The Towel and the Throne: The Grammar of Humility Text: John 13:1-20
Introduction: The War on Authority
Our modern world is hopelessly confused about authority and service. We see two great errors, two sides of the same proud coin. On the one side, we see the pagan lust for raw power, the desire to dominate, to climb the ladder of success by stepping on the heads of others. This is the way of Caesar, of Pharaoh, of every tinpot tyrant. On the other side, we see a resentful servility, a groveling that despises the very idea of authority and serves with a chip on its shoulder. Both are rooted in pride. The tyrant is proud of his position; the resentful servant is proud of his victimhood.
Into this confusion, Jesus Christ walks into the Upper Room, and with a basin of water and a common towel, He detonates the world's assumptions about power, greatness, and glory. This scene is not a gentle, sentimental lesson in being nice to one another. It is not a call for us to engage in some kind of false, theatrical humility. This is a radical, worldview-shattering redefinition of reality. It is a polemic against every human system of pride. What Jesus does here is demonstrate that in the kingdom of God, the way up is down. True authority is not threatened by service; it is expressed by it. The throne of the universe is occupied by a king with the calloused hands of a servant.
We must understand that this act of foot washing is not the abdication of His authority, but the exercise of it. It is the grammar of the gospel, written out for us not in ink, but in water and grime. If we do not understand this, we will understand nothing of the Christian life. We will either seek a crown without a cross, or a cross without a crown. But the gospel holds them together. The towel and the throne are inextricably linked.
The Text
Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He tied it around Himself. Then He poured water into the washbasin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not realize now, but you will understand afterwards.” Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet, ever!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’ From now on I am telling you before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives anyone I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
(John 13:1-20 LSB)
The Sovereign Resolve (vv. 1-4)
John sets the stage by anchoring this entire scene in the sovereign knowledge and purpose of Jesus Christ.
"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments..." (John 13:3-4a)
This is the linchpin of the entire passage. Jesus does not wash feet out of weakness, or ignorance, or because He has forgotten who He is. He washes feet precisely because He knows exactly who He is. He knows His hour has come. He knows all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He knows His origin and His destiny. His humility is not a contradiction of His majesty; it is the royal expression of it. This is crucial. Insecure people cannot stoop. They are too afraid that if they go down, they will not be able to get back up. But the Lord of the universe has no such insecurity. Because He knows He is the Lord of all, He is free to become the servant of all.
Notice the context. The devil is at work, putting betrayal into the heart of Judas. The cross is looming. But Jesus is not frantic. He is operating according to a divine timetable. His love for "His own" is a covenantal, electing love. He doesn't just love them for a little while; He loves them "to the end" (eis telos), which means both "to the uttermost" and "to the completion" of His work. This is a love that will not let them go.
And so, from this position of absolute sovereign knowledge, He acts. He lays aside His outer garments. This is a deliberate, symbolic act. It is a picture of His incarnation, what Paul describes in Philippians 2. He who was in the form of God laid aside the robes of His manifest glory, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, wrapping Himself not in light, but in a slave's towel.
The Confrontation with Pride (vv. 5-11)
Jesus then confronts the disciples' pride, not with a lecture, but with a basin of water.
"So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, 'Lord, are You going to wash my feet?' ... Peter said to Him, 'You will never wash my feet, ever!'" (John 13:6, 8a LSB)
The disciples had likely been arguing about who was the greatest again. They walked into the room with dusty feet, and not one of them was willing to take the role of the lowest slave to wash the feet of the others. Jesus rebukes their pride by doing the job Himself.
Peter's reaction is telling. On the surface, it sounds like humility: "You are the Lord, I am a sinner, this is not right." But it is actually a subtle form of pride. Peter is attempting to instruct the Lord on what is and is not appropriate for a Messiah. He is dictating the terms of his discipleship. He is comfortable with a wonder-working, triumphant Lord, but he is deeply uncomfortable with a serving, stooping Lord. This is the pride that wants a Christ of our own making.
Jesus' response is sharp and absolute: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." This elevates the act from a simple lesson in manners to a matter of salvation. The foot washing is a sign that points to a much greater reality: the cleansing from sin that only Christ can provide through His atoning death. To refuse the humble service of Christ is to refuse Christ Himself. You cannot have Jesus as your King if you will not first receive Him as your Savior who washes you clean. You must let Him serve you before you can ever serve Him.
Peter, in his typical all-or-nothing fashion, then asks for a full bath. Jesus uses this to teach a vital distinction. "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean." This is the difference between justification and sanctification. The "bath" is our justification, the one-time washing in the blood of Christ that makes us "completely clean" in the sight of God. But as we walk through the muck and mire of this world, our feet get dirty. The "washing of feet" is sanctification, the daily need for confession, repentance, and cleansing from our ongoing sins (1 John 1:9). We don't need to be re-saved every time we sin, but we do need to continually apply the cleansing power of the gospel to our lives.
But then comes the chilling statement: "and you are clean, but not all of you." Judas received the outward washing. His feet were clean. But he had never had the bath. He was an apostate, a pretender in the covenant community. This is a permanent warning to the church. Participation in the outward signs, whether baptism or the Lord's Supper or even a foot washing, does not save. Without the inner reality of a heart washed by Christ, all our religious activity is a sham.
The Royal Mandate (vv. 12-20)
After the lesson, Jesus gives the command. He puts His robes back on, He is Lord again, and He explains the implications.
"If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." (John 13:14-15 LSB)
This is not a suggestion. It is a royal mandate. Because He is Lord and Teacher, His example has the force of law for His people. The logic is inescapable. If the Master served, then the slaves cannot be above serving. If the one who sends takes up a towel, then the ones who are sent must do likewise. He has given us a pattern, a hupogrammon, like a template for a child to trace. Our lives are to be traced over the pattern of His.
He connects this obedience directly to blessing. "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." This is a shot across the bow of all dead orthodoxy. It is possible to have all your theological ducks in a row, to know that Christ is Lord, to understand the gospel, and yet to be a proud, unserving, useless Christian. The blessing is not in the knowing, but in the doing. True faith works. It picks up a towel.
He then returns to Judas, quoting Psalm 41:9. He does this so that when the betrayal happens, the disciples' faith will not be shattered, but strengthened. They will see that this was not a tragic accident, but the fulfillment of God's sovereign, scriptural plan. They will know that He is "I am He," the ego eimi, the covenant God of Israel who is in complete control of all things, even the treachery of his closest companions. He concludes by reinforcing the authority of His disciples. To serve like Him is not to become a doormat. The one who serves in His name carries His authority. To receive a humble, foot-washing apostle is to receive Christ Himself, and to receive Christ is to receive the Father. Humility and authority are not opposites; in the kingdom of God, they are two sides of the same coin.
The Gospel in a Basin
This entire scene is the gospel in miniature. It is a living parable of our salvation. We are the disciples, proud and dirty, unable and unwilling to cleanse ourselves or each other.
Jesus is the Lord of glory who knows all things are in His hands. He lays aside His heavenly robes, He takes the form of a servant, and He stoops to us in our filth. He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. He washes us clean, not with water from a basin, but with His own precious blood shed on the cross. To receive this gift, we must do one thing: we must let Him. We must abandon our pride, like Peter, and confess that we need washing. We must stop trying to tell God how He ought to save us and simply receive His grace.
If you have received that great bath of justification, you are "completely clean." But as you walk through this life, you still get your feet dirty. You must come to Him daily for the foot washing of sanctification, confessing your sins and being renewed in His grace.
And having been served by the King, we are now commanded to follow His example. We are to take up our own towels. In our homes with our spouses and children, in the church with our brothers and sisters, in the world with our neighbors, we are called to a life of humble service. Not because we are trying to earn our salvation, but because we have already received it. We serve not in order to be loved, but because we are already loved to the uttermost. This is the grammar of humility, the logic of the kingdom. This is the way of the towel and the throne.