Summer Scripture Verse Mapping Episode 3 - He Chose the Towel | John 13:4–17
Show Notes:
Summary
When we think about Jesus washing His disciples' feet, we usually think about humility—and that's certainly part of the story.
But what if John wants us to notice something even deeper?
Before Jesus ever reaches for the towel, John tells us that Jesus knows exactly who He is. He knows where He came from. He knows where He is going. He knows the authority the Father has given Him.
And then...
He kneels.
In this week's Summer Scripture Verse Mapping episode, we're slowing down John 13:4–17 to explore the historical setting, the cultural meaning of foot washing, Peter's surprising reaction, and why Jesus' lesson was deeply spiritual while His service remained remarkably practical.
Together we'll discover that sometimes we make serving God much more complicated than Jesus did.
Sometimes...
there's simply a basin sitting right in front of us...
Key Topics
Why John begins with Jesus' identity before describing His actions
What foot washing looked like in the ancient world
Why the towel never diminished Jesus' authority
Peter's struggle to receive before he could imitate
Why practical acts of service often become holy acts of worship
The question every disciple eventually has to answer:
Do I notice the basin?..
Takeaways
Jesus served from security, not insecurity.
Knowing who you belong to frees you to serve without needing recognition.
Jesus' lesson was spiritual, but His service was practical.
Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is meet an ordinary need.
Before Peter could imitate Jesus, he had to receive from Him.
The towel never diminished Jesus' authority.
Knowledge becomes discipleship when it moves into action.
We cannot represent a foot-washing Savior while believing certain acts of service are beneath us.
The question isn't only whether we'll serve—it's whether we'll notice the basin sitting in front of us...
Transcript:
Stephanie (00:00)
When we picture Jesus washing his disciples' feet, you probably immediately think of one word humility. And yeah, I mean, that is. But when you slow this scene down a bit, you come to really step into the room and think about the world that these disciples are living in.
I think something even more powerful starts to emerge. Because before Jesus even reaches for the towel, John tells us something very important. Jesus knows who he is.
Hi friend, welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I'm your host, Stephanie, and just a reminder, we're continuing our summer scripture verse mapping series,
And this is where we've been looking deeper into the scriptures. We've been slowing them down, taking a closer look, and we're asking questions like what did these words mean to the people who first heard them? What's happening culturally at that time? What might they have understood?
Immediately that we reading the scriptures thousands of years later might have completely missed, right? So if this is your first time listening to an episode of Glory and Grit, please understand this is not our regular seasonal episode. This is our summer scripture verse mapping episode. And thank you for joining us. I'm so glad you're here today.
And remember, friend, if you have a moment, I'd really appreciate it if you could like the podcast or even leave a comment, which really helps the podcast to grow. And I'm truly appreciative for all of your support.
Today we're going to
talk about John chapter 13. Do you remember that one? This is probably a story that you've heard before. I'm sure you've heard it before. We all have. Jesus washes his disciples' feet. Wow.
you've heard the the basics of this lesson, which was Jesus was humble. Jesus served, and we should serve too. And those things are absolutely a part of it. But today I want to slow this scene way down. Okay.
to step into the room during that meal because I think there's a whole lot happening around the basin and the towel.
So let's map it out. You ready? Let's get started.
Now, our main passages today are going to be John 13, but verses 4 through 17. And before we get to 4, we want to look at what John is telling us right before it, right? Because John sets the scene very deliberately.
to let me open my scriptures here on my phone because I'm in a hotel bathroom because the party next door decided to go on for hours, take a break and then come back for hours more.
Okay,
But before we get to verse four, we we need to look at what John tells us right before that, right? He sets the scene very deliberately for us. Jesus knows his hour has come. He knows he's about to leave this world. He knows that he's returning to our Father in heaven.
Verse three tells us that Jesus knows that the Father has given all things into his hands, right? He knows where he came from. He knows where he's going.
John wants us to know what Jesus knows before John tells us what Jesus does. Right? Now,
Jesus is not confused about his identity, right? He's not wondering if he's important, right? He knows. He's not questioning his authority. He knows exactly who he is. And then verse 4 says, He riseth from supper.
And I think that's where the story starts to hit a little different. Because Jesus doesn't serve because he didn't know his worth. he served knowing exactly who he was. And I think that sometimes we kind of misunderstand humility. We think that humility means making ourselves smaller,
Pretending that we're not gifted, that we don't matter, or thinking less of ourselves. But Jesus didn't do that here. He knows exactly who He is. He knows exactly whose He is. And that's one of my favorite sayings I used to always say or type at the bottom of my message is remember whose you are when you go out into the world, right? Now
And from that place of complete security in his identity, he gets up from the table. Now let's think about the physical world they're living in. People walked, right? A lot. And when they walked, of course, they wore sandals. This meant that their feet were open a lot. And
Don't think about roads as we have roads in the in the US today. think about as they have roads in Ghana, where we were, Cape Coast area. The roads are ,sometimes,still paths carved out and still full of dust and
You know, the red dirt and whatever color the dirt may have been, but the dust still flies up, right? So while they're walking in these roads, there are no side there are no paved sidewalks, just like there are no paved roads. And so they're walking on these dusty, dirty rows and paths. Well, you know what's gonna happen when you do that and you have on sandals.
when you arrive to wherever you're going, your feet were probably pretty dirty, right?
back in ancient times, when someone arrived in your home, you would give them water so that they could wash their feet. And there may have even been times when you would ask your servant to wash their feet for them.
But I want you to think, I want you to be careful here, because I've heard this story taught, and maybe you have too, that foot washing was always the job of the lowliest servant in the house. Okay. And the history is actually a little more nuanced than that. Sometimes the water was provided and the guests wash their own feet.
servants could perform the foot washing as an act of service as well.
Okay. So I don't want to say and I don't want you to say something that the scriptures or history doesn't actually tell us. for now we need to get this episode out. I may need to do a little more research on that, or you may need to research for your own as well. But we can see very clearly that.
This is a reversal happening in the room, right? Because the meal is already in progress. And then Jesus rises from the supper, right? And for whatever reason, their feet weren't washed when they entered the home. And Jesus chooses to be the one who gets up during the meal.
Now, verse 4 continues and says that, and laid aside his garments. Now that's interesting because the Greek verb that John uses in this passage to tell us that Jesus laid aside his garments is also used elsewhere in John's Gospel where Jesus talks about laying down his life.
Now again, I want to be careful here too, because that doesn't mean that the Greek word itself automatically means crucifixion. But there are some scholars who've noticed that a lot of the beautiful literary echoes in John's writing. So because here
Before Jesus lays down his life, he lays aside his garment. And I can't help but think about what comes next, right? Because he's about to show them with a towel what he'll soon show the world with a cross, right? So you can't help but see that, but
Service, sacrifice, love that's willing to laury itself for someone else. And then John says, Jesus took a towel and girded himself. Let's talk about that towel. Picture that. Picture having dinner with your host or with Jesus.
Jesus lays aside his outer garments, and he takes a towel, he wraps it around himself.
And the teacher takes the posture of someone who is about to serve. Now the Lord kneels
before his followers. And here's something I want us to hold on to because we're coming back to it later. Jesus doesn't stop being Lord because he picks up the towel. He doesn't become less powerful. He doesn't become less important or less divine. He is still Lord.
He's just the Lord with a towel around his waist. And then we get to verse five. He poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet.
This is the part that really got me when I was studying this passage because Jesus is about to teach them an incredible spiritual lesson, but his service is incredibly practical.
There are dirty feet. So he gets water.
There's something that needs to be done. So he does it. Jesus' lesson is spiritual.
But his service is practical. And I wonder sometimes if we make serving God more complicated than it has to be, right? We we're looking for the big thing, the assignment, the calling, the platform, the microphone, the thing that looks, you know, super important and I'm about to do something magnific magnificent.
The thing that everybody will notice, right? And meanwhile, there might be a basin of water right in front of us.
Jesus doesn't stand up and say, okay, everybody, gather around, gather around. I'm about to give you a very important lesson on servant leadership. No. He sees dirty feet, he gets water, he gets a towel, and he kneels.
Sometimes the holy thing is the practical thing. Sometimes serving like Jesus is noticing what needs to be done and being willing to do it. Maybe somebody needs help. Maybe somebody needs a meal. Maybe they need you to sit down beside them. Maybe they need you to listen.
Maybe there's something that everybody sees. Maybe there's something that everybody sees needs to be done.
But everybody is waiting for somebody else to do it. You know that that saying or that poem. There's there was a job to be done, everybody saw it, but nobody did it because somebody thought that anybody would do it, although everybody could have done it, or something to that effect, right?
maybe following Jesus in that moment doesn't look big or impressive or spiritual. Maybe it looks like noticing dirty feet.
Maybe it looks like noticing there's a basin of water over there. What needs to be done with it? Maybe it looks like being willing to pick up the towel.
Now, let's not rush past the next sentence. And
He began to wash the disciples' feet. Picture it. Jesus kneeling, wrapped in a towel, girded in a towel, and washing his disciples' feet. Maybe washing your feet. And this isn't symbolic for splashing water and that kind of thing. Jesus is moving.
Gently from one disciple to another.
And there's something else happening in the room too. Jesus already knows the betrayal is coming, right?
John has already told us that. And Judas doesn't leave the gathering until later down in the chapter. so now let's be careful here because the text doesn't stop and specifically say, well, and then Jesus washed Judas's feet.
So let's be clear. We don't want to make up scripture so I don't want to make the scripture say something that it didn't explicitly say. But unless something happened that John doesn't record and tell us about, then Judas appears to still be in the room. Which means
Man who betrayed or who would betray Jesus later.
may have had his feet cleaned before he walked out the door.
We can't say for certain that he washed Judas' feet, But we can say for certain that Jesus knew betrayal was coming while he was serving in that room.
recording the Sunday snippets, which I do if you haven't heard of it, is Steph's Sunday snippets where I record three things that I learned from church that day or through my scripture study or and I tried to post them on Facebook every week. I don't always make it, but I'm gonna try to make them a recordings or a podcast so maybe I'll be able to do it better. But anyway I remember
Postings that Jesus knew what was going to happen, yet still on his last days he washed feet.
But here's the kicker to that. He knew he was coming back. I just love that. okay, back to the scripture. Jesus knew that his betrayal was coming even while he was serving his disciples in that room. So that makes me think
Jesus served, knowing he wouldn't be loved perfectly in return. There's a lesson right there, right? Because sometimes we think that service is easier when people deserve it, right?
when they're grateful, when they appreciate us, when they treat us well.
but Jesus is kneeling in a room where he knows betrayal is coming. And he still chooses.
If you're listening to the podcast and not watching the video, I'm holding up one of the bathroom towels.
And then we get to Peter. And y'all, Peter is just gonna be Peter, right? Verse six says, Then cometh he to Simon Peter. And Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
And honestly, when we understand the reversal that's happening here, Peter's reaction starts to make a little more sense to us, right? Peter knows who Jesus is: Lord, teacher, master. And now Jesus is kneeling in front of him.
You know, Peter has a category for I serve Jesus.
What he apparently didn't have a category for yet was Jesus serves me. And I think there's something there, there's something in that for us. Because sometimes receiving from Jesus requires humility too. Sometimes we get very comfortable saying, Lord, I'll work for you. Lord, I'll serve for you. I'll do something for you.
But maybe we're a little less comfortable saying, Lord,
I need you to do for me what I can't do for myself. And Peter wants to be the servant. But first, Peter has to learn how to receive from the Savior. So Jesus answers Peter in verse 7 and says, What I do, thou knowest not now.
But thou shalt know hereafter. So Peter doesn't understand what Jesus is doing while Jesus is doing it.
The understanding comes later. Okay. Now, I I want to be careful here. I don't think this vermeans that every confusing thing that ever happens to us in our lives will be completely explained to us in this life. Okay. Jesus is speaking specifically to Peter about what's going on in this moment. Okay?
But I do wonder if some of us have experienced moments where the meaning came after the moment. when you've lived through something and thought, I don't understand this, and maybe later.
You started to see something that you couldn't see while you're standing right there in the middle of it. So Peter doesn't understand yet, but the Lord keeps washing. And then Peter says, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
Peter went from questioning Jesus to telling Jesus. Absolutely not. And I mean, and I can personally understand that. I mean, Jesus washing your feet, but and Jesus says, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
And Peter, being Peter, immediately goes into you know complete opposite direction. Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. He's just gonna make it a list now, right? But basically, he's like saying, well, you know, if that's the case, then give me the deluxe package, you know.
He doesn't seem to have a middle setting there, but do you notice what's happening? Is Peter first says, Don't wash me. Then Peter says, Wash me my way.
And Jesus does neither, right? Peter is still learning that following Jesus means allowing Jesus to determine what Peter needs. And then Jesus says, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Now we know we're talking about more than just dusty, crusty feet, right?
Something deeper is happening here. And Peter can't just simply admire what Jesus is doing. He has to receive it, right?
Before Peter can imitate the towel, Peter.
He has to receive the washi.
makes sense, doesn't it? When you think of it like that. And so I think that's really important because Christianity isn't simply look what Jesus did. Now go try harder to be like him.
Before we can imitate Christ, we have to receive from Christ. And
We receive what He's done for us. We receive grace and cleansing and mercy. We receive something that we can't manufacture for ourselves, right? Peter wants to follow Jesus. But first, he has to let Jesus wash him. Now Jesus continues talking about being clean, and he says, Ye are clean.
So John tells us that this is connected to the one who would betray him. Now there are different theological interpretations about exactly what every piece of the bathing and the washing imagery represents. And we won't have time to go over all of that today, but
I don't think that we need to force every detail into a neat little formula, right? What we can clearly see is that this has become something more than just about the physical dirt on their feet, right? This is a deeper kind of cleansing being discussed. And all the while.
Then we get to verse 12, which says, So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again. Remember earlier he laid his garments aside. Now he takes them again.
And some people who study John's writings see the possibility of another literary echo in this little part where Jesus lays aside and then he takes again. Just as in other parts of the scriptures, of John, Jesus talks about laying down his life and taking it up again. Now
Again, I'm not saying that John gives us a little footnote that says, this represents the resurrection. I didn't say that. Don't quote me as saying that. Okay. he doesn't. But it's a beautiful echo, if you notice it, right?
And then Jesus sits down, and he asks them, Know ye what I have done to you? And honestly, probably not, not completely. They've seen it, they've experienced it, but I don't think they fully understood it yet, right? And then Jesus begins to explain.
So he says, ye call me master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. And this is where I think the whole thing comes together. Because Jesus doesn't say, no, no, no, no, don't
He says, you're right. I am your master. I am your Lord. The towel didn't diminish his authority. Kneeling didn't change his identity. Jesus didn't become less because he kneeled or he knelt.
And maybe that's something that some of us needed to hear. Because humility isn't pretending you don't have value. Serving doesn't mean you're less important. And kneeling doesn't erase who you are.
Jesus knew who he was and he reached for the towel. He knew his authority and he poured water. he knew they didn't fully understand, and he served them anyway. He knew betrayal was coming. And he still knelt in that room.
Then Jesus says, If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
And different Christian traditions understand and practice this in different ways. Some practice it by literally foot washing.
Others understand this primarily as Jesus giving us a broader example of humble service. I'm not going to try to settle that entire theology discussion today, okay? But I do think there's one thing none of us gets to escape. Followers of Jesus.
Are not above serving one another. Because Jesus says, I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. And then we get to verse sixteen. the servant is not greater than his Lord.
Neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. now this verse hits a little differently after you've watched the Lord kneel and visualized it in your mind.
Because if Jesus, the Lord, the master, could reach for a towel, what act of loving service can I declare beneath me?
The towel has a way of revealing where we think we're too important to kneel.
Because maybe the question isn't, am I willing to serve? Maybe the question is, am I willing to serve when nobody notices?
Am I willing to serve when the job isn't impressive? Am I willing to serve someone who may not thank me? Am I willing to do the thing everybody else walks past?
Where am I protecting my position more than I'm reflecting my savior? I'm gonna ask that question again from both you and me.
Where am I protecting my position more than I'm reflecting my savior?
Because we can't represent a footwashing savior while insisting certain acts of service are beneath us.
And then Jesus finishes this section in verse 17. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. I love that. He doesn't say, Happy are you because you know this. He doesn't say, happy are you because you've studied ancient foot washing customs. He doesn't even say
Happy are you because you listened to a really fabulous podcast about it. He says, Happy are ye if ye do them.
Knowledge becomes discipleship when it moves into action. I have to be careful because my husband is sleeping on the other side of this wall, so I'm trying not to get too loud. So we're that was it, huh? That was the last verse. So we're we d be finished, yay. so maybe the question we leave with today is not
Would I literally wash someone's feet?
But maybe the question is
Do I notice the basin?
Do I notice what needs to be done?
Do I notice the person everybody else overlooks?
Do I notice the practical need?
Do I notice the dirty feet?
And when I notice, am I willing to reach for the towel?
Because sometimes we make serving God so complicated. Again, we're waiting for something big, something important that looks spiritual. And meanwhile, there's a basin sitting right in front of us. Jesus' lesson was spiritual, but his service.
Sometimes the holy thing is the practical thing. Sometimes help. Sometimes somebody just needs you to listen. They might need you to show up. Sometimes they're just dirty feet. Sometimes there's a basin. There's a towel. And sometimes
Following Jesus means simply being willing to get up from the table and do what needs to be done.
Jesus knew exactly who he was. And he still chose the towel. So maybe that's the invitation for us. Not to think less of ourselves, not to pretend that we have no worth, but to know who we belong to so deeply.
That we don't have to prove our importance by refusing to kneel. Jesus knew exactly who he was and still chose the towel.
So maybe the question for you and me is: when the basin is sitting in front of us, will we?
Please remember there are beautiful companion pages over on the website.
Glory and Grit Podcast dot com.
I'm your host Stephanie and thank you so much for joining me today for our third verse of the summer or verses. This is actually quite a few verses.
And remember, if this episode was enlightening, encouraging, or fun for you, I'd love it if you'd share it with someone who you think it might benefit as well.
And I am truly appreciative for all of your support for Glory and Grit. Until next time, my friend, keep looking for glory and keep walking with grit.
Bye now...
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