 22:24 places a dispute about which of them was the greatest at this same meal. That is what He stood up from the table in the middle of.
He got up, took off His outer clothing, wrapped a towel around His waist. John narrates the undressing step by step, which is how a slave would have been dressed for it.
Verse 3 gives His state of mind first: knowing that the Father had put all things under His power. He does this from a position of complete authority rather than in spite of it.
“No, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
John 13:8Peter is not being difficult. He thinks the arrangement is wrong and he is defending his teacher's dignity, which is the honourable instinct.
No part with me. Jesus escalates immediately, which tells you receiving is not optional here and that something more than hygiene is in view.
Not just my feet but my hands and my head as well. Peter's second position is as wrong as his first, and it is wrong in the opposite direction.
Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet. One decisive cleansing, and then the ordinary dirt of walking, handled as it comes.
That exchange is why the cleansing reading cannot be dropped. Peter is told he has no share in Jesus unless he lets this happen, which is not something you say about a lesson in humility.
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Manage My Giving"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."2 Corinthians 9:7
Here is the detail that reframes everything, and it is stated plainly in the text.
Verse 2 says the decision to betray Him had already been made. Verse 11 says He knew who was going to betray Him. Verse 5 says He began to wash His disciples' feet, and nothing in the passage carves out an exception.
Jesus knelt in front of the man He knew was going to hand Him over that night, and washed his feet, and then handed him bread. Judas leaves in verse 30, after all of it.
Elisabeth Johnson calls this “the greatest scandal of this story”, that He stoops to wash the feet of Judas knowing full well what Judas has already arranged.
That is the part to sit with, because it demolishes the comfortable version of this passage. Serving people is easy to preach when the people are worth serving. This is service extended to somebody who had already decided, whose mind was not going to be changed by it, and who used the access it gave him.
And it should make anybody cautious about the leadership sermon usually built on this. The point of the passage is not that leaders should occasionally do humble-looking things in front of a congregation. Jesus did this privately, for twelve men, one of whom was actively working against Him, hours before it cost Him everything. A staged version in a church service with a camera on it is closer to what He warned about in Matthew 6 than to what He did here.
Verse 17 is the only test offered: now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. If. Knowing the passage well is explicitly not the same as having obeyed it.
Did Jesus wash Judas's feet?
John states both facts before the washing begins, and no exception is made in the account. Judas does not leave until verse 30, after the washing and after being handed bread.
Verse 14 says you also should wash one another's feet, so the question is fair and the answer is not obvious.
He says you should do as I have done for you. Some traditions have practised it for centuries, and the physical awkwardness is arguably the point rather than a problem.
Foot washing was a necessary household task in a sandal culture. The equivalent today is whatever job in your building nobody wants, and that is not usually feet.
We do not treat it as a required ordinance and we have no objection to churches that practise it. What we would say is that a congregation which does it once a year and treats its cleaners badly has kept the ceremony and lost the instruction, which is the outcome the passage is most obviously guarding against.
1 Timothy 5:10 is worth noting here. Paul lists washing the feet of the Lord's people among the marks of a widow known for good deeds, alongside bringing up children and showing hospitality. In that list it sits as an ordinary act of service rather than a rite.
Verse 12 records something the sermons usually skip. When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place.
Returned to His place. He does not stay on the floor. The towel comes off, the outer garment goes back on, and He sits down again as the teacher and asks them whether they understood what He had done.
That matters, because it rules out a reading where service means permanent self-erasure. He knew exactly who He was before He knelt, verse 3 says so, and He is still that afterward. The authority was not spent and it was not abandoned. It was used for something.
Which is the answer to the question the disciples had been arguing about at the table. They wanted to know which of them was greatest. He did not answer with a name. He got up, did the lowest job in the house, and sat back down.
For related ground, see what Jesus said on the cross, agape love, pride in the Bible, haughty eyes, the apostle definition, forgiveness and sanctification.
An example and a cleansing at once, done from a position of full authority rather than in spite of it, extended to Judas with the betrayal already decided, and followed by putting the outer garment back on and sitting down again.
That is the exact situation in this passage. Send it in and somebody at Sound of Heaven will pray over it with you.
John gives two reasons. Verse 15 has Jesus say it directly: I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. But verse 8 tells Peter that unless I wash you, you have no part with me, which raises the stakes past a lesson in humility. It is an example and a picture of cleansing at once.
The lowest-ranked servant in the household. Guests arrived with feet covered in road dust and animal waste, and washing them was the least desirable task available. The disciples had already reclined to eat with unwashed feet, which means every man in the room had decided it was beneath him.
He was defending his teacher's dignity, which is the honourable instinct, and Jesus escalates immediately with no part with me. Peter then swings the other way and asks for his hands and head too, which is wrong in the opposite direction. The reply is that those who have had a bath need only wash their feet.
Yes. Verse 2 says the decision to betray Him had already been made, verse 11 says He knew who it was, and no exception is made in the account. Judas does not leave until verse 30. Elisabeth Johnson calls it the greatest scandal of the story, and it removes the comfortable reading where service is extended only to people who deserve it.
Some traditions have for centuries and we have no objection. We do not treat it as a required ordinance, because foot washing was a necessary household task in a sandal culture and the equivalent today is whichever job in a building nobody wants. A congregation that holds the ceremony once a year and treats its cleaners badly has kept the rite and lost the instruction.