The Full Extent of Jesus' Love
Scripture: John 13:1-20
A demonstration of Jesus’ love: Loving to the very end
I know of a nursing home female manager, a Christian, who is now in her seventies. Before her retirement, she personally took care of every one of the residents who have a severe physical impairment together with mental impairment. All the residents’ daily lives and food were to be taken care of. Every day the female manager woke up and started preparing breakfast as early as 5 am. With the help of two other sisters, she fed each of the residents, bathed them, got them dressed and the two sisters accompanied them to special schools. In short, every aspect of the residents’ lives was attended to with meticulous care. Upon reaching a certain age, this female manager had to retire and handed over her work to the caregivers to take care of the residents.
The love of this woman towards the residents touches me deeply. As the manager, she personally serves the residents, who are from relatively disadvantaged social backgrounds and have physical and mental impairment. Such an example is rare. We generally serve according to an extent with a method that is comfortable for us. When I think of the ministry of this lady, she reminds me of Jesus in John 13:1-17.
This passage records the third Passover feast in the Gospel of John. During the Passover, the Israelites would often kill a lamb as a sacrifice to God. In the third Passover feast in John’s Gospel, it gives an account of a series of events that happened to Jesus who served as the lamb of atonement for humanity at that fateful hour. In Chapter 13 verse 1, Jesus knew that the time had come for him. He did something unusual — he washed the feet of his disciples. Verse 1 explains the reason for his actions: “He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.” (New Living Translation)
Jesus demonstrated through action how he loved the disciples “to the very end.” At meal time, he got up, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet. If you have been in church for many years, you may have had the experience of “your feet being washed” or “you have washed other people’s feet.” For example, when you join a retreat camp, they may practice the way Jesus served; your instructor or your pastor will “wash your feet” or you will “wash the feet” of your group members or teenagers, etc. Usually we do this on special occasions. However, actually in those days servants did this for their master every day; when the master came back home, the slaves or maidservants had to wash the feet of their masters before entering into the house. Feet-washing was an ordinary action at that time and yet Jesus chose this action to demonstrate “the full extent of his love.”
This attitude has two aspects
Through his actions, Jesus reveals “the full extent of his love” in two aspects:
1. The subversion of traditional practices
The first is a subversion of traditional practices. In a house where there are both a master and a Filipino maid, who do you think will do the feet washing? If both the superior and the subordinate are present, who will wash the feet of whom? It must be the servant or the subordinate who will do the feet washing. This is based on the idea of social class and it is more reasonable to expect the one lower in status or position to do the job. The one with a lower position usually does more manual labor. For example, in a medical ward changing diapers is work that both a nurse who has more education and a caregiver who has less education can do. But as we all know, this work is generally done by a caregiver.
2. Humble oneself
The second aspect is to humble oneself. For one in a high position to unexpectedly do something lowly, unless he is intentionally pretending to show how good he is, he must be one who can condescend himself. In verse 4, it describes Jesus who then “took off” his outer clothing. The verb “took off” is the same verb used when Jesus “lay down” his life in John 10:11；similarly, the verb used to “put on” (13:12) his clothes is the same verb used to “put up” the sheep’s life (10:18).
In Chapter 10, it says that Jesus lays down his own life for the sake of the sheep (or men) but that he has the authority to take it up. That means he actually has the power to let go or the power to resist but he chooses to forsake his own power. Only those who have power can have the opportunity to be humble; only those who have can give away what they possess. Jesus has the status of a teacher, the identity of a master, and he has authority, originally he could keep everything to himself and give nothing away. Yet, he is willing to humble himself and do the lowly work of feet washing. This kind of love shows great humility.
Although the action of feet washing may not seem special, it subverts traditional practices and is an example of how to humble oneself.
The meaning of feet washing
Why did Jesus do this? John 13: 6-9 records the conversation between Peter and Jesus in detail. When it is Peter’s turn to be washed, Peter was astonished and refused to be washed by Jesus. Then Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” (v.8) The cleansing here has nothing to do with the issue of food cleansing in the Jewish tradition. Jesus cleaning his disciples’ feet with water also means that Jesus’ future death will make them clean. Originally they are unclean and sinful but through Jesus’ death, they receive the baptism of atonement so that they can be cleansed and become one with Jesus. Therefore, Jesus must wash the feet of each one of them. Although they do not understand the meaning of Jesus’ words and there is even someone who is unclean and has decided to betray Jesus, Jesus insists on washing his disciples’ feet, hoping that all his disciples will belong to him.
Keep loving even without reciprocation
From the passage we can see that Jesus offers the full extent of his love even when there is no reciprocation, and he still continues to love his disciples.
1. Even though the ones being loved do not understand (vv.6-11)
In this narrative, the response of two people made us feel reluctant to wash their feet. The first one is Peter. From what he said, Peter essentially did not understand the reason why Jesus wanted to wash their feet. That is why he said, “You shall never wash my feet.” But later, Peter wanted to belong to Jesus and so he changed his mind, “Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” At the time when Jesus displayed “the full extent of his love,” his disciples essentially did not understand his thoughts nor his pains. That is why if we want to learn “the full extent of Jesus’ love,” sometimes we need to experience the displeasure of not being understood. Even then, this will not stop us from continuing to demonstrate our love, just as Jesus did. For he knows very clearly why he has to be crucified on the cross for our sake.
2. Even though the one you love will betray me (vv.2, 11, 18)
What is worse is the next person: Judas. The passage says this from the very beginning: “The devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus.” Jesus had already known someone among his disciples was unclean. What kind of man was Judas? In Chapter 12, John described Judas as a thief because he often stole money from the money bag that he was supposed to keep track of. According to John, from the beginning up to the end, Judas was not a good person. Ever since he began to follow Jesus, not only had he not yet truly repented, soon he would betray Jesus because of his love for money. Jesus had already known what kind of person Judas was but he treated him just as the other eleven disciples by also washing his feet. This kind of love is: Even when you know you are about to be betrayed and hurt, you still choose to love that person who will hurt you.
Therefore, not only should we strive to imitate “the full extent of Jesus’ love,” we also need to have the psychological preparation: Even if our good intentions will not be understood, even if there is no reciprocation, and we ourselves will get hurt, we still choose to have “the full extent of Jesus’ love.”
Follow Jesus and imitate his example
To be Jesus’ disciple is to serve each other and express love towards each other. After washing their feet, Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (cf. vv.12-15) Jesus indicated that what he had demonstrated and personally done, they also had to do. From what follows in vv. 34-35, Jesus told them that the way he loved them was also the way they should love people around them. From the way they live out love, people can see that they are the followers of Jesus.
This kind of love is not blind, not according to one’s own will, interest or feeling, nor is it necessarily done in a manner that one regards as being good for the other person. To do something like this to another person and demand that person to accept it is a kind of love with expectations. In my seminary days, something had happened that made me feel frustrated, and even the new identity and values that I had built with great effort through Christ were severely damaged. At that time, I did not want to love people, nor to love some brothers and sisters specifically. I do not want to give generously, because there was no reciprocation and I felt hurt. One evening during the devotion, God allowed me to read this story. Jesus told me that since he loves those who belong to him, he would love them to the very end. Having loved those who belong to him, he showed them the full extent of his love. At last, he died in the image of a slave crucified on the cross! This means that to follow Jesus, to be his servant, is to continue to love relying on his power. I began to ask God to teach me how to love, how to imitate Jesus, how to humble myself, how to offer myself and wait — asking only for the benefit of others and no longer acting according to my own wishes.
Seemingly undistinguished “service of love”
Jesus is willing to love his disciples because he knows why he should make such an effort. The narratives in Chapters 13 to 17 tell us what Jesus did in preparation for the crucifixion. Jesus knew the time had come, that he was going to be crucified and that it was the time for him to go back to his Father. When there was not much time left, the Son of God who was good at planning, had to do something very important, or something significant and without much choice. At such a crucial moment, Jesus, however, personally did something seemingly insignificant, and that was feet washing. If you have one day to live, what would you do? Or to put it in another way, if you know you are about to leave a community, what would you do? Fellow graduating students, you will soon leave the seminary. Fellow students in field practicum, the time to have field practice at church from beginning to end is actually just 52 weeks. Each visit to a church member is perhaps your last visit. To be honest, who can guarantee that the family members you see today will still be here tomorrow?
As Jesus would soon depart from his beloved disciples, he chose to show “the full extent of his love,” and instructed them to do likewise believing those who did so to be blessed. It would be ideal when we make an effort to do something good for a person, that person appreciates our effort. But we do not wait for that moment to come when they understand before we make the effort. If so, Jesus would not have done what he did. Many of the miracles would not have been done, the disciples’ feet would not have been washed and even Jesus himself would not have been crucified! This is because ever since Jesus became flesh up until the moment he died and was resurrected, and even to Christians of this generation, there are still a lot of people who do not understand that much about Jesus! We are not Jesus, it is not necessary or possible for us to be crucified for those around us; but as servants of the Lord, we have to learn the incredible love of Jesus, the higher-ranking must serve the lower-ranking with humility and even do for the lowly the seemingly undistinguished “services of love.”
Recently I saw the movie “Hacksaw Ridge,” which was adapted from a true story that tells of a person named Desmond Doss, who joined the army because of his faith during the Second World War. Yet, he refused to take up a rifle and kill anyone. Doss suffered from horrendous acts of bullying, was held in contempt, and almost imprisoned before going into the battlefront. Because of his perseverance, he managed to join the American Army as a military doctor and went to the war front. In an important battle, he alone saved the lives of 75 soldiers in one night. Every time he saved one soldier, he would ask God: Allow me to save one more! Consequently, God let him save one after another wounded soldier. At first, no one understood Doss but he did not give way. By the grace of God and his thirst for submission to his God-given mission, he tried his best to save lives as an action of love to his God and his fellow soldiers up until his last moment. I believe the reason for Doss’ perseverance was that he knew what he was doing and why he did such things. To him, how other people responded seemed less important.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us learn from Jesus’ example. We know not how much time we still have nor how many opportunities are available, but let us take hold of every opportunity, put aside common sense, put aside any calculation, put aside our pride and disdain, put aside our own ego, just put into practice “the full extent of Jesus’ love.” This is the kind of life lived out by our Lord Jesus Christ and also the instruction He gave us.
* All Bible quotations are taken from the New International Version unless specified otherwise.