John 13:2-5

And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, V. 3. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God, V. 4. He reset from supper, and laid aside His garments, and took a towel and girded Himself. V. 5. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. V. 5. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. V. 5. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.

When supper had been served, when the meal proper was about to begin, Jesus did a peculiar thing. By this time the devil had not only suggested the betrayal to the heart of Judas, but had fully taken possession of his heart.

Jesus, at the same time, was fully conscious, even as a mere human being, that the Father had given all things into His hands, cp. chap. 3, 35. Even in the state of humiliation God had given to Jesus the full measure of divine omnipotence. With His exaltation He then, as true man, entered upon the full and free use of His divine omnipotence and providence. But here the thought is most prominent that God had entrusted to Jesus the carrying out of the great counsel of love. In a way, the responsibility for the redemption of the whole world now rested upon Him alone. He had gone out from the Father with a full knowledge of the requirements governing the proposed atonement for the sins of the world, and He knew that He must bring His work to a successful close and, even as true man, go back into the bosom of the Father. It was not that Christ was looking forward into a hidden future; He was fully conscious and aware of all that would happen to Him, It is that fact which emphasizes the willingness of the Lord to enter upon the great Passion.

The evangelist, having thus brought out the dramatic intensity of the hour and its importance in the history of salvation, makes the action of Jesus under the circumstances stand out all the more prominently. He arose from the sofa upon which He was reclining for the meal, He took off His outer garments, since they would hinder Him in the work He intended to perform, He took a long linen cloth, or towel, and girded Himself with it, tying it around His waist after the manner of the servants performing the work. For His object was to perform the foot-washing.

There being no slave present, the office would naturally fall to the lot of the humblest in the little circle. But these men, far from feeling humility at this time, started a quarrel as to who should be accounted the greatest, Luke 22, 23-27.

The lesson was to be impressive and have a lasting effect, and it had, by the account of John, who noted every detail most carefully. Jesus put water into the basin which was commonly used for that purpose, and then very deliberately began to wash the feet of His disciples and to dry them with the towel with which He was girded.